As part of the ongoing series of conversations on artists and designers, noted Sunshine Coast designer Adrian Ramsay spoke with a 19-year-old motivational writer and young entrepreneur Coby Lee.

This teenager has written a book; a task that can seem herculean to many at any age, but seems to have been relatively easy for this particular young woman. Thrive: A Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business is her third work and follows on the heels of her having self-published two previous works in her mid-teens.

“English has never been my best subject, I’m not gonna lie,” she says, laughing.

“I’ve always enjoyed the process of writing books and completing them.”

Having been put off by the stress and hours it took to complete her first works, by the time she hit Year 12, she had made enough inquiries as to the business side of publishing that she devoted her time doing her ‘Independent Project’ in her final year of school to her third published piece.

Coby had figured out the basics of what made sales happen, Coby thought she had found the way to make it work. It took her listening to podcasts and reading books by the likes of successful business people like Richard Branson for her to have locked down a formula, and one that could be emulated. But it was the work of her contemporary Caleb Maddix that really set her off. He’s her age and has made huge achievements in his entrepreneurial endeavours.

“I thought of them as mentors, and then in Year 12, I had to reach out and get actual mentors… Through the Steiner Project, you have to ha

ve a mentor that’s going to support you through the project, and I didn’t want to get a writer, because I’d figured out the writing thing.”

Having sought out advice and guidance from multiple business people and entrepreneurs, she was surprised by how generous some of them were and found that no matter what their backgrounds were, there was one overriding common factor to them.

“The only thing I was not expecting was the response from some of the people I interviewed… Young and old, we all shared one thing in common: that drive and passion. They all talked about passion. It wasn’t even a question I put in there.”

Coby’s example of one young person making an effort, striking out on her own and being powered by her own ambition and vision for the future; providing inspiration for other like-minded and ambitious young people with vision and a desire

to make their mark on the world.

She’s not letting her young age get in the way of her ambition to succeed.

Talk Design with Adrian Ramsay is the show where creatives have conversations. Hear this conversation in full here.