Lisa Teh was named in the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians in 2021 and was a Finalist in the 2021 B&T Women In Media Awards. And you can quickly see why, she is impressive!
Lisa is the Co-Founder of online platform Lisnic, an online business and experts listing platform that helps businesses find the right support to scale their business, the co-host of the Lisnic podcast where she’s interviewed some of the world’s top entrepreneurs including Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randolph, Gary Vaynerchuk and Grant Cardone and is the Founder and Director of Digital Marketing Company CODI Agency.
Lisa has recently co-founded Mooning, a Web3 marketing agency that helps brands navigating the exciting world of NFTs, the metaverse and blockchain.
She has also founded beauty brand 101 Lifestyle, a natural oral hygiene brand stock at MECCA, Australia’s leading beauty retailer.
Plus Lisa is the co-Author of best-selling books Australian Style and Australian Beauty and Co-Founder and Editor of Couturing.com, one of Australia’s most popular fashion, beauty and lifestyle media platforms which has been running for over 10 years.
There is some serious admiration at Behind the Brands for Lisa Teh!
So how did Lisa come to start her business?
My business partner Nick Bell and I are passionate about engaging experts to help you grow exponentially. They have both personally helped us in our business journey and we know having the right ones in your life can mean the difference between success and failure.
We are both very active on LinkedIn and have developed a great community. We did some posts on LinkedIn on seeking expert help and the consistent feedback we received was that people wanted to find experts but weren’t sure how to find one. We did some research and realised there was no one amazing resource people could use to find an expert anywhere in the world, so we decided to do something about it. And so Lisnic was born. Recently, we added a business listing section on to the platform so people could easily find businesses to help them scale their operations.
What is a piece of advice you wish you had been told before starting your entrepreneurial journey?
Invest in expert advice! Having the right experts around me has totally accelerated my business journey. Not only has it helped me avoid mistakes, save time and money, but it’s been great having people around you to support you, particular when you might be struggling with a problem. Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, so having people who are invested in what you’re doing can be the difference between success and failure.
What is your favourite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Getting to do something I love every day. I started my career in an industry I wasn’t passionate about. I wasn’t excited to get up every day and I didn’t feel like I was working towards a bigger goal I was genuinely invested in. I feel fortunate that I get to work with incredible people all around the world in businesses that genuinely excite me. I’m learning everyday and know that I’m building companies that I’m proud of.
What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
1. Consume content like it’s going out of fashion. I consume content every chance I get. It helps me stay ahead of the competition, continue to think of new ideas for my companies and helps me grow as a person and business owner.
2. Lose the ego. If you want to be better, you need to listen to feedback from those who you respect, and actually implement changes. No one likes hearing negative feedback about themselves, but it’s the best way to grow.
3. Be resilient. Running a business is hard. If you aren’t willing to keep going when the going gets tough, it’s not the right career path for you. Things will always go wrong no matter how much you plan. It’s how you rise to the challenges that are thrown at you that will determine your level of success.
Outsource the skill or learn the skill?
Tough one! I like to learn enough to be dangerous but outsource to experts. Too many businesses don’t succeed because the owner wants to do everything. They either want to be in control, or think they are the ones that will do the best job. This not only causes bottlenecks and time delays, but it won’t get you the best results and it’s highly unlikely you will be amazing at everything. I learned a long time ago that it’s not always a good thing to be the smartest person in your business. You want to work with people who are way better than you and what they do. This is when you’ll get the best results.
How do you generate new ideas?
Who you spend your time with is so important. I love talking to people from all different backgrounds as it helps me generate new ideas for my businesses. You can learn something from everyone. Although I’m an introvert, I get energy from being around people who have interesting things to say. These conversations always inspire me to think outside the square and challenge the norm.
The Lisnic podcast for example has given me the chance to have conversations with some of the top business minds in the world. I feel super fortunate that I not only get a chance to learn directly from incredible people, but then share those conversations and learnings with our Lisnic community.
What keeps you going in difficult times?
Knowing that I’m building businesses that I’m proud of. For example, with Lisnic, I know it’s a company that can help a lot of people. Whether it’s someone that is struggling with their careers or businesses, or it’s an Expert who is looking to make a little extra money, our platform is one that can change lives.
I’ve been fortunate enough to run many expert sessions through the site. The energy I get from helping people is amazing! It’s so rewarding to see them apply all the learnings from my many mistakes(!) to help their businesses. Just the other day for example, I received feedback from one of the people I helped, that post our session, he had his biggest month in sales ever! So, when times get tough, I know that the Lisnic team and I are building something that will genuinely help the community and give more people the chance at finding success in the challenging world of business.
How do you handle doubt?
In my 20’s I really doubted myself. I didn’t believe that I could be successful in my career, let alone run multiple businesses. Over the years I’ve really invested a lot in doing things that will help me overcome any doubts. This includes:
- removing people from my life that held me back or made me not believe in myself
- investing in therapy
- consuming content to help me develop expertise in my industry, and
- getting experts who are invested in my success and can give me a confidence boost if I ever need one.
Do you have any mentors or coaches? If so, tell us about that.
I have a few that inspire and support me. My business partner Nick has helped me with the growth of my agency. Our CODI Agency General Manager Lana has taught me a lot about managing people and the importance of processes. I learn from her every day. My good friend Mia who started her company Moxie in her 20s has taught me a lot about resilience and the importance of believing in yourself.
I also follow a lot of entrepreneurs on social media and learn from them all the time. People such as Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randloph (who I’m lucky enough to work with now!), marketing legend Gary Vaynerchuk, Simon Sinek, etc are some of the world’s top minds and I have taken so much from their content.
What tips do you have for other women who would like to start their own businesses?
Believe in yourself or no-one else will. Women in particular doubt themselves, especially if they work in male dominated industries. Invest in making yourself mentally stronger. Whether that’s learning, going to therapy, surrounding yourself with people who support you, being mentally strong is so important if you want to be a business owner.
It might look glamourous from the outside, but it’s incredibly challenging. I liken it to being in the ocean, you can’t relax for a second or you’ll drown. Only the strongest will survive. That said, it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. Seeing your business grow, whether that’s in team development, revenue, brand, is empowering and energising and can present you opportunities you never even thought possible.
We Are Emersyn uses an inclusive definition “female” and “women” and we welcome trans people, women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who identify, have identified, or have been identified as female, women, or non-binary.