The Human Story Behind the Business & Brand - Lee Troon & Flora Terkely
The Human Story Behind the Business & Brand - Lee Troon & Flora Terkely  
Podcast: The Human Behind the Career Brand
Published On: Wed Jan 07 2026
Description: This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional and personal lives. As has been encapsulated in the Women Making it Work celebratory anthology entitled Beyond the Business – Stories of Women Who Dared.My next guests for this podcast series are Lee Troon and Flora Terkely. Two of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who have who rebuilt their lives and/or continued to expand themselves both personally and professionally. To create businesses and legacies that prove that blooming and continuing to flourish are possible across a range of contexts and challenges.Lee is the founder and owner of Paless Homes, a relatively recent business initiative she started up after identifying a gap in the real estate and property design market. This business is fuelled and informed by her own lived experience, which includes having to sell her home of 20+ years to downsize, during and thanks to the COVID pandemic. And Lee’s realisation that the ‘gap years’ can also refer to those people aged in their early to mid 60s, who are too young for the pension and don’t feel ready for retirement. Instead sensing they still have plenty of energy and ideas that can benefit both individuals and communities. Lee has subsequently been on a journey in starting up Paless Homes over 12 months ago, which has included facing and navigating two major entrepreneurial hurdles via the support of family, friends and networking groups like Women Making It Work. These two personal and professional growth pillars are learning new technical skills and continuing to build on her self-confidence. Lee’s vision for her business is to empower downsizers and retirees, to navigate lifestyle changes with less stress and more self-assuredness.Flora is the owner of Flora’s Soaps and Oils that she first started up in 2017, four weeks before her son was born, and transitioned into a larger family business in 2020. Part of a multi-generation soap-making family, Flora was born in Albania and spent 10 years as an adolescent in Italy, before her and her family migrated to Australia in 2006. Flora is passionate about us all maintaining healthy skin, and produces safe, high-quality soap and oil products for a range of skin types. Now selling her continually expanding product range across Australia, Flora continues to learn and develop, while also educating others about the physical and broader sustainability issues from purchasing commercial products. She loves how every batch of soap that she makes is never the same, and continues to experiment with unique oil blends and fragrances. Socially and environmentally conscientious, Flora ensures that all her products are environmentally friendly, and she also regularly donates to local communities and charities.