I really care about future ginning.
I had an aha moment years ago.
I remember being in Fairhaven Beach in Victoria and I saw a woman, she was probably 88, with
a surfboard under her arm and I said, I want to be her.
You know when people talk about this imposter syndrome, right?
I think it's just bullshit, right?
Hi, I'm Sally Patton, editor of BOSS from the Australian Financial Review.
And welcome to 15 minutes with the BOSS, a podcast about success and failure and everything
And along the way, we're hoping to get some great advice from our leaders.
My guest today is Janine Alice, the founder of Boost Juice and the chairman of Retail
Hi Janine, how are you?
Good, how are you?
Very well, thank you.
Thank you so much for coming in today.
You are the founder of Boost Juice and the chairman of Retail Zoo, which houses Boost
Salsa's Fresh Mechs Grill and Betty's Burgers.
And you also sit on the board of Kogan, the online retailer.
You started Boost in 2000 when you were 32 and there are now 850 stores in 13 countries.
And you also have about 60 Betty's Burgers.
That sounds like a lot to keep you busy, but on top of all of that, you are a previous
winner of the Telstra Businesswoman of the Year.
And you've appeared on Shark Tank, Australian Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice and Gordon
Ramsay's Food Stars.
You're everywhere.
Actually, do you make a point of saying yes?
I think life's more interesting if you say yes before you say no, because no means safe.
No means you don't need to put yourself out there.
So for me, yes has been fun.
Oh, that's interesting, yeah, because no means not taking any chances.
And the status quo absolutely doesn't change.
Now we've only got 15 minutes.
Let's start the clock right now.
And my first question is, and I'm slightly nervous to ask this in your case, what does
your morning routine look like?
What time do you get up?
The alarm goes off about quarter past five.
I do the same thing every morning.
So I get up, I have vitamins, I do my facial cream, blah, blah, blah.
By that stage, I've got two dogs and a cat following me at my feet.
So I feed the cat first because it's meows the loudest, so the dogs can wait.
I then put on my prana chai on the pot because it needs to brew.
I then feed the dogs because then at that stage they've done after they've done a wee.
So then I've actually checked in and I check the surf.
And so by the time the dogs are fed, the dishwasher's cleaned, and I've had more supplements, and
I have now got my chai's now ready to brew, I then get in my car at about 10 to 6 to 6
to then head to the beach.
And are you a surfer?
On longboards or longboards?
Long, long, longboards.
So then I find, we'd find a wave, some days successful, some days not, but every day I
will get in the ocean.
I truly believe there is something energetic about the ocean.
I think that the minerals of the salt and watching the sunrise, and I mean it's already
proven that the circadian rhythms of watching the sunrise helps with sleep.
So on every level it does grounding, it does exercise, it does the social aspect of doing
it with a girlfriend, it does the mental thing of the challenge of doing surfing, which is
And I just get out of the ocean, have a coffee, have a laugh.
You break down that wave, or that thing you missed, or how you stuffed it up, or, and
then you get on with your day.
So in addition to all those vitamins, do you also eat breakfast?
No, I don't eat breakfast.
Chibani has a no sugar yoghurt.
So I do that and I mix in with that creatine and resveratrol into the yoghurt, and then
I do a fiber in there, and then I add in there, again, low sugar muesli, which is a cocoa.
And so that's what I have in the morning.
I have that while I put the sauna on to then go in the sauna.
That is quite a routine.
And it's the same thing.
Like now I say that, look, I travel interstate and things get thrown out, but that is my
routine that really is working for me.
My next question is, can you tell me about a pivotal moment in your career, a project
that you took on or something that you did that really changed the nature and the whole
path of what you were doing?
Look, I think it was starting Boost.
I was a publicist at the United International Pictures for a movie company, and the interesting
thing with Boost was naivety got me into it because I thought, how hard could it be?
No one told me, if I said to them, oh, by the way, I'd like to start at a juice bar
with no business experience, not a degree in anything.
Apparently I'm actually the only degree I've ever gotten in my life is a yoga instructor
So I'm actually my yoga teacher, and that's kind of it.
And so, yeah, so for me, it was really being this young woman on a massive learning curve
of how to actually work out how to run a business because I found the weight of getting it right
But I also believe that I'm not an expert, never will be, but I'm a student.
And so I was a student of business and how to learn doing business was doing it.
So what was the hardest part about setting it up at the time?
I think everything.
Like, you know, I didn't understand about voltages of equipment.
I didn't understand about DAs of sites.
I didn't understand about leasing.
I didn't understand it.
I didn't understand about food and understand about the food standards code.
But the thing was that it was just doing it and going, okay, how do I learn?
And then how do I create a system and how do I create a process?
So when you look at any brands, all brands start with thin air, an idea, and then they
have to become a business that has 800 stores in 13 countries.
It's a great story.
So what's the best piece of career advice you've ever been given?
Obviously, high, slowly and fire fast, you know, is one thing and making sure,
because it's all about people, you know, your business is only successful as
your weakest person.
So on that note, do you, have you fired a lot of people as soon as their
probation or just before their probation period has finished?
