What is your name?
Susan Pearse
What is your business name?
Mind Gardener
What industry is your business in?
Education/mind fitness/wellness
Where are you based?
Brisbane
How long have been in business?
10 years in my other business, reinvention (consultancy company), and Mind Gardener was launched from this about 18 months ago
Is it a full-time or part-time business?
It’s really a life purpose so full time, I guess, but not necessarily in a traditional 9-5 sense.
Did you start your business before or after becoming a mum/step-mum?
The Mind Gardener concept was born about the time I was pregnant with my daughter and continued being developed through the birth of my son. When it was “officially launched” I was a mother of two!
Why did you start your business?
To move beyond the corporate sphere and take concepts we believed in to a broader audience. Also, so I could be in control of my own destiny and not have to be bound by others’ rules and mindsets. The flexibility is an added bonus, but probably something I would now never give up.
What has been your biggest triumph in business?
Launching our products and seeing everyone rushing madly to get them!
What was your biggest mistake in business?
Mistakenly believing that everyone else’s rules applied, or getting caught up in other people’s fears or limiting thoughts. Believing that a knock back meant what you were doing wasn’t working, or that you had to change paths.
What is the one piece of advice you wish you’d been given about running a business with children when you started out?
Don’t take it all too seriously. Keep putting it into perspective and focusing on what’s important.
Name your top three business successes
Mind Gardener being asked to speak at a large and internationally recognised conference on the mind
Getting 30 retailers around Australia and a distributor
Being featured on a national TV program
What are you passionate about?
Helping people to see that they can create the life they want through cultivating their minds.
Getting rid of the stigma associated with talking about issues of the mind.
Getting mind fitness recognised as being just as important as physical fitness.
What’s the one thing you can never resist?
Helping someone cultivate their mind – will devote hours to anyone!
Who inspires you?
My business partner Martina, other mumpreneurs and just everyday people making a big difference. And the Dalai Lama – meeting him nearly 10 years ago and seeing his amazing work with neuroscientists cemented my path.
What is the song that gets you fired up?
I don’t really have one cause I don’t think I get fired up too often! I am more likely to get inspired and do my best work when I am calm therefore I probably lean towards more calming/meditative music.
What is your favourite quote?
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” (Buddha)
Contact Susan
Website: www.mindgardener.com
Twitter: @mindgardentips
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mind-Gardener/295166979238
LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/susan-pearse/11/b03/22
