Build It. They'll Come.

Over many decades, Moree NSW-based farmer Dick Estens built not just one, but two formidable agribusiness empires. Starting out with just $200,000 in net assets, Dick leased land, share farmed and then managed to scale up a massive cotton farming operation.
Then when many might think about retiring, at age 59, Dick took on a monumental challenge and pivoted into the citrus industry, buying into a struggling Brisbane-based brand—Grove Juice— before he had even planted a single orange tree. When much of Australia’s citrus sector was in dire trouble, Dick Estens persevered and built a vertically integrated business model that controls every facet from orchard development to supermarket shelves.
Grove Juice now produces 40 million litres of orange, apple and even mandarin juice a year, employing around 250 people.
In this episode, Dick reflects on exactly what’s required to navigate long investment cycles, severe droughts, complex risk management and his core philosophy of empowering people.
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Gabrielle Requena, the founder of Wrinkles Schminkles, shares her entrepreneurial journey, detailing how she built a successful skincare brand from a simple idea. Starting with a Bachelor and Master of E-commerce, Gabrielle gained valuable experience at Deloitte Consulting and eBay, which laid the groundwork for her future venture.
Frustrated by the lack of effective solutions for chest wrinkles caused by side sleeping, Gabrielle developed 100% medical-grade silicone patches. These patches work by compressing the skin and stimulating blood flow and collagen, offering both instantaneous and cumulative results.
Initially a side project, Wrinkles Schminkles grew into a global business with nearly $20 million in annual revenue, primarily through direct-to-consumer e-commerce in Australia, the US, and the UK. Gabrielle discusses the challenges and triumphs of scaling the business, including navigating the competitive beauty market.
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When uni student Annabelle Chauncy volunteered in Uganda, in her words, she was blown away by the poverty and the lack of resources, including education, in much of rural Uganda. So she not only had a dream to try and change that, but she acted on it.

At 22 years of age, Annabelle set about building a small primary school for the most disadvantaged kids in a village. But first she had to raise the funds, work out how to buy some land, how to go about building a physical structure and then of course how to staff and run a school, in a community where virtually no-one spoke English. A feat that would surely be daunting for most of us. But now 15 years after her first school opened, this accidental entrepreneur has achieved enormous success with School for Life Foundation… it has educated now thousands of children across several schools and even a boarding school, with a cohort of 40 now studying at university, and School for Life employs 250 Ugandan staff. Annabelle Chauncy is a life-changing and inspiring leader.
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In this episode of Build It They'll Come. host Helen Dalley sits down with David Paradice AO, the founder and driving force behind Paradice Investment Management.
Starting 26 years ago with just a single client and $30 million under management, Paradice has built a boutique investing powerhouse that now manages and invests around $20 billion for major super funds, large institutions, and retail investors.
Paradice describes his deeply focused approach to stock picking, emphasising the importance of fundamental investing and maintaining face-to-face relationships with company management. He opens up about the immense pressure and sleepless nights that come with managing retirement savings, how he navigates volatile markets, and his core business philosophy: consistency over time equals returns.
Paradice discusses his passion for polo, his dedicated philanthropic work, and how a champion team will always outperform a team of champions. He even shares the unexpected business and life lessons hidden inside a favourite children’s book series kept at his office reception (listen to the end to learn which one!)
It is a candid look at the human touch behind a genuine home-grown Australian financial empire.
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When he took over the family wine business in 1994 at the tender age of 33, Darren De Bortoli continued a legacy his father Deen had built on that was De Bortoli Wines, centred around the vineyard his grandfather planted in the NSW Riverina.
Darren was a young superstar, having created as a newly qualified winemaker in 1982, the acclaimed Noble One Botrytis Semillon – to this day a globally renowned, medal-winning sticky wine, and a wine that quickly catapulted De Bortoli Wines into massive growth.
The company moved into other wine districts like the Yarra Valley, King Valley and more recently Rutherglen in Victoria, and also the Hunter Valley. Under Darren’s leadership they pioneered environmentally sustainable winemaking practices and today they grow wheat, barley and oat crops using eco-friendly waste water from the wineries.
Today De Bortoli Wines is the 6th largest wine company in Australia by revenue, yet still Australian and family owned and run. But as he reflects on the great legacy he’s helped build, Darren De Bortoli is candid about the considerable challenges he and others face: namely water access and climate change, a global wine glut and a downturn in wine consumption. Hope you enjoy Darren De Bortoli.
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