In episode eighty three of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the co-founder and Creative Director of SWIISH, Sally Obermeder.

Sally Obermeder always wanted a job that allowed her to have a chat, which is why she abandoned her early ambitions of a career in dentistry in favour of a role in finance. After a decade in investment banking Sally realised that her heart wasn’t in it, and decided to take a leap of faith in the direction of an industry she’d long dreamt of working in- television. 

Sally spent close to four years training, learning, applying and auditioning for work as a television presenter, and despite being told by a teacher that she would “100% never get a job in television,” she eventually landed her dream job- a presenting role that saw her interview upwards of 200 international celebrities and become one of Australia’s most recognisable television personalities. 

Everything changed in 2011. At 40 weeks pregnant, Sally was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She gave birth the next day, and commenced chemotherapy when her first daughter was one week old. 

Sally’s experience can’t be minimised to a three minute podcast intro so I’ll allow you to listen for yourself, however I would like this opportunity to thank Sally, again, for sharing her story. 

Sally, of course, recovered, and took the time to decide what she wanted to do next. She returned to television, however she wanted to do something more, something that would allow her and her sister, Maha to work together. The pair launched SWIISH as a blog in October 2012 and later began working on a book together. Not one publisher elected to back said book, so the pair self-published. That book, Super Green Smoothies, went to number one overnight, is still number one in its category, and has since been republished 20 times. 

The success of the book saw Sally and Maha transform SWIISH into an e-commerce destination, with the pair eventually developing their own brand of wellness supplements. Today, the SWIISH brand consists of 12 supplements, a topical beauty range and a clothing line, all of which are shipped to over 70 countries worldwide. 

In this conversation, Sally shares the freedom that comes with not needing approval from others in pursuit of your dreams, her experience with cancer and the reality of accepting that you may not survive, and how Taylor Swift has earned her some serious popularity points on the home front.

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow Sally Obermeder on Instagram @sallyobermeder, @swiishbysallyo and @swiishwellness

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

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