Talia Datt: a study in start-up success

How did your entrepreneurial journey begin?

I was born in Johannesburg, my family immigrated to Melbourne when I was three. Having that immigration story, having those roots overseas, pushed me in an entrepreneurial direction from a very young age. Both my parents started their own businesses, so you could say it runs in our blood.

At Monash University, I studied marketing and international relations, everyone always thought I was going to be a politician. But when I went on exchange to Sweden for six months, I met a lot of people in the entrepreneurial space, and it started to trigger my thinking. I was also sharing my travels and started building a following online, so much so that lots of people in my network would ask me how to use social media to leverage their own businesses.

When I returned from exchange, I took the first job I could get because I had no money. I was an administrative assistant in an insurance firm, and it was not for me. The day I quit was the day that tap-to-shop on Instagram launched, and I remember thinking there’s something in this. I enrolled myself in a short course, started to learn more about social media, and found a gap in the market.

I began to offer a service to businesses to run their social media accounts for free. I would knock on doors with a box of chocolates with my business card attached. I didn't even charge for my services. That was my leg in the door and there was low expectation on both sides. Funnily enough, it was a hard slog to even get clients to say yes to free services. Social media for businesses was so new, and they were hesitant to have me, a 22-year-old, represent their brand.