Getting The Gig

We’re calling it, House of Darwin will be the next big thing in Australia.

Welcome to Getting The Gig, a career series where we catch up with culture’s trailblazers on how they landed their dream job.

When it comes to the beauty industry, sustainable and eco-conscious aren’t often the first words that come to mind, which is why we’re just a little bit obsessed with Anna Ross, the boss babe behind vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand Kester Black.

Linn Sandstrom, 29, is a former table tennis pro and is about to fight for the Super Fly Title belt in boxing. How did she get there and score such a sweet gig? We caught up with her ahead of her fight on 7 July to find out. 

We caught up with Melbourne-based artist Dom Gauci to find how she turned her passion for art from a side hustle into an awesome full-time gig. 

When you think of tech gurus like Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs, you think straight-talking, no nonsense leaders. Which is why it was a total breath of fresh—and surprising—air when we caught up with Danielle Krettek, the founder of Google’s Empathy Lab.

Being a third-generation South Asian woman who was raised in Queensland, Tasneem Shahidullah struggled for years to find the perfect lipstick shade for her skin tone, so she set about mixing and blending her own hues, eventually launching TASNEEM Cosmetics just over two years ago.

Enter swimwear guardian angels, Elise Wallbank and Julian Tali, who founded Youswim—a truly game-changing swimwear label that creates no size bikinis and one-pieces. Nope, that’s not a typo. They stock one size, in a rainbow of colours and cuts that adapts to fit a range of different shapes and sizes. Yes, they’ve basically created the swimwear version of the Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants.

For someone who has designed sneakers for the likes of NBA legend James Harden, Macklemore and supermodel Ashley Graham, Vince Lebon is one down to earth dude. As the founder of shoe company Rollie, Lebon’s career has taken him from the western suburbs of Melbourne to Adidas' creative studios in New York, and yet he remains one of the most humble creatives I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with.

If you’ve googled the combo of “millennial”, “Generation Z” and “money” lately, you’ll know the prediction for our financial future (and the chance of us ever retiring) is pretty bleak. Fortunately, not everyone is believing the hype, including one millennial in particular—Emma Edwards founder of The Broke Generation. In her hugely popular blog, the reformed spender turned finance whiz, is breaking down the taboo topics, debunking money myths and simplifying lingo so people like you and me can one day buy their dream home and still eat that avocado toast. 

As far as dream jobs go, they don’t get much greater than owning your own record label. Top that off with the fact that you’re only 23 years old and you’ve got Perth music mogul in the making, Vincent Tolefe. Transforming his love of beats into Your Angle Records, Tolefe is solid proof that hard work, patience and passion are all the ingredients you need for the kind of day job most could only image.