Boss Money: Lindsay Rogers, Co-Founder & Managing Director at Chello
Confession: I’ve had a bit girl crush on Lindsay Rogers for almost a decade and, once I’ve introduced you to her, you will too.
The first thing you notice when you meet Lindsay is her warm, effervescent personality shining out beneath her abundant golden (natural!) locks. Don’t think for a second that’s she’s all style and no substance because you would be grossly mistaken. Lindsay is a driving force amongst the Australian business community with a swag of awards and nominations like Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year NSW, B&T’s 30 under 30, Forbes 30 under 30 and Mumbrella’s Under 30s Achiever to prove it.
Lindsay’s official title is the Managing Director and Co-founder of independent brand and content agency, Chello. Chello is the bridge between brand and content, helping brands understand and amplify the meaningful place they hold in people’s lives. Chello's client list is impressive and includes names like Shopify, LIV by Mirvac, Qudos Bank, Ingenia, Bridgit, W23, Shef and the ASX. In this role, Lindsay uses her strategic thinking, relentless curiosity and vociferous appetite for content to shape the way clients think about their brands and how they choose to show up.
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing her to discuss all things money, life and business. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it.
It’s been about 8 years since you took the leap to launch Chello. Can you tell us a bit more about your business?
That’s right! We launched in 2014, a time where everyone was talking about content, but no agencies were calling themselves content agencies. We could see a gap in the market leveraging our individual experiences across video, animation and design. With our personal laptops and $10k savings each, Tris (my co-founder and our Creative Director) jumped in head first to see if we could make a success of it.
No doubt you’ve learnt a few lessons along the way. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
Eight years is a long time to adapt, test and implement new ways of working, we've come a long way since our inception! I always had a sense of a "you have to be in it to win it" and we've followed this by backing ourselves as the underdog over the years, however if I could have seen the amazing people and work in our future, I probably would have gone even harder. Having operated through the covid pandemic environment, I now value the importance of good financial prudence, understanding and governance which I didn't see would be so important back then.
What’s the biggest money lesson you’ve learned since starting your business?
Things can change in an instant, and it's often multiple things at once, all out of your control. Always have a runway of cash to get you through a period of say three months, track numbers weekly, and hire someone smarter than you to run the finance capability.
Practical advice! I love it. So what would you say has been your biggest win, financially speaking, as a business owner?
Having the financial freedom as an independent agency to invest in areas we see as having the most potential, some of them not necessarily making short-term (or external) sense. In 2018 we acquired digital agency Digilante and brought them into the Chello fold, a decision we were able to move on quickly due to our strong financial position, investment in people, and vision for our capabilities and client mix.
What kind of legacy do you wish to create with Chello and why?
We create brands that live on far beyond Chello's reach, and it makes me so fulfilled to see these brands thriving out in the wild. I'm also immensely proud of the workplace we've cultivated; we have some of the most passionate, creative, committed people at Chello, and I hope our legacy is that we can the best place they have ever worked.
What does your business empower you to do?
Chello is more than a business for Tris and I, it's a lifestyle and a purpose.
Who's in your 'A Team'?
We have a wonderful management team, we meet weekly and track 15 key metrics to make sure we're on track towards our goals. I also have three excellent mentors for different reasons, who I meet with regularly and we share ideas and challenge each other to be better. I am also a member of Entrepreneur's Organisation, a business network for founders, and have had some of my best business conversations here, in Australia and globally.
What advice would you give to another lady hoping to start her own business?
They all sound cliche, but here are some that have rung true to me over the years:
For me, I needed a business partner. Someone to shoulder the load with, and yin/yang my shortfalls. It's been the best decision starting Chello with Tris, but give a testing period to make sure it's the right fit - we said we'd reevaluate after a year to make sure it worked.
You have to be in it to win it, back yourself, hard.
Work towards a 3-month cash runway so you can make sound decisions without short-term thinking and pressures clouding your clarity.
Ask for favours in the short term. We had so many friends help us out when we had limited resources and I will always remember their kindness and generosity.
As soon as you can, hire great, smart people to run things so you can focus on the big picture vision and growth.
Finally, tell me, what are you looking forward to right now?
Maternity leave and clocking off for a hot minute, and when I'm back, growing our Queensland team!
Wishing Lindsay a safe, easy delivery and a healthy bub!
If you want to learn more about Lindsay you can find her on Linkedin or checkout the Chello Website and Instagram page.