Yeah, ideally, yes, that's pretty much.
But then sometimes, you know, the other thing I've done badly is I set people up
to fail. I don't mean to.
But, you know, if they're really good at something, you go, all right, I'll give
you more and more and more and more.
And then suddenly they don't want to let you down, but they're not capable of what
I've done that before.
And that's interesting.
So have you learned from that and learned how to help people along the way rather
than to set them up for failure?
Yeah, I look, I have first and foremost, acknowledging that maybe they're not
able to do that next step and or ensuring that they're more prepared.
So I think the key thing with any leader is that before you actually look at the
person, you look at yourself first.
Have I given them the resources?
Have I given them the opportunity?
Have I given them the tools and have I communicated, more importantly, what I
needed done? So if I can tick all those those boxes, then you can go, right.
OK, well, maybe it's not working out.
So I think the key thing is people.
So and it's also reviewing people and but not only just it's not about firing
fast, it's also about how do you communicate and be the best possible leader?
How do you give them the tools for them to be the best version of themselves?
So besides hiring slowly and firing fast, what other great piece of career
advice have you picked up?
Again, with people, you know, don't blunt their sword.
Can you explain that?
So what I mean by that is that, you know, some person is if they're really highly
creative, right, and you go, right, you're a creative and you're in the role.
Don't try and make them analytical.
So because quite often what you do is if you try and go, you need to do better
paperwork, you need to do this, you got to do all these things or you got to do
the analytics of what you're doing, well, suddenly you're killing their creativity.
And so in actual fact, you're better off getting an analytical person with them and
getting to respect each other and see where the power is.
That's where the true power comes from.
And so not blunting their sword, I think is really important too.
And just putting the right people in the right roles.
That's interesting.
So do you think the same in terms of management, just because someone is
creative and is really good at what they do, doesn't necessarily mean they're
going to be a great manager.
And they don't want to be a great manager.
So have you, have you sort of learned, have you made the mistake before of
promoting someone to a manager when actually that was totally, completely,
you know, and completely, and sometimes they don't even know it.
They just go, Oh, I should be progressing because I should be.
Well, no, maybe you just love what you do and that's okay.
You know, so, but it's all about people.
That's also really good advice.
On that note, we are going to take a short break, but Janine, don't go away.
We're going to come back and open our lovely chatter box.
Welcome back to 15 minutes with the boss.
I am Sally Pattern, the editor of boss.
And I'm here with Janine Ellis, the founder of boost now, Janine, this is
our section called the chatter box in front of you, as you can see, is this
lovely, quite a low fire, I'm afraid cardboard box inside of which are about
I'm going to ask you to pick some out one by one and we'll do more Q and A.
Who is the person outside of the business world whom you most admire and why?
Outside of the business world.
Any, I don't know, singers, prime ministers, musicians.
You know, I don't put people on pedestals.
And I learned that when I was 21 working on David Bowie's Yacht, I met Mick
Jagger and Michael Caine and Robin Williams and Eric Idle and all of these
And I realised they were just people, right?
So musicians, yeah, I certainly admire, but I think it's people that make
changes in the world, like Fiona Wood, you know, who is an inventor of skin
for burns victims, which is life changing, you know, and then you link,
think of Bill Gates, Bill Gates wanted to help, um, sanitation in third world
countries because why, because it is important.
So I think those sort of people are people where I go, you know, where, where
I always thought one person can't change the world, it's whether those type of
people can actually change how the world is and how we think.
So the fact that you have never put anybody up on a pedestal, at least
since you were in your early twenties, has that somehow helped you in business
because you're not, you don't hold people in awe?
But I also don't hold myself in awe.
But I also don't hold myself in awe.
People who work for me, I always consider them working with me because
I can't do it without them, right?
I can't do it without it, without a team of super smart people.
Now I finished school at 16, right?
My school didn't even go to year 12.
It was a tech school, right?
So I, but, but equally, I never ever felt that I was less than someone.
All I felt was in a room that we needed to get shit done and I needed to learn a lot.
And I hated paying legal fees, right?
And I, so, so my view was, I thought if I'm paying a lawyer who's been to
school for six years to do law and I'm paying them 700 to a thousand dollars an
hour, I want to not just go, is that contract right?
I want to make sure that I sit down and go through everything and learn.
So, you know, I think that I know as much about trademarks, worldwide
trademarks and any other lawyer, right?
The other thing I found out by being, having that curious mind is
lawyers get it wrong a lot.
And so do accountants.
Oh, so it sounds like your humility and your just desire to learn and to be
across everything has really stood you in good stead.
It's, I don't see it as humility.
I see it as understanding my knowledge base and understanding
that I'm the student always.
So yeah, it's not humility.
I think it's realism.
And it's not even meet you and people talk about this imposter syndrome, right?
I think it's just bullshit, right?
Well, because we are all learning.
There is no one out there who's an expert.
If someone turns to me and say, I am an expert in blah, then I just look at them
and go, wow, that's really sad for you because there's nothing more for you to
learn if you're an expert, that means that they know that they don't, they
don't need to learn anything else.
They're an expert.
Oh, that's interesting.
