They narrowly missed out on a place in the Top 5 but are still hot in our books. Introducing Anthill’s 2010 5over50 Honourable Mentions.
Manuel Petravrakis
Age: 50
Gender: Male
State: QLD
Venture: Art Shed Brisbane
After spending 25 years in family medicine, Petravrakis started Art Shed Brisbane in 2007 to feed his creative juices, contribute to his community and set up some financial security for his family.
The self-taught painter, along with other artists, builds buzz by conducting free demonstrations in the store. “I promote the democratisation of art, which has for too long been seem as something highbrow and belonging only to a gifted minority,” he says.
At one point, he tapped into the community by interning local business students to create performance marketing exercises for the company.
Michael Petavrakis’ words to succeed by:
“When I apply myself to creating something, I find I have boundless energy and a drive for perfection.”
Stephen Coulter
Age: 50
Gender: Male
State: NSW
Venture: Controlabill
Stephen Coulter parlayed an extensive career with National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia into Contrabill, a one-stop service for establishing and managing payment authorities.
Contrabill allows consumers to set up direct-debit authories in seconds rather than the weeks it can require, Coulter says. The man who created NAB’s e-commerce division in 1995 and CBA’s in 1990 says: “I identify customer needs and manage backward from the future.”
Stephen Coulter’s words to succeed by:
“My training as an accountant many years ago, now cleverly camouflaged, has allowed to me to successfully manage bean counters.”
Carmel McCartin
Age: 52
Gender: Female
State: NSW
Venture: Budget Bitch
Carmen McCartin brought her background as a mortgage broker — and her determination to tell people what they need to know — to Budget Bitch, a personal-finance consulting business she founded in 2006.
McCartin says she will bring her budgeting advice and techniques right to the client, be it via a personal visit, Skype or NetMeeting.
Honored as one of Anthill’s Smart 100 companies, she builds buzz through referrals, keynote speeches, trade shows and online social media. Oh, and when ASIC balked about registering her company name because of an “unacceptable word,” she did some research and found 22 firms already used it. Budget Bitch was registered.
Carmen McCartin’s words to succeed by:
“Sometimes you just have to do things because you know it’s the right thing to do. Besides, I don’t want to be that person at a BBQ who says, ‘I wish I’d done something about that idea when I thought about it years ago. I’d have been the wealthy one now, instead of them.'”
