30under30 2012

When one in three people in the world have no access to clean energy, practical solutions call for inventive thinking. To that end, Boyd Whalan is demonstrating that solutions are possible. After volunteering in Ghana and studying business at uni, Whalan founded Hessex Solutions to make solar energy easier to purchase.

Townsqr seeks to encourage stronger networking and fund raising for community projects at the local level, where donors can readily experience the effects of their contributions. While still preparing its formal launch, Townsqr will operate as a not-for-profit social network.

The first thing you associate with Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, probably isn't fashion. Then again, nor would you have founded Bachhara, as Amanda Ryan did, as a tool for empowering women and their indigent communities. Her original idea, in 2008, was to organise a sewing centre to raise funds for the school where she was volunteering. Although Ryan had no business experience, she had plenty of willpower, optimism and pure spunk to bring her idea to fruition.

Monica Kade is a journeyer. After her career took her to New York and back, she chose to dedicate herself to the physical, mental and spiritual health of young women. Through her online journeys and speaking tours, she helps girls to cast off the false and damaging attitudes about body image and self-worth that can lead to depression, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders (which she herself overcame).

David Dixon's journey started with one girl, an orphan in Uganda who was unable to pay her school fees. As Dixon helped her pursue her education, he learned just how much odds are stacked against young women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. It's common for girls to miss school during their periods, and facing sexual assault is more common than graduating. Many don't attend school at all. Dixon is fighting the odds and making education achievable...One Girl at a time.

Fai Wong has taken an unique route to noteworthy. At Social Startup 48 in Sydney, Wong had the happenstance to meet the founder of Start Some Good, whose crowdfunding-for-charity platform closely corresponded to his own vision for a startup. "It was all just too coincidental so I emailed them to express my interest to be more than just an employee," says Wong, who is now chief technology officer. "Other people would not have thought outside the box and approached them like I did!"

Energetic, unique, crazy, fun, childish. That is how Adrian Rokman characterises the nature of his work. Then again, at Allsportz, kid's play is everything, and as general manager, Rokman is having a blast being the biggest kid around.

"The entrepreneur's journey is an incredible way to discover your true self and capacity for success," says Emily Gowor, a best-selling author, motivational speaker and mentor who identifies herself through her own personal brand, the Word Artist. Through every imaginable channel -- print, YouTube, social media, one-on-one coaching -- she reaches out to those in doubt or in crisis, using words to break down the human psyche, carrying the power of inspiration in her work.

Lingerie queen and repeat 30under30 winner Chanel Costabir is branching out with a new service called Sheer Novice, expanding on her conviction that sexy undergarments need not be the exclusive domain of women. Her new service, that is, is tailored specifically for the men who love them.

A co-founder of OrionVM, the developer the CloudDC platform, Yeo relishes the opportunity to beat the deep pockets in the industry at their own game. This year marks his third consecutive spot on Anthill's 30under30 list. And he isn't halfway through his twenties yet.

Liza Shulyayeva offers a refreshing approach to those who fret about web design. The 24-year-old from Perth runs Techalite Web Consulting and offers programming and marketing solutions for small businesses and startups. To market herself, she prefers to work hard and let her results generate the buzz.

OnTheGo manufactures customised sportswear for diverse sporting and fitness activities, and makes it available for government, not-for-profit, and corporate organisations. It's a brand that's philanthropic, adventurous, even risk-taking, and inextricably tied to the personality of its founder, the 22-year-old entrepreneur, avid cyclist and self-described 'Young Life Champion', Mick Spencer.

Samantha Wade hails from the rural South Australia town of Melrose, about 250 km north of Adelaide. While most entrepreneurs from her background would ditch the sleepy backwoods for the big city in a wink, Wade is staying put, determined to turn Melrose into a prime destination in its own right.

It's often said that there has never been a better time to be a young entrepreneur in Australia. We have the economic stability, a soaring...

Taylah Hasaballah couldn't stand the elite designers dictating what was fashionable, so she launched a business that would take its cue from the ground level: "the girls on the street, the bloggers, the ‘it girls’, the ones who dare to push the boundaries." The University of Queensland student has built up Tiger Temple with a singular vision for what and how clothing and accessory lines can be, boldly blending new ideas with old-school favourites

One of the more point-blank questions we always ask 30under30 applicants is, "Have you ever been lucky, punk?" Lachy Groom knows a bit about luck: it's taken him from Perth all the way to the rough-n-tumble Silicon Valley hotbed -- and "Dirty Harry" Callahan's own home town -- of San Francisco. At last count, Groom has had six businesses to his credit, three of which sold before he was even 18. He currently oversees Cardnap, a web aggregator -- the largest of its kind, by his reckoning -- dedicated to second-hand gift cards.

Brandon Cowan is aware that he has two things going very much in his favour: the media love apps, and they love apps designed by young folk. As he wraps up high school, Cowan has cranked up the volume, working with developers and on his own to turn dozens of ideas into apps, three of which have made it into the coveted Top 100 on iTunes. "My apps change lives for the better," he proudly declares.