It all started with a 15 year old visiting in a biotech lab. Bam, the next generation of innovator was shaped and not so long down the track, Alinta Furnell, would become the CEO and co-founder of Synbiote, a company focusing on creating high-grade industrial bioplastics.

Alinta's journey, from an unexpected email halting can production for their non-alcoholic beer to transforming waste into innovative bioplastics.

Alinta shares her unique perspective on biotech, viewing it as harmonizing natural processes with modern applications, contrary to the common belief of its synthetic nature. The episode also covers the team's rapid achievement of taking a non-alcoholic beer from concept to market in 150 days, highlighting the efficient process and unexpected challenges faced, such as nearly exploding a brewery.

And if you like diversification in early career, you're in for a treat, with Alinta's numerous roles and experiences that contributed to her holistic understanding of biotech commercialization, and her success in various accelerator and fellowship programs, emphasizing the importance of community and personal branding in her career.

00:00 The Unexpected Trademark Hurdle

00:37 Welcome to Multiple Hats

01:05 Meet Alinta Furno: CEO of Symbiote

01:22 From Non-Alcoholic Beer to Bioplastics

01:50 Understanding Biotech and Sustainability

03:03 Challenges and Misconceptions in Biotech

04:37 Symbiote's Innovative Bioplastics

07:13 The Journey from Beer to Bioplastics

14:44 Alinta's Early Career and Inspirations

33:03 Starting the Brewing Journey

34:00 Sales Strategy and Rapid Innovation

38:29 Overcoming Trademark Challenges

41:09 Scaling Up Production

48:02 Community and Support Systems

54:53 Navigating PR and Personal Branding

59:52 Reflecting on Privileges and Barriers

01:01:31 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

You can learn more at https://www.synbiote.com/

And for more info on bioplastic in general you can read these two papers https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-021-00407-8

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10905720/

You can visit my website - angeliquegreco.com.au

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Imagine what it would be like to struggle with poor vision every day and not be able to afford a pair of glasses. That's the reality for many people in remote communities across the globe.

Dr. Sarah Crowe recalls an ambulance driver in Papua New Guinea who found himself in dangerous situations due to his poor vision.

Stuck by the astonishing reality that so may people do not function properly, when all they would need is a pair of simple glasses, she founded OOXii Global and the 4eyesVision Foundation —a change in paradigm in making glasses accessible to all, taping in the healthcare workers on the ground.

With over 20 years of experience as an ophthalmologist, Sarah is adventurous and determined.

Tune in for her early career as a junior doctor during Apartheid in South Africa, how she then set up her own ophthalmology practice while having her kids and to her entrepreneurial ventures.

Great insights on leveraging accelerators like UNSW founders, partnering with other foundations, getting grants and the ever challenging investor landscape where ROI is the reigning metrics, beyond the social impact.

00:00 Meeting the Ambulance Driver

00:27 Introduction to Multiple Hats

00:45 Interview with Dr. Sarah Crow

02:26 The Mission of OOXii Global

02:58 Challenges in Remote Areas

05:36 Sarah's Academic Journey

08:19 Experiences in South Africa

13:00 Starting a Family and Career

17:18 Launching an Ophthalmology Practice

23:24 The Birth of OOXii Global

34:51 Deploying Existing Solutions for Impact

35:16 Simple Innovations Saving Lives

36:48 Community Involvement and Local Empowerment

39:36 Challenges and Reactions to Vision Kits

40:30 Funding and Business Model

46:01 Tech Development and Prototyping

57:37 Cultural Sensitivity in Healthcare

01:03:35 Naming and Structuring the Organization

01:07:29 Lessons Learned and Final Thoughts

Lear more about Sarah

https://www.4eyesvision.org/author/sarah-crowe/

You can visit my website - angeliquegreco.com.au

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A Deep Dive into the UNSW Founders Program - one of the most acclaimed accelerator in Australia.

Community is everything! If you are a founder trying to reinvent the wheel, you are going to have a hard time but if you can find the right community for where you are in your journey, it is a fast track for your start-up.

A fast track in motivation, in network, in knowledge and know how and in funding access.

In this episode of 'Multiple Hats,' we take a deep dive on the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Australia with Dina Titkova, UNSW program managers who overview a range of programs at the University of New South Whales (UNSW).

Dina Tiktova shares insights into the comprehensive entrepreneurship ecosystem at UNSW and on the various programs from ideation to global scaling, including accelerators such as Founders 10X and Health 10X, and supportive events like the Peter Farrell Cup.

We talk about the importance of strategic partnerships, systemic challenges in the startup landscape, and the essential characteristics of resilient entrepreneurs.

Real-life examples, pivot stories, founders archetype, Listen up about UNSW programs and how these can foster innovation and prepares founders to tackle industry-specific challenges.

And hold your breath for UNSW alumni interviews like Dr. Dorsa Rad CellSync Biosciences), Dr. Sarah Crowe (OOXI), Alinta Furnell (Synbiote).

Don’t wait any further and engage with the community!

You can learn more:

https://unswfounders.com/peter-farrell-cup

https://www.heospace.com/

https://www.cardiobionic.com/

You can visit my website - angeliquegreco.com.au

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00:00 Introduction to Multiple Hats

01:42 Meet Dina Tiktova: UNSW Founder Program Manager

02:59 UNSW Founders Program Overview

04:06 Supporting Startups: From Ideation to Global Scaling

07:55 Success Stories: From Space Tech to Health Innovations

11:38 Dina's Journey: From Engineering to Bioentrepreneurship

13:21 Comparing Startup Ecosystems: Sweden vs. Australia

17:34 The Role of Accelerators and Incubators

22:40 Becoming a Founder: From Idea to MVP

26:52 Strategic Partnerships in Health Tech

32:13 Investor Myths and Barriers in Australia

34:00 Direct Investments and Syndicates

36:36 Accelerator Program Structure and Support

38:50 Navigating the Remote Era

42:47 Founder Archetypes and Mindset Shifts

47:38 Pivoting and Learning from Failure

52:22 Collaboration and Systemic Barriers

57:40 Increasing Diversity in Startups

59:59 Conclusion and Future Episodes

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You want to make an impact but you're not up to shooting rocket to Mars?