So if we're all learning, then there's no such thing as imposter syndrome.
No, we're just learning.
You're just there on the curve and you're learning.
So, so when that someone sort of goes, I feel like I'm supposed to be, no, you're
supposed to be wherever you are.
Have a fish in the box.
Oh, and this is a new one.
What is your favourite health hack?
Look, I'm an early adopter in the health hack.
So I'm, so let me explain why health is important to me.
I really care about future Janine, right?
I care about her.
So I want to have the discipline today to ensure that the future Janine's okay.
So what does that mean?
For me, it means that I get good sleep.
I don't drink much alcohol.
I, um, I exercise and I, I eat relatively well.
I know that sounds like I'm incredibly boring person, but I had an aha moment
years ago and I saw a little old lady walking with a walker and I sort of, you
know, I thought, Oh God, I do not want to be her.
I remember being in Fairhaven beach in Victoria and I saw a woman, she was
probably 88 with a surfboard under her arm.
And I said, I want to be her.
And I also decided that every decision that I make today dictates which
version of myself I will be.
So I'm finding that, you know, I'm feeling the best I've ever felt.
And what supplements do you take?
Oh God, how long have you got?
Um, no, I've got I've got a risk of a toll MNM.
I take ginseng, ginkgo biloba.
I take vitamin D and I'm also on and a massive fan of HRT.
There's a curve that actually goes up when with regard to increase of all
sorts of mortalities and then the curve, when you are taking HRT, what it does.
And it also makes sense to me.
So I don't know if on the most simplest terms is that as soon as you
cannot bear children, the body goes, well, you know, not what, what's
the point, but it kind of goes, what's the point.
So I think if you're continuing to keep your body, your hormones
in balance, then your body is in balance.
And I, you know, implore women to at least do the research on it.
Well, I wish you luck and I have every confidence that you'll
be surfing when you're 88.
Yeah, that's the plan.
Have another go in the box.
What part of your job don't you like?
You know, filling in forms.
I think that is just the most monotonous thing.
You know, I'm lucky enough to have a PA and so most of the jobs
I don't like she gets.
So, you know, dealing with bureaucracy is just does my head in.
Are there parts of leadership that you don't like so much?
The people part, sometimes I really struggle with.
I love the, I love the people part in when you're seeing people develop
and being the best they can be.
And I hate the people part where, you know, people, you know, don't
do the right thing in the business or, or that they do the right thing,
but, you know, they're not quite good enough at their job or, you know,
so the people part is thing.
And I'm, and also I'm not very good when people tell me problems.
Cause in my head, in the back of my head, I go, Oh, really?
But externally I go, Oh, really?
So your dog broke its leg.
But I also believe in verbs and sores.
And what that means for me is, um, people who are victims entitled
rescue and blame B E R B, which is the people who come and go, I deserve
a promotion because I've been here for a year or the mistake happened
and it wasn't my fault.
So those sorts of things is like they're verbs, right?
But if you can change your life and become a sore, which is solutions,
ownership, accountability, and responsibility in business is always
But if you constantly train your brain to go to solutions, ownership,
ownership is actually gives you power.
As soon as you say it's not your fault, you know, like, Oh gee, interest
rate rises have risen, my business is down.
Nothing you can do about it.
We just have to wait for the interest rate rises to go down, won't you?
Or you go, my business is suffering.
What else can I do?
So I hire on that.
I promote on that.
I look for people that has that.
I do business with people that are, that are the sore.
So one side just equals complacency, I guess.
No, not my fault.
You know, my husband's annoying me.
And on that note, Janine, you have finished with flying colors,
the chatterbox section.
I now have one last question, which we ask all our guests.
And that is, if you weren't running boost and Betty's burgers and all the
others, what would you be doing?
I'd like to one day, maybe do a health retreat.
The longevity health space is booming, right?
If we can get more people to consider their health, I mean, the amount of money
people spend on cars and other stuff, but their health, I think I'd like to do that.
It's not about living forever.
I want to live as long as I can, as long as I'm healthy.
And if that's 80, great.
If that's 150, great, but that's my goal.
And Janine, that is our time up.
Thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed listening to you about your morning routine and the fact
that you go into the water every morning and you get those minerals from
the salt water on your skin.
I love your health hack.
You are preparing now to be the future Janine with a surfboard under
your arm at the age of 88.
I really like the idea that you should promote people really only within the
capabilities because the alternative is that you might promote them too far and
they'll fail and it won't be good for you either.
I love the idea that you just say yes, because that is your chance to learn.
So I'm going to adopt that.
And I really like the idea that the successful people really should be all
about solutions, ownership, accountability and responsibility.
And don't be a victim.
So thank you so much for allowing us to spend 15 minutes with the boss.
It's been an absolute delight.
And thank you to everyone for listening.
If you like the podcast and would like to hear more, consider sharing the
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At the financial review, we investigate the big stories about
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This podcast was hosted by me, Sally Packer.
And produced by lap fan and Martin Peralta.
Our theme is by Alex Gow.
Our head of podcast is lap fan and the head of premium content is Fiona Biffini.
The Australian financial review.