My Favourite Quote: Jack Wang, Amazing Beauty Hair

“All I have in this world is my balls and my word. And I don’t break them for no one.” – Tony Montana

For me, this quote shows a person of integrity, which is hard not to respect. Such people come less and less in this life, and it is always a treat to come across any of them.

Jack Wang is the CEO of Amazing Beauty Hair, specialists of hair extension products.

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FEATURED AUSSIE BUSINESS: B2C Furniture

After buying our home, furniture was our next most carefully considered purchase. The pieces of furniture you select for your home are generally a big financial investment, and something you have to live with everyday…no pressure! This week we caught up with Anesley Clarke, Business Owner & Director of B2C Furniture, and discovered how he makes the experience of purchasing furniture special.

1. Tell us a bit about your business and how you got to where you are now?

Furnishing your home should give you warm and fuzzy feelings, not leave you frazzled and fed up! But unless you’re a carpenter with an eye for detail and design, you’re in real danger of getting lost in the abyss of ambiguous information like a coin that’s fallen out of your pocket and slipped beneath the cushions of your couch.

Furniture should be functional and hard-wearing, without lacking in style of course! You’ll generally have to pay a pretty penny for the pleasure of taking home all three.

By sourcing direct from the manufacturer, taking out the middle man and selling online, B2C furniture can offer a range of exceptional quality pieces crafted from solid timber, at prices usually associated with furniture that is vastly inferior in quality and design.

B2C Furniture set out to build a furniture range with sustainable hardwood timber being the focal point of each design as opposed to most of our competitors who manufacture from cheap chipboard which ends up in landfills and pollutes our precious planet.

B2C Furniture has range that has a five-pronged focus – bedroom furniture, kids beds, dining sets, living room furniture and furniture packages.

Paris Beige Occasional Chair

2. What do you love most about your business – how is it unique?

We are a genuine 100% Australian owned “Business – 2 – Consumer” (B2C) company. Cutting out the middle man allows us to offer exceptionally crafted designs at half the price of our competitors so our customers benefit from the significant savings.

Our website is our shop window. The emphasis on quality is evident at the click of a mouse.
There are a number of key features that differentiate our online offering, including;
– Intuitive, fast, and easy to navigate website
– Lifestyle pictures of our entire product range with in-depth descriptions
– The ability to deliver Australia-wide
– After browsing the range online, local customers can visit our showroom in Dandenong, Melbourne to see for themselves what exceptional value for money they’re getting.
– We openly inform our customers to visit our competitors, see what they’re offering, compare the price. Invariably when we do that they come back to us. We get so many repeat sales, because we’re creating a level of confidence in our brand. We have a conversion rate of more than 90 percent for customers who come into our showroom after viewing our range online.

However, the single most important aspect which differentiates us from our competitors is our customer support.

In a competitive industry where most competitor transactions are emotionless, B2C pride ourselves on an endearing after-sales service that inspires strong feedback.

We have an in-house team that personally follow up with our customers once they have had a chance to enjoy their pieces in their homes and check in on how things are going. ‘did you receive the furniture, are you happy with it, do you have any issues or feedback?’

Product reviews are especially important for us, and we average 4.9 out of five stars. We were awarded “The Best National Furniture Store for 2020” by product review.

Furniture is one of the biggest commodities globally and by cutting out the middleman and offering stunning furniture constructed with solid hardwood timber direct, we believe we are offering pieces with substance and style at a price point they would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

Cruz Hardwood King Size Bed Frame | Rustic Walnut

3. What’s your life mantra?

My life mantra is “when the student is ready, the master will arrive”. In my experience I’ve discovered the importance of having the courage to follow your passion even though you don’t have the knowledge at the beginning of your journey to achieve it.

I’ve recognized that inexplicably you will meet the people who will educate you on how to take the next steps if you have the courage, belief and tenacity to stay the course.

4. What else would you be doing if you didn’t do what you do?

I’ve always been an entrepreneur since I graduated from RMIT as an Aerospace Engineer. So if I weren’t involved in running a business I would be designing rockets to explore the universe 😊

Myer King Single Bunk Bed with Storage

5. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

The most precious gift I’ve ever been blessed with is my 6 old daughter. When she was born, I suddenly saw the world in a new light; the awe-inspiring feeling of pure love, the enormous gratitude of being blessed with a life so precious.