No worries. You can use your skills to make a difference without being born a billionaire, without having gone through a life traumatising event or having a genius idea.

Tom Jacobs is an engineer from Australia and he did just that with Bokan Tseo, his corporate buddy, and local to Lesotho - better the lives of thousands of people by applying is engineering skills to building water infrastructure in places where people don’t have access to water - like Lesotho, in the South of Africa- a place he fell in love with and got struck by the realisation that people don’t have toilets or drinking water and decided to do this - one tap at the time.

Tune in for the full story, promising great insight on social impact, heart-warming moment, humbling stories and a great tale of building communities!

You can donate to support their cause at https://globaldevelopmentgroup.org/Projects/Details?id=421&projectName=LOKISA%20Water%20Project%20Lesotho&projectNum=J1167N&FromShortUrl=False&source=pweb

Follow them on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/lokisa-water-project-lesotho

Or Facebook or TikTok!

You can visit my website - angeliquegreco.com.au

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Ideation and invention is the start of the journey but there is so much more going into bringing a business and a medtech to life. Where you start matters but Maryam stories is a tell tale about how to be at the right place at the right time and engage with the right stakeholders.

Tune in for dr. Maryam Parviz is the co-founder and CEO of SDIP innovations, a medtech company which technology is a bioresorbable implant which promises to prevent multiple surgeries for patients, cut down on theatre time for surgeons and all that for a fraction of the cost of existing products.

She tells us all about the technology, the process and the challenges in the sector and especially in Australia and her and her team got to reinvent the tech, get into prestigious incubators in the US, build a world class team and got back up by some of the best serial entrepreneurs and investors.

And my favourite part - how to be confident despite your detractors and the societal norms and the systemic issues.

Check out Dr. Maryam Parviz on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryam-parviz/?originalSubdomain=au

You can learn more about SDIP innovations at https://www.sdipinnovations.com/

You can visit my website - angeliquegreco.com.au

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Like any kids, Cassie Leonard wanted to go into space and so she studied aerospace engineering ( at UCLA, mind you)

What if you turned up on your first day and was the only woman in a room of 35 engineers? Maybe quite daunting.

But it did not stop Cassie from spending 16 years at Boeing!

And You know what's great in accumulating 16 years of corporate experience in the biggest aerospace company in the world? You get to explore a lot of possibilities and growth to your own pace!

After a lot of technical jumps, she started her leadership journey and led very large complex teams.

She now leverages all of her experience to help other mid career STEM professionals and especially parents navigate how to build a career that fits within their life and not the other way around.

She took the leap a little more than a year ago and released her first book STEM moms and is now in full swing of her coaching business.

Tune in for lots of career advice!

And her book ? Well it is amazon best sellers Number 1!

https://www.elmmcoaching.com/

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This time, we are talking neurodivergence with Dr. Lorien Parker, aka Dr. Loz.

Lorien is the founder of SciencePlay Kids, a company she founded 9 years ago for ALL BRAINS and ALL learners type to engage with Science and learn. And she did so with zero prior experience in business or education but she jumped right in the deep end and followed her passion for science to help neurodivergent learners and she knows all about it because she has ADHD and is autistic herself and the mother of neurodivergent kids.

Lorien is the one of many women who left academia after having kids because academia just is not designed to accommodate for parents and she did not want to choose being her work and her family. No one should really!

Anyway, she takes us through her first step, the business model she thought she would follow which turned out to be her unicorn model but not sustainable but listen up for Lorien as she nailed the business pivot! Best pivot ever which now allow Lorien to be her best self, empower students and schools with a Win Win model funded by corporates!

Tune in for Lorien's founder story which come with the blessing of embracing her way of working, surrounding herself with the people who can bridge her gaps. Great lessons on tweaking your business model as hers really evolved to an offering she could not have thought of before being buried into delivery of her initial model first.

you can learn more about Lorien and SciencePlay kids on her website and social medias

https://www.scienceplaykids.com.au/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorien-parker-ba7b6a36/

https://www.facebook.com/SciencePlayKids/

You can visit my website - angeliquegreco.com.au

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That's a wrap up for Multiple Hats and 2023!

What a great ride we had with our amazing founders sharing their journey and what it takes to be an entrepreneur, call it success and sometimes, call it quit!

Thank you for lending me your ears and coming along with me on this journey of entrepreneurship!

Let's make Multiple Hats a conversation and tell me what you think or what you want for next year. 

This episode is a word of me, your host, Angelique, and what prompted me to launch Multiple Hats.

it is an episode to connect with you and hear from you.

Multiple Hats is all about you and how it can help you finding your own script and taking your very first step!

Tune in for this kudos and reflection episode.

For now, I will leave you with some thoughts on making the first move, experiment with a portfolio career, get into the mindset of these who act with purpose, armed with grit and letting go of perfectionism.

For more insights,, I suggest a few good reads: 

- Find your why, Simon Sinek

- The power of perseverance and grit, Angela Duckworth

-The power of Onlyness, Nilofer Merchant

- This working life, Lisa Leong

- There has to be more, Rachel Service

Have a good end of the year 2023

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