Aug 3, 2011

Swimming into business successBy Alexandra CainSMH.com.au

Writing a business book might not be an obvious choice for a former swimming champion, but Hayley Lewis – who has run a swim school and a gift shop – has just released a new book to help inspire would-be female business owners.

Lewis, 37, first achieved fame in 1990 when she won five gold medals at the Auckland Commonwealth Games. In 1992, she won silver and bronze medals at the Barcelona Olympics and later competed in the Sydney Olympics. More recently, she has found fame again as host of TV show The Biggest Loser.

Dream Believe Create: a Woman’s Guide to Small Business is a warts-and-all exploration of Lewis’ experiences as a small business owner. She candidly discusses her first two failed attempts at running small businesses – a dog walking service and a market stall selling, by her own admission, dodgy patchwork cushions.

It wasn’t until she pursued her third business venture, the Hayley Lewis Swim School, after retiring from competitive swimming in 2001, that Lewis hit on business success.

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