Bella 5PCE Round Glass Dining Set

6. What’s the best gift you’ve ever bought someone?

My mother is a widower who is 86 years young. She is battling the onset of dementia which is a terrible illness. Two years ago during the onset of this disease I took her on a trip to Europe.

I’ve always been busy with various business ventures ever since I left university. So, I never truly had the opportunity to sit one-on-one with my mother and just talk as adults.

But spending three weeks with her visiting historic cities of Europe and taking the time to have a coffee with her in some enchanting little cafes was amazing… To listen to her stories, to understand her joy, sadness, and wisdom was an enriching experience for both of us. One that will live in my heart forever…

Finn Double Size Bed Frame

Anesley Clarke is the Business Owner & Director of B2C Furniture. Furniture should not cost you the earth…nor should it cost the earth its survival.

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My Favourite Quote: Montana Jayde, Illustrator

My favourite quote is:

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene.

This quote resonates with me as it reminds me to live in the moment and be thankful and joyous of all the beauty in the world. I think it is particularly relevant at the moment with all the negativity in the world, but as bad as it may seem it is still good – beauty, and a reason to dance does exist.

Montana Jayde is an illustrator and from Jindabyne, NSW. She likes to communicate stories from everyday life through her art and post about all things food, art and travel on her blog. This can all be found through the website: www.montanajayde.com

Photo Credit: Naomi Zaki Photography

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FEATURED AUSSIE BUSINESS: The Other Straw

With the spread of plastic straw bans, businesses like The Other Straw have emerged to provide environmentally friendly solutions. We were particularly inspired by co-founder, Jamie-Lee Kay’s story of the inception of The Other Straw, and delighted to interview her for our Aussie Business series:

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1. Tell us a bit about your business and how you got to where you are now?

The Other Straw is a social enterprise replacing single-use plastic straws with reusable, ethically sourced bamboo straws.

Since launching in late 2018, we’ve diverted over 9 million plastic straws from entering our landfills, waterways and oceans.

After some early traction with our straws, we took the leap to extend our product range to other sustainable, ethical alternatives to plastic items. Including bamboo toothbrushes, bamboo cutlery and coconut bowls.

Our mission is to make the world a more sustainable place. We want to make it as easy as possible for individuals, and businesses to live a less wasteful lifestyle.

2. What do you love most about your business – how is it unique?

I love our why and purpose of our business. We started this business with the goal to eliminate single-use plastics, and this is our biggest motivation.

The pillars in which our business was built on are our personal values and ethos. And this shines through everything we do. Every decision we make is made with passion, meaning and intention. We put our purpose and people above our profits, always.

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3. What’s your life mantra?

Create a life you are proud and passionate about.

Your daily choices, decisions and actions are what makes up your life. If you are not proud of them, do something about it. Live a life that you are content and passionate about. Build a legacy and purpose that you can be proud of.

4. What else would you be doing if you didn’t do what you do?

I probably would be in marketing (as this is what I studied). In 2018, after graduating with a Commerce Degree (major in Marketing), I turned down the corporate career path to start The Other Straw.

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5. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

The best gift I received was from my partner’s Mother. She gave me some veja sneakers. For those who don’t know veja, they are an ethical, sustainable and fair-trade sneaker company. I wear them pretty much everyday, so I couldn’t have asked for a more practical and better gift.

6. What’s the best gift you’ve ever bought someone?

When my partner and co-founder Lennart moved to Australia from the Netherlands I bought him a bike. The Dutch love their bikes. Although it wasn’t the bike he had in mind, he loved the gesture haha.

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The best thing about winter is…hot cocoa

“The best thing about winter is hot cocoa. There’s something extra satisfying about hot cocoa whenever winter time comes and the entire outside world is a huge chest freezer. To me, it brings back childhood memories of the festive holidays with loved ones.” – David Foley.

David Foley is a personal growth and spiritual practice advocate, a meditation teacher, and an expert in the field of meditating with brainwave entrainment/binaural beats technology. David is the Founder of Unify Cosmos.

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The best thing about winter is…spending time inside with loved ones

“The best thing about winter is spending it indoors with your partner. What I love about the winter time is that it is the perfect cuddle weather. It’s that overall cozy feeling of sitting by the fireplace with that special person, with some good wine and great conversations.” – Jack Wang.

