Ever wondered if your side hustle could turn into an 8-figure national brand? 

In this episode, Annelise sits down with Susan Toft, the powerhouse behind Laundry Lady - a business that started in her spare room and now spans over 300 teams across Australia and New Zealand.

From doing laundry herself as a new mum to pitching on Shark Tank, Susan shares the gritty truth about growing a purpose-led, flexible business that empowers others while juggling single motherhood, self-doubt, and scrappy start-up solutions.

This one’s a must-listen if you’re building a business on your terms and dreaming of scaling - without losing your freedom.

• How Susan turned a $5K grant into a national business model

• What actually prepared her for Shark Tank

• Why building systems from the ground up was her secret weapon

• What investors look for (and what they don’t say out loud)

• The power of mission-driven marketing when you’re talking to two audiences

• 01:15 – What is Laundry Lady? (And why everyone needs it after a family trip!)

• 04:00 – How Susan became the “OG Laundry Lady” after leaving corporate life

• 07:40 – Scaling from local to national with a bootstrap budget

• 10:50 – The reality of juggling growth, divorce, and full-time work

• 15:00 – Building a team and learning to lead (while letting go)

• 20:30 – The myth of “balance” and the truth about flexible business models

• 26:15 – Behind the scenes of Shark Tank – and what came after

• 33:00 – Raising capital, founder self-belief, and standing strong in your values

• 39:45 – Marketing to two audiences with the same story