Teens in Business Club: Speed Mentoring Session

Join us for our next event, Teens in Business Club: Speed Mentoring Session

This speed mentoring session is designed to connect you with real-world experts and give you the insight and guidance to grow your business. 

This event features 12 experienced mentors from diverse fields, including: 

- Media and marketing
- Investment and finance
- Design and branding
- Entrepreneurship and business strategy
- Leadership and project management
- Customer experience (CX) innovation
- Grant writing and funding
- CEO-level campaign leadership

We've heard from many young people that they're looking for mentoring support for their business so if that's you make sure to sign up for this session.

In this session, we'll: 

1.  Introduce all 12 mentors with a quick 30-second bio

2. Youth participants take part in 4x15-minute speed mentoring rounds

3. Allow you to connect with other young entrepreneurs

Meet our Mentors:

• Sebastian Fergusson - Digital Strategist at Google
  Sebastian is currently a Digital Strategist at Google with expertise in e-commerce, Google Ads, digital marketing and websites as well as copywriting and branding. From a young age, Sebastian always had a persistent curiosity to understand how things work. He is a builder. An explorer. An ambitious, future thinker who seeks to see the world differently. After departing New Zealand in 2019, Sebastian's professional experience spans across the Startups and two of the world's most admired companies Apple and Google.
  

• Tom Duffy - Head of Media at Kindling
  Tom is the Head of Media at Kindling, where he leads a team of editors and writers in creating high-impact YouTube documentaries, podcasts, and digital content. He oversees strategy, quality control, and creative direction across multiple platforms, including LinkedIn and Instagram.
  
  Tom is passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs and aspiring operators who are exploring the startup path. He brings deep expertise in turning complex ideas into clear, compelling ventures—drawing on his background in tech and media startups, product strategy, storytelling, and academic research.
  

• John Lee - Finacial Advisor
  John is an expert in finance, business strategy and planning, and business coaching, with extensive experience across sectors including financial services, real estate and infrastructure, construction, education, and sports.
  
  He has supported businesses and early-stage startups from a wide range of industries, helping them set clear goals and stay focused on achieving meaningful outcomes.
  
  John is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs to build the skills and confidence needed to drive the change they envision. He’s especially excited to work with young entrepreneurs and firmly believes in your ability to achieve what you’ve set out to do.
  

• Vida Asrina - Head of Digital Experience at Medibank
  Vida Asrina Dhulst is a design and customer experience leader with a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. Currently leading Digital Experience Design at Medibank, she brings a diverse background in architecture, journalism, and digital strategy to solving complex problems with human-centred solutions. Recognised as UX Leader of the Year by Women in Digital, Vida is a committed mentor and advocate for young people, especially in supporting youth-led entrepreneurship and empowering the next generation of changemakers.
  

• Aaron Fraser - Program Coordinator for Wade Institute and Co-Founder of Candella
  Aaron is a Master of Entrepreneurship alumni from the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship, graduating as class valedictorian and receiving a place on the Melbourne Business School’s Dean’s Honours List in 2023. He is currently working as program coordinator for Wade Institute and Tenacious Ventures’ Ag Ventures 2025 Investor Program, teaches within the Department of Management and Marketing at The University of Melbourne, and is co-founding Candella, a geo-locater directory app for sustainable and ethical businesses in the Melbourne area.
  Aaron brings expertise in customer discovery, business model development (including the Business Model Canvas), market research design, pitching and storytelling, and a range of design thinking and ideation methods such as 'how might' we statements, abstraction laddering, and the double diamond process. He’s passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs and is excited to share his knowledge.
  

• Todd Soulas - Strategy Consultant
  Todd is a seasoned strategist and leader, currently serving as an Expert in Residence for the Teen in Business program. With deep experience across strategy, marketing, and product development, Todd brings a unique ability to help young entrepreneurs turn bold ideas into scalable, purpose-driven ventures. Todd's insights have been developed during his time as an executive, management consultant, founder, and angel investor in a range of geographies and sectors. Todd is passionate about mentoring the next generation of business leaders and sharing real-world insights that help teens build confidence, capability, and a strong sense of purpose in their entrepreneurial journey.
  

• Mia Bowyer - CEO of Automate Social
  Mia is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Automate Social which built a simple system that automates Meta and Google ads - so businesses can scale without the grind. Mia has travelled across the world managing social media for Fortune 500 brands, launching world-first campaigns and achieving record growth for clients such as The World Bank, The United Nations and Microsoft. She is an award-winning social media specialist, mentor and lecturer who is excited to help young people gain insights into running a successful business.
  

• Hayden Smith - Co-Founder of Pearler Investments
  Hayden has 15 years of software engineering experience, 10 years of project management and leadership experience, and is now 6 years into being a business owner. His focus is co-founding @pearler to try and fundamentally change every-day Australian's access to tools and education to build wealth simply and slowly. Hayden has also been around a lot of teaching/lecturing for computing; the programming of soccer-playing robots; and the building and racing of solar cars, and working as a contractor on a range of web-based products.
  

• Caitlin Boucher - Founder of Angharad Consulting (Grant and proposal writer)
  Caitlin is a fundraising and strategy consultant with over a decade of experience helping startups, nonprofits, and social enterprises unlock funding and grow sustainably.
  
  Through her consultancy, Angharad Consulting, she specialises in grant writing, revenue strategy, and program design, with a focus on making funding more accessible and less intimidating. Caitlin also teaches grant writing at the University of Sydney and writes a popular weekly newsletter breaking down funding opportunities and best practices.

• More mentors to be announced!

About the Teens in Business Club
The Teens in Business Club is an online community for young entrepreneurs who are running their own business to connect with other young entrepreneurs in Australia and share advice and feedback, and learn from each other's journey! Within the Teens in Business Club, we also provide helpful resources, mentoring and events to continue to support the growth of your business. The Teens in Business Club is an initiative of the non-profit social enterprise Young Change Agents.

Important Note: 
The Teens in Business Club and Masterclass events are for young people aged 13-18 only and require you to receive permission as a young person to attend. Please complete the form here before the event so we can send you the Zoom link to attend.