Episodes

  • Second Generation, First in Purpose: Wulan Tilaar on Carrying Forward a Family Mission

    Second Generation, First in Purpose: Wulan Tilaar on Carrying Forward a Family Mission
    May 26 2026
    Wulan Tilaar, second-generation leader of Indonesia's iconic Martha Tilaar Group, shares the deeply personal story behind one of Southeast Asia’s most storied beauty and wellness empires. From her mother’s humble beginnings in a four-by-six-meter garage salon to a franchise network spanning 40+ locations across Indonesia and beyond, Wulan reveals how a chance encounter with a human trafficking survivor in Hong Kong transformed the company’s mission, shifting from profit-driven growth to women’s empowerment through free vocational training.
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    49 mins
  • How SILK Laser grew from a garage to 200 clinics with Martin Perelman

    How SILK Laser grew from a garage to 200 clinics with Martin Perelman
    May 5 2026
    From a $200K shoestring budget and two second-hand lasers repaired in a Sydney garage to nearly 200 clinics across Australia and New Zealand, Martin Perelman’s story is a masterclass in patient, disciplined growth. In this episode of Growth Diaries, Martin, Founder and Managing Director of SILK Laser Clinics, joins host Sudheer Koneru to dive into how four friends with no industry experience built one of the most respected names in the cosmetic and wellness industry.
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    37 mins
  • From 1 salon to 18 without investors: The playbook behind Epic Hair Designs

    From 1 salon to 18 without investors: The playbook behind Epic Hair Designs
    Apr 14 2026
    It’s 2008, and a retail manager with no hairdressing background convinces his parents to lend him money for a salon purchase. Two days. That’s all it took. Then the Global Financial Crisis hits just as the keys trade hands, and most people would’ve called it a disaster. But Brendon saw it differently. Today, Epic Hair Designs operates 18 salons across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, employing over 200 hairdressers and apprentices, and has become a blueprint for building a thriving multi-location beauty business in an increasingly competitive market. In this episode of Growth Diaries, Brendon Mann, Owner and Director at Epic Hair Designs, shares the full story.
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    37 mins
  • Sarina Paulson on leadership, salon growth, and building Willo Salons

    Sarina Paulson on leadership, salon growth, and building Willo Salons
    Mar 31 2026
    She purchased a hair salon just three months before a global pandemic shut down your entire industry for six months. Most entrepreneurs would see this as the worst possible timing. However, Sarina Pualson saw it differently. In this episode of Growth Diaries, Sarina, CEO of Willo Salons, joins host Sudheer Koneru to discuss her unconventional path from studying criminal justice and rising through JCPenney’s corporate ranks to acquiring and transforming a salon business just before the pandemic.
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    37 mins
  • Building a 15-location Med Spa brand through client experience, culture, and smart growth

    Building a 15-location Med Spa brand through client experience, culture, and smart growth
    Mar 17 2026
    When Emily Fernandez decided to leave her stable career as a patient experience officer at a three-hospital healthcare system, she was solving one problem she observed in her husband’s OB/GYN office, where aesthetic clients sat in waiting rooms next to women dealing with cancer diagnoses and complicated pregnancies. In this episode of Growth Diaries, Emily Fernandez, Co-founder and VP of Operations at Evolve Med Spa, joins host Sudheer Koneru to explore how a hospital patient experience leader turned a side aesthetic project into a 15-location powerhouse brand in just four years.
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    53 mins
  • Beny Molayev’s journey from $34 a week to 9 salons

    Beny Molayev’s journey from $34 a week to 9 salons
    Feb 24 2026
    He arrived in America at 17 years old with no money, no English fluency, and no real plan beyond ambition. 25 years later, he has built a nine-location salon empire, created a product line distributed to over 2,000 salons nationwide, and developed a franchising model that’s fundamentally changing how stylists become business owners. In this episode of Growth Diaries, Beny Molayev, President of Hair Bar NYC, joins host Sudheer Koneru to dive into how he transformed from an immigrant with no English, no license, and no connections into the owner of nine thriving salon locations across New York and Florida.
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    54 mins
  • How RockBox built a model people actually stick with

    How RockBox built a model people actually stick with
    Feb 10 2026
    Roger Martin, a 3X Founder, CEO, Podcast Host, and Author, didn’t start his entrepreneurial journey in his twenties. He started it at 46 after a long, successful career in pharma by betting on something far more personal: health, fitness, and human connection. In this episode of Growth Diaries, Roger joins host Sudheer Koneru to explore what it really takes to build and scale two national franchises to 100+ locations through a customer-centric business model that drives loyalty and why listening transforms your team’s approach to growth.
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    59 mins
  • How endota scaled “feeling better” into Australia’s largest wellness network

    How endota scaled “feeling better” into Australia’s largest wellness network
    Jan 27 2026
    Imagine walking into a spa stressed, shoulders tense, mind racing with the weight of your day. Then, after a single treatment, something shifts. Your shoulders drop. Your breathing deepens. The mental chatter quiets. You leave feeling not just relaxed, but genuinely restored, as if you’ve pressed a reset button on your entire being. In this episode of Growth Diaries, host Sudheer Koneru is joined by Melanie Gleeson, the founding CEO of endota, to unpack how a single spa launched in 2000 grew into Australia’s largest wellness network, delivering roughly 850,000 treatments a year while staying anchored to a clear intention: helping people feel better.
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    34 mins