Get ready for a day of inspiration, discovery, insightful conversation and creative connection… The Finders Keepers Creative Business Summit is here!
After 14 years of hosting Australia’s leading design markets, and fostering a creative community, we are proud as punch to be launching our first-ever one of a kind conference for micro and small businesses.
Based on the theme, ‘Courageously creative through mindful business’ the unique event will bring together inspiring conversations with successful creative small business leaders, makers, thinkers and experts in a one-day event in person and online.
Learn new skills to help grow your business. Connect with like-minded creatives and small business champions. Be inspired by insightful conversations. Walk away with skills and connections to carry your business forward. It’s going to be a jam-packed day and we cant wait to see you there!
Tickets
All tickets NOW $175 (+$4 bf)
Tickets include a catered lunch, morning coffee by Allpress and refreshment breaks, networking drinks in the evening, PLUS a goodie bag!
Interstate or want to watch the conference from the comfort of your creative space? Pre-order Digital tickets $55
We’re excited to let you know that if you can’t attend the Summit in person we’ll have the summit content ready for digital download post-event! For our amazing existing Early-bird ticket holders, we will price match and refund the ticket difference. Our team will be in touch.
Meet Our Line-up:
We’re so chuffed with our stellar line-up of creative business champions! Visit the Summit Info page for a summary of the program for the day!
You may know Dani Venn from not one but three seasons of MasterChef Australia! Her cooking creativity has taken her across the world, from live food events to hosting foodie retreats in places like Bali and Sri Lanka, as well as cooking for events of all sizes, from intimate dinner parties to 400 people in Mumbai.
Dani is also a content creator, podcast host and has made it onto the shelves of Coles with her very own range of simmer sauces inspired by her travels and one of her favourite places on earth, Sri Lanka.
Follow Dani on Instagram and Facebook @danivenn and tune in to her new podcast, Falling For You, all about becoming more comfortable in your own skin.
“When you work for yourself or with a small team, having a sense of community with like-minded people who have similar values is so important.”
Dani Venn
Kitiya has masterfully built her own super-niche creative career from scratch, and now 12 years on can hang her hat on crafting projects for global brands the likes of Adobe, LEGO, Warner Music, Lily Allen and more.
A multi-disciplinary craft-based designer, Kit has many specialities from prop and installation design to content creation, public art design, illustration, and workshop facilitation. Her focus on traditional handmade techniques reimagined in contemporary ways has set her and her clients apart. You may have also met Kit at The Finders Keepers Melbourne market in 2016!
Follow Kit’s colourful journey on Instagram @kitiyapalaskas and grab some of her free DIY, craft and small business resources over at kitiyapalaskas.com.
“There might be times where you are faced with what I sometimes like to call ‘creative demons’ – in these times I have a motto I live by: Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
Kitiya Palaskas
Frankie Ratford is a designer, adventurer and business owner based in Queensland. She started The Design Kids back in 2009 to help emerging graphic designers break into the industry. Her marketing strategy was very hands-on – a six-year road trip across 75 cities and 33 countries means she now helps over 350,000 designers!
Never one to sit still, Frankie also runs portfolio boot camps around the world (now online) and has recently started coffee/ co-working/ creative residency programs with friends on the tiny island she’s lucky to call home, Magnetic Island.
Check out TDK’s awesome free online resources at thedesignkids.org, and follow @thedesignkids and @frankieratford on Instagram.
“If your business does good, and you’re doing it for all the right reasons, people want to help you and you’ll survive and thrive again.”
Frankie Ratford
Pru Chapman knows good business. As the founder of Owners Collective, she has helped over 15,000 founders launch, leverage, and lead their businesses. She’s passionate about using business as a force for good and her most recent project One Wild Ride – a podcast and magazine – showcases forward-thinking founders who place people and the planet on equal footing with profit and projections.
Pru offers a refreshing mix of science, psychology, mindfulness, insightfulness, disruptive energy and entrepreneurial gusto. She has both interviewed and worked with leading purpose-driven brands including Patagonia, Thankyou, Who Gives A Crap, Koala, TOM Organic and many more. Find Pru on Instagram and LinkedIn @pruchapman and at theownerscollective.com.
“When we stay connected to our people and our purpose it gives us something much bigger to both support and be supported by.”
Pru Chapman
Louise has been making magazines and building brands for more than 20 years – you may have heard of some of them: frankie magazine, Smith Journal, SPACES and now Lunch Lady!
Louise believes if you’re not winning, you’re learning, and that to be courageously creative means to stretch yourself when necessary, to challenge and put yourself out of your comfort zone often.
Lunch Lady is colourful, thoughtful and full-of-cheek, reminding parents to keep things in perspective and have fun. Find Lunch Lady on Instagram @hellolunchlady with lots of goodness on their website hellolunchlady.com.au.
