In October 2019, Canberra mum Serina Bird, aka the Joyful Frugalista, did the unthinkable: she quit her stable, well-paid, sought-after position in the public service. Without a job to go to and no contract in sight.
She was riding high on the success of her first book, The Joyful Frugalista, advising people on how to live a fabulous life while still being frugal and putting away savings.
She had struck gold in terms of tapping into the public appetite for less waste, for more meaning; for the undeniably satisfying feeling of doing something thrifty.
The media, both local and national, were hungry for her story and she also landed a regular savvy shopping column in a major newspaper.
"Quite honestly, in 2019, 2020, there was a lot of media happening around me. One week, I was in Sydney on a panel, I was on Studio Ten. I was meeting with a lot of people," she says.
"It was just this sharp juxtaposition with my public service job when I would be sitting at my desk trying to be as quiet as possible, as low-key as possible and trying not to rock the boat."
Serina eventually felt confident enough that this could be her new, permanent career path as a life and business adviser, presenting her message in the most down-to-earth, accessible way possible. She thought it would be in concert with her public service work but things didn't quite pan out that way.
"I wasn't planning, necessarily, to quit work. I was planning to have this dual career," she says.
"But then three things happened. The particular section I was working in became toxic. This can happen anywhere. And I actually ended up working back in my department. So I hold no grudges. But it was just a sign from the universe, the kind of push I needed.
"The other thing is when you've got a career that involves writing and you've got a voice and you've got a bit of creativity, it's really hard to mix that with being in the public service. I think that's because, by nature, a public servant's work is about being risk averse, about being very low-key.
"So any time I did anything like write a book or speak to the media, I had to get permission. It was just getting harder and harder. Even if I was just talking about how to write a shopping list or how to buy groceries, I had to get permission.
"And the third reason was I was close enough to financial independence that I could quit my job. It still wasn't easy. It was really scary."
But she was feeling like it was now or never.
So far, so good.
Then bushfires hit the Canberra region in the summer of 2019-20 and the national capital was shrouded in choking smoke for weeks.
A few months later, it was March 2020 and COVID was wreaking havoc around the world.
In hindsight, not the best time to give up a stable job.
"There was a lot of, 'Oh, my god, have I made the right decision?' kind of soul-searching," Serina admits.
Things started to look grim.
Her freelance writing gigs started to dry up. She did not feel her shopping column was a true fit with her values, so she gave it up. Advertising revenue was down across the media landscape, so agencies had less money to pay contributors.
"If I wanted to write for free, there were a lot of opportunities," she writes in her new book, just a little wryly.
But things weren't all negative. She continued to mine for the positive.
Firstly, Serina started her The Joyful Frugalista podcast in March 2020 and is still doing it to this day.
"In just over two years I have recorded 77 episodes and had nearly 72,000 downloads. I've also been privileged to interview some amazing and inspiring people," she says.
Serina also started coaching sessions, advising people on how to live their best personal and business life.
She rebranded as The Joyful Business Club, built a website and launched a Facebook group, interviewing people who were trying to create their own businesses or working on being a success at life in other ways. And she launched a second-hand clothing marketplace called The Joyful Fashionista, a nod to her waste-less way of living.
And every step of the way, she was learning new lessons, collecting more stories that became the bedrock of her latest book, The Joyful Startup Guide: Now is the time to make your startup dreams come true.
It's a book that grew out of her mistakes and tribulations and features advice and practical actions for anyone wanting to start up a side hustle or small business.
But it's not, she emphasises, a book about "how to grow a six-figure business in a week".
"I felt called to write The Joyful Startup Guide as an authentic voice to counter overpriced, slick sales courses that promised instant success," Serina says.
"My hope is that readers of the book will go forth and create amazing, innovative and successful heart-centred businesses - whether social enterprise or for-profit."
Serina readily agrees she did have a buffer when she decided to quit her job. Her husband Neil had his career. They had savings. And they had investment properties. They sold one in Queanbeyan last year. They have another three - one in Queanbeyan, one which is an Airbnb and one which is rented through the YWCA's affordable housing scheme. "If I offer it at 74.9 per cent market rent value, I get a waiver of land tax," she says.
The couple also believed in the adage "watch the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves".
"We just had very, very low levels of debt," Serina says.
"The remaining mortgage, we paid off. We didn't have a car loan. Our living expenses were just very, very low."
Serina also found support to write her next book from the Canberra Innovation Network, a not-for-profit organisation that was formed in 2014 to empower entrepreneurs.
It's a co-working space located in the heart of Canberra, on the fifth floor of the City Health Centre building in Moore Street where it offers programs and support on how to start and grow a business. And it also provides grants.
Serina received $17,500 from the Canberra Innovation Network, half of which she has so far accessed.
She also received $1000 from the YWCA Canberra.
(On Thursday morning, she was able to pay it forward to the YWCA Canberra by providing $2000 in sponsorship for its annual Great Ydeas Innovation Breakfast.)
And she did return to the public service, on a 12-week contract, before she decided to bite the bullet and write the book.
"There'd been a bit of discussion about whether I'd stay on or not, and I did eventually go on to another contract, in another area. But I just sort of felt, 'No, I kind of need to do this'.
"When I was back in the public service, I just realised how much my thinking had changed, just around processes and how to do things and I found people were asking me for advice about how to do things in 'the real world', because they actually didn't know.
"People were saying things like, 'I have an idea for something but I don't really know how to go about actually getting it done'."
The book covers topics such as taking the first leap into the world of business, the basics of setting up a business, knowing when to plan and when to act and developing meaningful, impactful branding. It has tips on everything from tax to networking.
"We each have unique gifts, and my hope with The Joyful Startup Guide is that readers will have the courage - and tools - to light up with joy doing what they love," Serina says.
"My post-work startup journey has been anything but smooth, and while I have no regrets, I want this book to help others avoid making the same mistakes."
Serina, who turns 50 this year, still co-works one day a week at the Canberra Innovation Network.
"It's really lovely because while I love working from home, you get in your own head a little bit and so it's nice to be in that supportive environment," she says.
She and Neil, and her sons from her first marriage, Austin, 12 and Audie, 9, still live in Turner. They are still frugal. And she unashamedly still wants to be a billionaire.
"I still haven't nailed it yet with the right business model but I'm very passionate about learning the skills," she says.
She continues to give back in volunteer roles.
Serina is the Pan Pacific regional ambassador for the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organisation.
And she has just been asked to take on the role of chair of the University of Canberra entrepreneurship and innovation course advisory group
Serina also helps the Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast with its popular pre-loved fashion sale, the most recent of which raised $20,000 for projects to support women and children.
It's a full life. And she's happy.
In 2019, when promoting The Joyful Frugalista, Serina revealed many tips on how to save money. Perhaps the most memorable was that she and her husband used the same teabag to save a few cents each time they had a cuppa.
"I still make sourdough bread, still shop at ALDI and Costco. Nothing changes. But, actually, we have moved to loose-leaf tea for environmental reasons because of the tags on the teabags and it's actually cheaper as well," she says.
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The Joyful Startup Guide is published by The Kind Press.
- Serina Bird, with Bec Cuzillo, founder of the Spiritual Business Academy, will launch The Joyful Startup Guide on Saturday at 3pm at The Book Cow, in Jardine Street, Kingson.
- There will also be a launch of the book at the Canberra Innovation Network on May 11.
