A few years ago, I was playing cards with my gran, who at the time was 93 years old, and she was telling me what it was like to be a woman of the 1940s. She told me about when the war started and most of the men headed to war, and she and her friends starting working in an ammunition factory. It made me think about what an unusual time it must have been — when your life as you know it is turned upside down, your husband leaves you for up to five years and you have to survive by working in a factory. You start to make your own money and start to feel the freedom that this brings, only to be told to get back in your box when the men come home. To think that she was not allowed to work or even have a loan in her name now seems unbelievable.

In her time, women were not the bosses; they did not run businesses. So, in her mind, what man would listen to a woman in the workforce? She constantly told my mother not to ‘get above herself'. For her, a woman had very little to no real power, even in her own home. It took my gran years to understand that at Boost, I — her granddaughter, not her grandson — was running the business. She couldn't get her head around a woman boss, because that was not what girls did in her day. Why would they even listen to Janine? The funny thing is, it took a Herald Sun article for her to believe that I had actually started the business (because clearly everything you read in the paper is true). This wasn't beliefs from 100 years ago; this was only my gran, two generations away. But times have changed.

For me, life is a marathon, not a sprint — mind you, it took me years to realise this. When I was younger, I wanted everything now (sound familiar?) and did not have a patient bone in my body. I am getting better at this. I love the journey that I am on and appreciate every day.

For those who are picking up this book for the first time, here is what you are in for …

The first thing is that you will not be blown away by my literary skills. Like singing and painting, I have no talent in this area. But what you will read is my honest account — warts and all — of my journey to date.

The great thing about getting older (because there are a lot of negatives and you have to see the positives) is that you get to embrace who you are and see all aspects of your journey. And you're happy to share — even knowing that people will judge you, rightly or wrongly, but you don't care. What I hope is that people see that it's okay to not get everything right in life. You don't always have to be happy with the decisions that you make. And, yes, you are very dumb when you are younger but (if you're lucky) this enables you to have adventures that you wouldn't have when you are older because you aren't as stupid as when you did all those crazy, mad things!

Often people are afraid to make mistakes — and they live a life half-lived because of it. So this story is my journey — from an ordinary girl from the 'burbs to marrying my soulmate Jeff, to starting Boost Juice and Retail Zoo and becoming a shark on the TV show Shark Tank.

For all those people who have given me feedback on the first edition of this book, thank you! I was surprised and delighted by the impact that this book has made on people's businesses and lives, and I'm happy to say that the book is a bestseller. My English teacher from high school will honestly never believe it!

What is different in this book is it brings my story, and the story of Boost, into the present-day — including some of the experiences I've had on Shark Tank and the lessons I learned through this experience. This book is full of the tips that are the heart of how I believe businesses should be run and what you need to do to be a success. Whether you're in the start-up stage, growing like a weed or looking to expand into new territories — or even if your business is still just a great idea that you have yet to realise — there's something here for you. No matter where you are on the journey, it's always great to be reminded of the simple things that can make all the difference in helping you become a success.