“Like many business owners, half the time I’m winging it and feeling things out. There is often no straight road, it’s always bumpy and full of challenges and it’s how you hurdle them and keep going that really counts.”
Louise Bannister
As a contemporary mixed-race First Nations artist from Goreng Goreng Country, Rachael’s work often challenges and explores the themes of society’s perception of what Aboriginal art and identity are.
Rachael is a dynamic creative with the ability to challenge cultural and societal narratives while bringing her distinct feminine, fun and engaging style. With a Ted X talk under her belt, Rachael works between multiple industries and creative outlets and is redesigning how First Nations women can walk in multiple worlds.
Rachael is passionate about anchoring business in culture and giving back to community through her own brand and her partnerships. Follow Rachael at rachaelsarra.com and @sar.ra__ on Instagram.
“Sometimes we underestimate the power of art and design and the role it can have on challenging business and creating change.”
Rachael Sarra
Have you ever wondered where great ideas come from? What about how to flick that magic switch and get ideas on demand? This is Nicole’s jam.
Nicole has built a career diving into all facets of creativity. Through interactive workshops, she gives her audiences newfound confidence in their creativity and a toolkit for idea generation.
With a background in advertising and brand strategy, Nicole founded and heads up The Ideas Bodega, hosts Creativity Unpacked The Podcast and is the host of Creative Mornings Sydney – a global series for the creative industry. Find Nicole at theideasbodega.com.au and on Instagram @theideasbodega.
“Creativity isn’t an elusive gift for a chosen few. It’s actually an innate part of being human that every single one of us possesses. Creativity is a muscle. You can build it and you can get better at it.”
Nicole Velik
Odette knows that every small business has a story to tell, and she’s here to help empower business owners to tell those stories through the power of PR. She is a publicist, PR mentor and founder of Odette & Co – a micro PR agency based out of Byron Bay.
She has designed and teaches the Hack Your Own PR program made for small business owners, and also hosts the Hack Your Own PR podcast, full of tips from some of Australia’s best journalists and producers. Find Odette at odetteandco.com.au and on Instagram @odetteandco.
“Being courageous is showing up and pushing the boundaries of what already exists, being experimental and playful and of course, being okay with failure…because not all of our ideas are as fabulous as we think they are at 4am.”
Odette Barry
Anita helps brands that “don’t do normal” stand out from the crowd through the powerful combination of psychology and (the right) words. Beginning her career as a lawyer, Anita jokes she used to ‘write the things people don’t read’, and started Wordfetti as a much-needed creative outlet and side hustle.
Anita’s firm belief is that when words are executed strategically, with empathy and with precision, it has the power to ignite emotions, propel world-changing ideas, and inspire impactful action.
She’s got plenty of bite-sized gems on copywriting, marketing, content and consumer psychology on her pod Brandfetti, and you can follow Anita @anitasiek and the team at @wordfetti on Instagram.
“The moment we chose to be business owners, we chose to live a life that was courageous. One that isn’t mediocre. One where brave action is celebrated.”
Anite Siek
Kiah knows the smartest ways to use technology to better your business, and she’s on a mission to get us all spending time doing more fulfilling things – like wowing customers, being with family and pursuing hobbies. Her belief is that we don’t need to be weighed down by clutter, or paralysed by tech-phobia anymore.
With a strong background in tech, projects and planning, she unites Artificial Intelligence with humanness to help business owners get more enjoyment out of entrepreneurship.
Follow Kiah’s work at kiahworling.com and @kiahworling on Instagram.
“I make tech simple for busy and brilliant businesses who want to unsubscribe from the chaos in order to thrive and succeed on the stuff that’s more important.”
Kiah Worling
On a mission to empower people to be the best they can be, Adam created Mi Goals with the goal to help himself and others find their purpose and realise their dreams. Talk about dreaming big!
Adam is passionate about sharing his own insights from creating Mi Goals as he learned what it takes to have a vision and set real-deal goals to achieve it. Now Adam’s diaries, journals and notebooks are helping more than half a million people do the same!
Get inspired by Adam’s journey on Instagram and Facebook @migoals, and connect on LinkedIn @ajelic.
“Having a plan of attack, being proactive, disciplined in your approach; these are the things that are going to help you stay courageous.”
Adam Jelic
Erin Morris is the founder and director at Young Folks, a certified B Corp and member of 1 Percent For The Planet specialising in marketing for conscious companies.
Erin’s speciality is boosting the growth of game-changing brands, helping them leverage digital advertising and content marketing to reach their goals and achieve their greatest positive impact on people and the planet. And don’t we need more of that!
Find Erin and her team spreading positive vibes on Instagram and Facebook @youngfolksdigital and on LinkedIn @young-folks.
“Anyone who’s boldly and passionately put their creative idea out there will know that the act of being creative is courageous in itself.”
Erin Morris
All of our creative has been lovingly designed by our mates at Studio Muse Muse 💕