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Aussie who turned teen side hustle into $100 million empire pushes back at retail trend

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Aussie who turned teen side hustle into 0 million empire pushes back at retail trend

When Anthony Nappa started selling hair products out of the corner of his parents’ warehouse as a teen, he never could have imagined what the side hustle would become. The business has grown from a small eBay store to a multi-million dollar beauty empire that is rapidly expanding its physical presence across Australia.

Founded as a side project in 2012 when Nappa was 19 years old, Oz Hair & Beauty posted $100 million in revenue in the past financial year and now employs more than 500 staff across the country. It has opened 30 new stores in the past three years, with the aim of expanding to 50 stores by the end of the next financial year.

Nappa, now 33, told Yahoo Finance it was a far cry from his original plan when he was a teenager. Back then, he was working part-time as a labourer while studying Commerce at university.

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“My plan was to live at home, study at uni, while I’m studying, save as much money as possible and by the time I graduate, put a down payment on a house and have a graduate job,” he said.

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But when his labouring boss suddenly left the country, Nappa found himself out of a job. His parents, Elio and Venessa Nappa, owned a number of Oz Hair hairdressing salons in Sydney, so he decided to start selling the salon’s hair products on eBay.

Nappa invested $10,000 of his savings into the business and saw sales start picking up when he migrated from an eBay store to a proper website and later Shopify.

“Long story short, it really took off. I was working at the back of the warehouse, and then I had to lease the whole warehouse,” he said.

Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com

Anthony's younger brother Guy joined the business in 2017, and now serves as chief operating officer.
Anthony’s younger brother Guy joined the business in 2017, and now serves as chief operating officer.

Growing bricks and mortar presence

It was during the pandemic that business really “boomed”, Nappa said. In 2019, annual revenue sat at about $24 million, but by 2021, turnover had reached $40 million.

In 2021, Oz Hair & Beauty received backing from billionaire Brett Blundy’s BBRC and Daniel Agostinelli, CEO of Accent Group, which runs shoe retail chains like Platypus and Hype.

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Nappa said part of the deal included buying his parents’ store in the QVB, which was then rejigged in 2022 into a fully fledged retail store.

“That increased sales by nearly double. So we thought we’ve got something here now,” Nappa said.

At a time when many discretionary retailers are reducing their physical footprints, Oz Hair & Beauty has taken the opposite approach.

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Finance

Scaling Blended Climate Finance: What Works in Practice – CPI

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Scaling Blended Climate Finance: What Works in Practice – CPI

The Catalytic Climate Finance Facility (CC Facility), a program jointly managed by Climate Policy Initiative and Convergence, along with the Government of Canada, is hosting an event during London Climate Action Week focused on Scaling Climate Investments in Emerging Markets Using Blended Finance.

The event will explore opportunities and challenges in mobilizing private capital for climate action in emerging markets, including the role of catalytic capital instruments such as grants and technical assistance in scaling innovative blended climate finance solutions. Discussions will draw on practical insights from actual blended climate finance transactions and also highlight key lessons emerging from programs such as the CC Facility, which leverages these instruments to accelerate and scale such solutions. The event will bring together investors, government funders, DFIs and MDBs, philanthropies, climate finance practitioners, and ecosystem partners, and will provide an opportunity to network with key stakeholders across the blended and climate finance ecosystem over drinks.

Due to limited capacity, this is an invite-only event. If you are interested in attending, please register your interest  here.

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Special meeting set for swearing-in of Magnolia finance officer and town clerk

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Special meeting set for swearing-in of Magnolia finance officer and town clerk

MAGNOLIA, Duplin County — The Town of Magnolia will hold a special meeting next week to swear in two town officials.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, at 5:45 p.m. at Magnolia Town Hall on East Carroll Street.

Town officials said the meeting will focus on the swearing-in of the town’s finance officer and town clerk.

According to the town’s website, the town clerk supports the mayor, town manager and Board of Commissioners by preparing meeting materials, keeping public records and helping with official town documents.

The finance officer is responsible for the town’s financial operations, including budget oversight, financial records, payroll, audits and regular reports to commissioners.

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Magnolia Town Hall is located at 110 East Carroll Street.

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CRTC triples streamers’ financial contributions to Canadian content

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CRTC triples streamers’ financial contributions to Canadian content

OTTAWA — Large online streaming services must contribute 15 per cent of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content, the federal broadcast regulator said Thursday.

That’s three times the five-per-cent initial contribution requirement the CRTC set out in 2024, which is being challenged in court by major streamers, including Apple, Amazon and Spotify.

Contribution requirements for traditional broadcasters, which currently pay between 30 and 45 per cent, will be lowered to 25 per cent.

“The total contributions are expected to stabilize the funding at more than $2 billion in support of Canadian and Indigenous content, such as French-language content and news,” the regulator said in a press release.

The CRTC also set out rules on how the money must be spent for both streamers and broadcasters, including contributions toward production funds and direct spending on Canadian content.

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Most of the streamers’ financial contribution can go toward content, though the CRTC is imposing rules on how that money must be spent for the largest streamers.

For instance, streamers with Canadian revenues of more than $100 million annually must direct 30 per cent of spending toward partnerships with Canadian broadcasters and independent producers.

The new financial contribution rules apply to streamers and broadcasters with at least $25 million in annual Canadian broadcasting revenues.

The CRTC made the decisions as part of its implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which the U.S. has identified as a trade irritant ahead of trade negotiations with Canada.

The regulator also said Thursday online streamers will have to take steps to ensure Canadian and Indigenous content is available and visible to audiences.

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“This will make it easier for people to find this content on the platforms they use, while giving broadcasters flexibility in how they meet the new expectations,” the CRTC said in the release.

Details of those requirements will be determined at a later time, the CRTC said.

The CRTC is also establishing a new fund to support specific TV channels, including CPAC, the Canadian service that provides direct coverage of political events.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press

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