It Has To Be Me Episode

TURN PROBLEMS INTO PRODUCTS

Alex Gransbury

Episode #6: June 13th, 2024

THE GOLD

“Impossible only means the solution is yet to be found. Everything is solvable if you put your mind to it, and commit enough time and energy to it.”

Alex Gransbury

CEO of Dreamfarm

“The more you train, the more you practice, the harder you work, the luckier you get. You've got to make opportunities. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It's supposed to be hard.”

Alex Gransbury

CEO of Dreamfarm

"The more you're exposed to in life, the more you want from life."

Alex Gransbury

CEO of Dreamfarm

"It's your life. So go out and do everything you possibly can to get every experience, try everything."

Alex Gransbury

CEO of Dreamfarm

“You've got to lean into your ideas. Steve Jobs talks about ‘When you realize the world that you live in and everything you see around you was created by people that are no smarter than you, your life changes.’ You realize you don't just live in a world of other people's making. You live in a world that you can make, and add to, and change.”

Alex Gransbury

CEO of Dreamfarm

“There is nothing in your way except yourself. So give it a go. If you put enough into it and don't give up and keep trying every day, you'll get there. You absolutely will.”

Alex Gransbury

CEO of Dreamfarm

in THIS EPISODE

  • Alex Gransbury, the innovator and entrepreneur behind Dreamfarm, shares how frustration with dumping his coffee grounds led him to create a multi-million-dollar company.

  • He recalls tinkering in his grandfather’s garage, assembling the first product with his family around the kitchen table, and the recognition that came in numerous design awards, making Oprah’s Favorite Things, and joining Apple and Tesla in Time magazine's Best Inventions.

  • Alex says the key to success is believing in your ideas, asking for help, and maximizing your resources to keep solving problems—and there is always a solution.

  • Create your own opportunities, never give up, and try everything on offer to find what’s right (and avoid regret).

  • If you’ve got an idea that’s burning inside you, Alex will give you some great ideas and serious inspiration to go for it! 

  • Join us for the ultimate "It has to be me" story. 

TESS'S TAKEAWAYS

  • Believe in your ideas. You can change the world.

  • Nothing is impossible. You can always find a solution.

  • Make the most of every opportunity to avoid regrets.

  • Think outside the box. Embrace your uniqueness.

  • A strong support system is critical.

  • Use your skills to add to the world.

  • Ask for help. People will say yes!

  • In challenging times, adapt.

ABOUT ALEX

Alex Gransbury is the CEO of Dreamfarm, an Australian company that creates incredible kitchen tools.

After spending his childhood watching MacGyver, and inventing things to solve household problems, Alex graduated with a business and commerce degree with the intention to work in finance. But, he quickly realized his passion lay in creating products that solved the problems of everyday life.

So, in 2003, at the age of 22, Alex founded Dreamfarm with the Grindenstein, a coffee grind knock box for home espresso machines. The design sprung from Alex's frustration at the difficulty of disposing coffee grinds.

Coffee lovers shared Alex’s excitement for this home solution, and within a year, the product was being sold in retail stores throughout Australia, and was soon flying off shelves internationally.

Since launching the Gridenstein, Alex and his team of industrial designers have created some of the world’s most celebrated kitchen gadgets.

Their relentless commitment that every product “be unique, solve a problem, work better than anything else, and do something you’ve never seen before” helps them create groundbreaking products that have won numerous design and innovation awards.

Dreamfarm’s Fluicer (foldable citrus press) was listed among Time Magazine’s 200 Best Inventions of 2023, and Oprah’s favorite things for Summer 2023.

When he’s not in the Dreamfarm workshop, Alex is fixing something around the house, taking his sons to the football, or hanging out with his daughter and their golden retriever in the park.