Jack Wang is the CEO of Amazing Beauty Hair, specialists of hair extension products.

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The best thing about winter is…working in the garden

It’s around this time of the year we start to long for longer, warmer days, and generally more sunshine. When it feels like the end of winter can’t come quick enough, this is the time to take stock and make the most of where we’re at. We put the question: What’s the best thing about winter out there, and received some great responses. We particularly loved this one from Elle Meager, founder of Outdoor Happens:

“The best thing about winter is working in the garden without being burned alive! Winter’s my favourite time for labour-intensive tasks like mulching and digging new gardens. During the day in winter, it’s the perfect temperature here in North Queensland.”

Elle Meager is the founder of Outdoor Happens, Permaculture Designer, and Sustainable Living Consultant.

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5 things to make your garden thrive this spring

One of my favourite scenes in the movie, The Secret Garden is when main character Mary Lennox sees her garden come to life in spring after the long, cold English winter. Whilst some parts of Australia are more seasonal than others, we definitely have all four seasons here in Canberra, and fewer are celebrated more than spring after our cold winters. Whilst sunshine and warmer days make spring a pleasant time to be out in the garden, it is also an important time to get some key jobs done in your garden to maximise it’s beauty and productivity over the warmer months. Here are some key jobs to tick off your list this season:  

1. Prune
Now is the time to prune back the growth of perennials from last season (if you haven’t already). If you live in a frost-prone area, there may be some frost-tender perennials that you want to hold back on pruning until after the risk of frost has passed, but everything else is fair game! My buddleia and salvia have all been given harsh haircuts to prepare them for new-season growth (and flowers!). I am also planning on pruning my peach tree this weekend, but because it is flowering I will only remove the lower growth, as well as branches and stems without flowers. I don’t want to jeopardise any potential fruit! 

Pink azalea in my garden



2. Mulch
A trip to your local garden centre to top up your mulch should be on the agenda this month. It is beneficial to alternate the types of mulch you use on your garden beds to ensure a diversity of beneficial bacteria in the soil for your plants. Different types of mulch include: straw, bark chip, and different types of compost, such as mushroom, laid thickly. For an extra kick, you could also add a layer of manure or compost under a heavier mulch, such a bark chip. The key is ensuring your mulch is down and watered in before the hot summer days arrive. 

Red azalea in my garden



3. Water
Most plants, including lawn will have gone through a low-growth period over winter, especially if you live in a cool climate. Give them the boost they need with a good deep soaking a couple of times a week to stimulate growth. We’re still experiencing a dry period in Canberra, so watering is going to be crucial for us this season if we want strong plant growth, and ultimately fruit and flowers.  

Flowering plum in my garden



4. Fertilise
Adding mulch and manure to your garden will give it a great kick-start to the season, but for hungry flowering plants, such as roses, additional fertiliser may be required. I like using a liquid fertiliser, such as Thrive – especially after rain or a good watering when plants are more receptive to absorb it. Slow-release and pelletised fertilisers are a low-maintenance option if you have a large garden or just want to ‘set-and-forget’ for a few weeks. Beware of fertilising native plants, as some are not tolerant of high levels of phosphorous found in many fertilisers (such as chicken manure). Use a specific native plant fertiliser or if in doubt stick with an organic fish or seaweed tonic. 

5. Get out and enjoy it
Watch the flowers grow this spring. No seriously! The more time you spend in your garden, the more motivated you’ll feel to look after it. If you, like me try to sit in the garden, but keep seeing jobs that need to be done, rather than mindfully enjoying the moment, remind yourself of all the hard work you’ve done. Tomorrow is another day. 

Make your life easier in the garden with some of these handy gardening tools

My Favourite Quote: Clare Zivanovic, www.GothicZen.com.au

“Everything is figureoutable.” 
– Marie Forleo


“Every crazy, confusing situation has a solution. The first step is deciding that we want to move forward, and then we simply need to allow ourselves the space and flow for the solution/s to arrive. This process works every time. Thank you for reminding me of this, Marie Forleo.” – Clare Zivanovic. 

Clare Zivanovic is a writer, film producer and health-nut who is currently creating a fun book that teaches kids about the superpowers hiding in healthy foods. Learn more at www.GothicZen.com.au

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