There’s so many other, you know, there’s other things that you can’t control like Covid. But overall, it all turned out to be opportunities in the in the long run. So I wouldn’t call them challenges. I just call them the opening the doors for opportunity, the major milestones that I’m proud of. Well, I run the business with my family.
So my husband and I just celebrated our 29th year anniversary. My sister and I have been in business together for 26 years, and you know, that’s normally not recommended to work with your family, but I absolutely enjoy working with my family. And last year my daughter, who just graduated from the University of Arizona, came into the business and is now the director of marketing, which is a testament to the fact that we have built a business that even my children are proud to continue on in the future. The advice that I would give to other entrepreneurs is to remember that you just being yourself is a gift to the world. Like you don’t have to create anything anymore.
You as yourself is vital and important and whatever ideas that give you joy, go for it because it will bloom and blossom. You can find me at on my email at odette@celebritygourmetventures.com I’m actually at celebritygourmet.com. You can find me on LinkedIn and you can also find me on my website.
My, I don’t really have a huge social presence that’s open to the public, but LinkedIn would be the best way to find me.
John Corcoran: 11:07
Hey, John Corcoran, I’m here at the Entrepreneur’s Organization Global Leadership Conference in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii, 2025. And I am a member of EOS San Francisco and also the Co-founder of Rise25 B2B podcast. And I am here with Jonathan Oliff, who’s from Durban in South Africa. And we were just talking about you had one business that you started with, this Conversation Lab started in 2012. I think you said, talk to me a little bit.
We’re asking people about the challenges that they’ve overcome, especially in the early years of starting their business. So what was it like in the early years of starting that company like you got it.
Jonathan Oliff: 11:43
Okay, cool. So thanks. Thanks for having me on. That’s cool. Early, I think early years was getting specific with what we did, and I think they’re still struggling with that at the moment.
But yeah, it was just a it was. And getting the market to understand what we what we were and what and not pegging you into one little pigeonhole. Yeah. So we had a tagline. I came out of TBWA Hunt Lascaris, and I was always going to do my own thing, but I had a couple co-founders and we had this tagline called We Make Brands Social, and everyone just used that and put us in a box of social media.
And we weren’t we weren’t that we were. We were a little bit broader than that. We specialized. That was one of our shop ends of the wedge, but it was more about getting brands spoken about, like, is that Oscar Wilde quote? Everyone knows about that.
It’s the only thing worse than being spoken about is not being spoken about. So you want you want people saying good things about your brand, but but you want them talking.
John Corcoran: 12:47
So and once people were kind of putting you in the box of social, was it difficult to make, you know, the market, understand that you were much bigger than that?
Jonathan Oliff: 12:57
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And being like a startup small in an established arena. And South Africa’s very got a high sort of quality product for creativity. So to break through was difficult, but I think we did really well.
We pushed the the press really hard, the press releases, we won some awards early on and then just used that, use the momentum there. And I guess like it’s that that self-belief and entrepreneurial spirit, you disagree and commit and then you jump off the cliff and build a plan on the way down. So it was it was, it was I mean, I’m busy doing it again now. Yeah. And it’s like, I’ve got that.
So you know that that there’s some hormone or chemical that’s is produced when in women when they, when they’re pregnant, when they’re giving birth. Have you heard you know that.
John Corcoran: 13:52
So I don’t think so.
Jonathan Oliff: 13:54
It makes them it makes it it makes.
John Corcoran: 13:55
It blocked it out. I have four kids, but they’re a little older now, so.
Jonathan Oliff: 13:59
So there’s a hormone that or chemical I might get that wrong. So excuse me, but that makes the woman the female unit that forgets.
John Corcoran: 14:08
To suppress the pain.
Jonathan Oliff: 14:10
No, just forget or forget. There’s no. Yeah, so forget the pain. Because if they remembered that pain, they would never do it again.
John Corcoran: 14:16
And that’s true. That’s true. My wife has had four kids.
Jonathan Oliff: 14:19
Yeah, so. So. But you were just. I mean, marriages would break up because there would be no more hanky panky or anything like that. So I think maybe entrepreneurs have that same thing because I’m just doing it again, jumping off the cliff and building the plane on the way down and learning as you go.
But it’s amazing.
John Corcoran: 14:33
Well, maybe the the medication that helps with that condition is EO. Right. We’re here at Entrepreneurs’ Organization. What role has that played for you? How has that helped you.
Jonathan Oliff: 14:43
I mean that’s massive. It’s I mean like. It made me realize like my worth. But also I mean, surrounding myself with people better than me and and better me at other things, but like, just better than me and just striving and just learning all the time. So I’ve always been like, a long, a lifelong learner.
But but this is this has been incredibly structured. So whereas I’ll just I’m, I’m kind of interested in a lot of things and this is like way more structured. And that’s been amazing. Yeah.
John Corcoran: 15:17
And what have been your takeaways from this? Beautiful. You must have traveled 20 plus hours to get here. So what have been your takeaways from the last couple of days here in Honolulu.
Jonathan Oliff: 15:26
So 37 hours or 35 here and then 37 on the way back. And and this is the sixth time I’ve done this. Wow. So Hawaii is a special place for me. I used to spend a lot of time on the North Shore and go chase waves there.
And so I went, did that now. And I was actually ran a taxi service when I was there when I was a kid, when I was studying. So I would take people from the North Shore to the airport and drop them off and pick people up. And so I went and did that. Now with some EU members, I rented a car and then went and picked them up and I didn’t charge them.
John Corcoran: 16:02
I was going to say, hopefully you didn’t charge them the prices you charged back then.
Jonathan Oliff: 16:05
Yeah.
John Corcoran: 16:05
Yeah.
Jonathan Oliff: 16:05
No, but so very nostalgic coming back here and then. Yeah. Hawaii. Hawaii. Just like the phenomenal place.
The energy here is very different to anything I’ve ever experienced other than back home.
John Corcoran: 16:18
And what about the people here.
Jonathan Oliff: 16:20
Are the people are just like, yeah, I love that. It’s just yeah, I don’t know. You have to experience it. You have to experience the Hawaiians to, to explain it. But that aloha spirit and that ohana that they talk about is just it’s just it’s more a feeling that can’t be translated like it’s that lost in translation thing.
I feel it’s just incredible people. Yeah.
John Corcoran: 16:44
And you have a new startup called Tim. Tell us about.
Jonathan Oliff: 16:46
It. Yeah. So Tim is a podcasting and performance marketing agency. So podcasting in Africa or in South Africa at least is is pretty new in terms of the marketing, spinning it off, marketing and doing that sort of stuff. There’s some well-established podcasts there.
But Yeah. We produce, we have our own podcast, but then we produce people’s podcasts and that’s the like I say, the shorthand for this is I’m not trying to be Joe Rogan here. I’d love to produce the next Joe Rogan or Stephen Bartlett or whoever it is, but in Africa. And that would be incredible. So I get those type of people on to the show, and then and they get to experience as a sampling exercise on our show.
So you get to experience what a podcast is like. And then if you like it, we just happen to do podcasts. So if you’re no strings attached. But yeah.
John Corcoran: 17:39
Yeah. And where can people go to learn more about you and Tim.
Jonathan Oliff: 17:43
Yeah. So Tim.africa is the website. And then Tim.africa on socials and LinkedIn if you look at that. Yeah.
John Corcoran: 17:51
John, thanks so much.
Outro: 17:52
Thanks for listening to the Rising Entrepreneurs Podcast. This episode is powered by Rise25. Please subscribe and check out future episodes.