Lisa Messenger is a young, dynamic, entrepreneurial woman whose strong ambition has seen her establish four very successful marketing and publishing companies. She is currently Managing Director of Messenger Marketing and Messenger Publishing and co-director of Anchovy Publishing. She has worked globally in events, sponsorship, marketing, PR and custom publishing — you name it — She’s possibly done it!

A country girl at heart, Lisa grew up on the property Kallateenee near Coolah and attended Ascham School in Sydney as a boarder, where she made many friends from all over the state who still remain close. Never one to be constrained by traditions and conventions, her passion, imagination, creativity, energy and business flair have led her on many fun and outrageous adventures. Thriving on challenges, smashing barriers and taking people beyond their comfort zone is what drives Lisa’s ‘nothing’s impossible’ approach. Her unique publishing and distribution model and success of her first book Happiness Is… led to being named a finalist in the 2005 Telstra Business Woman of the Year. Lisa writes extensively for a number of magazines, is a judge for the Business and Specialists Publishers national Bell Awards, sits on the board of the Australian Business Women’s Network and headed up International Women’s Day for them in Australia in 2006. She is also an active supporter of charities Kids Help Line and Opportunity International.

What gave you the motivation/inspiration to follow your dream?

I maintained an incredibly positive, driven attitude and surrounded myself with the best people in the industry. I always thought ‘big’, and was not constrained by tradition. When I know what it is that I want, I have an uncanny knack of never giving up, and I make it happen. Sometimes just knowing what it is that I want is the hardest part. I have so many dreams and never ever want to close myself off to any opportunity. I suppose that is the true essence of an entrepreneurial mindset. My brain works a million miles an hour and there is always some new crazy project that I am thinking of creating or working on. It’s never boring—I love it all!

At what point did you realise that your dream was actually possible and what was it that made you think you could really do it?

It was a dream of mine for years to have my own business. Every job I had, I wanted to become a partner and have equity in the company. I think it was my destiny. It’s been a fabulous personal challenge and has given me the freedom to do what I want when I want, and adopt a real entrepreneurial attitude. I have had some amazing journeys and met some incredible people since starting. The support I have received has been just phenomenal.

Happiness Is… evolved so quickly I didn’t have time to think about it. It might sound strange but it’s almost as if I didn’t choose to do this project—it chose me. I just put it out to the universe and had a huge belief in something higher than myself and it all miraculously fell into place. I think a turning point and huge boost of confidence occurred when I attended a one-day self-publishing course. I quickly realised that whilst many people have great ideas for books, few of them have any marketing experience. What gave me the courage were my years in marketing, sponsorship and PR, and I never once imagined I wouldn’t succeed. Since the book’s success, so many incredible opportunities have opened up for me and I have loved the journey and absolutely love where I’m at.

When you were a child, what did you want to ‘be’ when you grew up?

Looking back I always wanted more from life. I never liked to be constrained by uniforms, traditions, four walls. I spent a lot of years wanting to work with horses and a lot of years wanting to work with children. I think there should be more emphasis in our education system on encouraging children to explore different opportunities and setting them up for discovering their true essence — who they are and what they want out of life. I think we tend to be pigeonholed for so many years, that it takes a miracle, some serious adversity or some huge turning point, to actually shake you up enough to question what your purpose is. It’s very easy to go through life trying to live up to other people’s expectations of you.

How did your childhood influence you in later life?

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I truly realised the enormity of the influence your childhood has on your life. In one way I was incredibly lucky. I grew up in Coolah and absolutely loved the area, the people and the community. I have so many wonderful memories and I am lucky that I have so many amazing people all over rural NSW who really ground me when city life gets a little crazy.

At heart, I’m a country girl! On the other hand, my childhood presented me with a lot of issues which I hadn’t dealt with fully until a couple of years ago. I suppose I just got really honest with myself and have spent a lot of time working through these issues. Happiness Is… was a part of that process.

Finally I can now say that I’m content and accepting of who I am. I have a greater awareness of my values and my beliefs. I think it is important to look deep within yourself to realise who you truly are, where you came from and what made you the person you are today.

Who are your role models?

I don’t have any specific role models. People come into my life for a reason and I gain a lot of strength, courage and lessons from all sorts of people at different times in my life. The right people always seem to appear when I need them. Anita Ruddock, Tom Peters and Richard Branson have certainly had a huge effect on me in their ballsy non-traditional approach to the world and making a difference.

What does success mean to you?

Success means being able to really make a difference. Since I’ve been propelled into the limelight through the media etc., I find that I actually have a platform to try to influence things. I’ve loved being able to have Kids Help Line as one of the benefactors of my book, and providing a book for budding photographers to showcase their work in.

I also love being my own boss and making time for the things that increasingly matter to me in my life—family, friends and my interests outside of work. I don’t want to be one of the 95 per cent who are dissatisfied with their jobs or unfulfilled in life. I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve managed to escape the rat race and create a life that I just love.

I am currently writing a book aimed at ‘intrapreneurs’ (corporate entrepreneurs), which aims to show people that there is in fact another way — I am hoping it will empower people all over the world.

What has been one of the biggest barriers you have had to face, what happened, and how did you overcome it?

Messenger Marketing was getting a little out of control at one stage. I was trying to be everything to everyone. It was fun and diverse but I had too many different types of clients and was doing everything from PR to launches to events to integrated marketing! Nothing was systemised and I was pretty much reinventing the wheel with every client. They certainly got fabulous fresh ideas, but I wasn’t making a lot of money and was spreading myself very thinly.

With Messenger Marketing, for the first two years I didn’t take any risk financially and didn’t borrow any money and still managed to expand. I literally started with $4000 and within six weeks of start-up, had offices and a full-time staff member. I just thought big and luckily won every client I pitched for.

When I started Messenger Publishing, however, it was a completely different story. Self-publishing a book meant that I needed over $80,000 to make it all happen. I borrowed about half of this and the rest I funded through pre-selling and lots of non-traditional book distribution methods. I formed a brilliant cause-related partnership with Kids Help Line, who also bought a large quantity of books up-front to on-sell as a major part of their fundraising and awareness activities.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time? What is your vision for the future?

My day-to-day objectives change all the time, as I stay open to just about anything. However, my overall objectives are to explore lots of industries, live life, stay open to opportunities, and maintain a job that is a lifestyle and something that I truly, absolutely love!

I have certain things I want to achieve but I am always setting myself new goals and challenges. Two years ago I didn’t even envisage writing a book — it’s been on the shelves now for a year and a half and I have four more almost complete. Ideally, I would like to complete more books, maintain and develop the Happiness Is… brand, write a novel and reinvent Messenger Marketing, which will help to fund my passions.

My ideal life within a couple of years is to move to Byron Bay and run my businesses from up there, flying to Sydney for three days a fortnight. I want to travel, have a beautiful family and always be true to who I am.

What would you like to say to other women who may be just starting out on a ‘Daring to Dream’ journey?

Love what you do! Be passionate, have dreams and chase them wholeheartedly. Don’t live discontented lives. If you don’t like what you are doing, change it now. Create a vision for yourself, be in love with life, stay true to yourself and use this strength to become the person you want to be.