You're in Charge

Adelaide University
Adelaide University
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  • Entrepreneurship

Ready to take a leap and build your own business? So is Sav Perera. Join Sav (MasterChef 2024) as she gets the low down on all things business, leadership, venture capital and entrepreneurship from women at the top of their game. You’re in Charge will delve into the business of building confidence, the business of bouncing back, the business of brokering security, and the business of being you throughout it all. Get ready for the ultimate mentorship that will help take your ambition to the next level. You’re in Charge is brought to you by ThincHer, an initiative of ThincLab at The University of Adelaide. Google ThincHer to join our empowering community of like-minded women in business. Got thoughts? Email us at thincher@adelaide.edu.au Follow ThincHer: Facebook: ThincLabADL Instagram: @thinclabofadelaide LinkedIn: ThincLab Follow Sav: Instagram: @savisquishles

  1. 6d ago ·  Bonus

    Money and people: the two lessons that make or break a business

    Sheree Sullivan on the profit percent question she couldn't answer, the HR dispute she handballed, and why she asks what the lesson is the moment something hurts. Full episode of You're In Charge out now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Money and people: the two lessons that make or break a business

  2. Oct 12

    Sheree Sullivan on failing fast, knowing your numbers and letting go

    Sheree Sullivan went from a jazz piano degree to running one of Australia's leading Brie and Camembert makers. Her family's goat dairy, Udder Delights, came close to going under more than once, and she says pain has been her biggest teacher. In this conversation with host Sav Perera, Sheree shares the costing wake-up call that changed how she ran the business, the HR lesson she learned after handing a hard conversation to someone else, and why she now asks "what's the lesson?" the moment something hurts. She also opens up about selling Udder Delights while grieving her mum, why the dollar value is only one part of a sale, and what she did differently the second time around with Grünthal Brew. If you're starting out, you'll hear her practical advice: know your profit percent, get a bookkeeper, work out what you're prepared to sacrifice, and do an organisational chart of every role in your business to find your first hire. Recorded on Kaurna Land. You're In Charge is brought to you by ThincHer, an initiative of ThincLab at Adelaide University. Chapter timestamps 00:00 Welcome to season two and meet Sheree 01:20 From jazz piano to cheese and brewing 03:55 A family of side hustles and a goat dairy 07:52 Learning to make cheese when nobody else could 09:59 Doing everything when you start a business 11:08 Fail fast and the five year commitment 12:00 The profit percent wake-up call 16:14 The HR lesson 18:52 Cash flow, sacrifice and Rich Dad Poor Dad 21:49 Near bankruptcy: metal in the cheese and the insurance fight 24:07 Where the motivation comes from 25:32 Selling Udder Delights 32:59 Why start again? Finding the why behind Grünthal Brew 35:23 The practice night panic attack 38:33 What's different the second time around 41:05 From doing to leading: the org chart 44:29 Letting go of control: boundaries, values and systems 48:50 Advice: finish what you start, and what you're prepared to sacrifice 52:04 Get a bookkeeper 55:14 What Sheree wants to master 56:48 Sav's takeaways See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Sheree Sullivan on failing fast, knowing your numbers and letting go

  3. Season 2, Episode 5 Trailer

    She didn't own a home until 40. Then came the sale

    Sheree Sullivan didn't buy her first house until she was 40. Before that she lived in a shed, then a shop, then a flat, and kept putting her money back into investments and the business. A friend called her the poster child for delayed gratification. The hardest part wasn't the hours. When her dad and her husband both said they wanted out of Udder Delights, Sheree wasn't ready. She led the sale anyway. She says she was grieving while she was leaving, because the business was her baby. Then came the backlash. She was very sick when the sale closed, the news reached the media before she could tell people herself, and online the comments said she'd sold out. She had risked everything for 20 years, finally taken the risk off the table, and kept the business in South Australia. She says plainly that she was angry. It's a different picture of success than the one most founders post about. It looks like waiting, sacrificing, and letting go of the thing you built. Host Sav Perera's takeaway is a good one to carry into your own business: the thing that scares you about it can be the thing that empowers you to take risks and go further. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    She didn't own a home until 40. Then came the sale

  4. Oct 7 ·  Bonus

    The real barriers, and the mindset that gets you through

    Andrea names the financial jargon that makes business feel like a closed club to a lot of women, then talks about the Women in Business program she started in government to close that gap. From there the conversation turns personal: imposter syndrome, "fake it till you make it," and her own self-talk, "tough it up, princess," the thing she actually tells herself when it gets hard. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The real barriers, and the mindset that gets you through

  5. Sep 30 ·  Bonus

    Perfect isn't the goal, presence is

    Andrea moves from why nobody starts a business "perfect" into the part guests rarely say out loud: she's bad at fitness, feels like there's never enough hours in the day, and hasn't figured out work-life balance so much as learned to be present wherever she is. She talks through burnout, the things politics has taught her are simply out of her control, and closes with her message to young women in business, it's your baby, arm yourself with the skills and do it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Perfect isn't the goal, presence is

  6. Sep 21

    Andrea Michaels: The Migrant Kid Who Became a Minister

    Before Andrea Michaels held three state government portfolios, she was born to parents who fled Cyprus in 1974 with nothing and landed in Adelaide because it was as far from home as they could get. She grew up sandpapering cabinet doors in her dad's backyard workshop while her mum worked factory shifts, and that work ethic carried her through commercial law, a solo leap into her own firm as a single mum, and eventually into South Australia's state government as Minister for Small and Family Business, the Arts, and Consumer and Business Affairs. She sat down with Sav Perera in September 2025, while still in office. She's since returned to practising law at NDA Law, but the conversation holds up regardless: the real cost of public criticism, the barriers women still hit trying to raise capital, and the self talk, "tough it up, princess," that gets her through the hard days. A grounded, honest one for anyone building something of their own. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Andrea Michaels: The Migrant Kid Who Became a Minister

  7. Season 2, Episode 4 Trailer

    Take the risk, be yourself

    Andrea Michaels on why risk is unavoidable in business and politics, and the moment she stopped trying to be someone else to succeed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Take the risk, be yourself

  8. Sep 17 ·  Bonus

    He's the creative. She's the business. That's the whole secret.

    Poppy Nichaloff on running Generation Rise with her husband, and the clearly defined roles that keep them from stepping on each other's toes. When someone outside tries to stir the pot, backing each other up is non-negotiable. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    He's the creative. She's the business. That's the whole secret.
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About

Ready to take a leap and build your own business? So is Sav Perera. Join Sav (MasterChef 2024) as she gets the low down on all things business, leadership, venture capital and entrepreneurship from women at the top of their game. You’re in Charge will delve into the business of building confidence, the business of bouncing back, the business of brokering security, and the business of being you throughout it all. Get ready for the ultimate mentorship that will help take your ambition to the next level. You’re in Charge is brought to you by ThincHer, an initiative of ThincLab at The University of Adelaide. Google ThincHer to join our empowering community of like-minded women in business. Got thoughts? Email us at thincher@adelaide.edu.au Follow ThincHer: Facebook: ThincLabADL Instagram: @thinclabofadelaide LinkedIn: ThincLab Follow Sav: Instagram: @savisquishles

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