How Mecca founder Jo Horgan taught me to live a bold life and ‘always sit in the front row’

In my late twenties, I landed my dream job at Mecca; a beauty retail powerhouse with a cult-like following similar to Apple or Tesla (at least for the Aussie makeup junkies). After just a few months I found myself working directly with the CEO and founder Jo Horgan, who unlike me, had an impressive resume filled with accolades like ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year’ and ‘#38 on the AFR Rich List’. It was my first time working with someone so doggedly determined, permanently optimistic, and equal parts charming and ruthless. 

During those first few months, I sat back a little, surveying the landscape and sussing out the dynamic. I rarely raised my hand in meetings and felt anxious expressing opinions to the team. 

Sometime later, a company-wide presentation was held to share recent results and plans for the year. As I entered the conference room, chairs laid out facing a presentation screen, I made a beeline for a seat at the back. At that exact moment, Jo caught my eye and gestured to come and sit beside her up front. As the lights went down and the screen lit up, she leaned over and whispered… 

‘Anna if there’s one piece of advice I can give you, it’s to always sit in the front row.’ 

Afterwards I pondered her words and realised that she wasn’t just saying to literally sit in a chair up the front, but rather to sit in the front row of life. 

It’s a nice sentiment but in practice, it ain’t easy putting yourself out there. Many of us don’t do it, not because we lack ambition but because we’re scared. Scared of judgement, of looking dumb, or of how others will react. I’m no different — I’ve certainly shied away from tough situations because of how someone might respond. But a front row mentality forces us to challenge these fears head-on, and inspired by Jo’s tenacity I started making big moves in my own life, ironically one being to quit my job at Mecca to start my own business (joke’s on you, Jo).

A bold life is created through small choices. 

Big bets and tiny decisions

Living a bold life can mean taking grand leaps and assuming large amounts of risk; leaving a steady paycheque to start a business, putting yourself forward for a role that’s above your capability and experience, saying yes to delivering a keynote at a conference. 

But I’ve come to realise that being bold also looks mundane. 

It’s having a hard conversation with your partner even though keeping the peace feels easier. It’s showing up to a blind date even though you might not get along. It’s saying ‘I love you’ first. It’s deciding not to be a martyr and ask for help. It’s confronting the brutal facts of your life and recognising when the best decision is to walk away. It’s reaching out to your dream mentor on LinkedIn. It’s not saying yes when you mean no. These tiny moments might seem like nothing at first, but they’re the daily decisions that, when stacked up, lead to our biggest and brightest wins. 

If life is a novel, big bets are the chapter titles and tiny choices are the words on the page. Both have a role in moving your plot forward. 

Make your move

If, like younger me, you struggle sitting in the front row of life, perhaps my story and these lessons will help: 

1. Take baby steps: Start putting yourself out there by taking the smallest step possible, don’t try to make life-altering decisions right away. Show up in small moments and watch how your confidence muscle starts to build. 
2. Choose to assume that everything will go right: With tricky situations I find it helpful to visualise the best possible result. Deluding myself into thinking the best outcome is the likely one, helps short-circuit my fear response and move me into action. 
3. Let go of self-sabotaging thoughts: When (not if) one creeps in, ask yourself ‘is this negative thought based in fact or fear?’ 

Reflect on this

Life’s most colourful experiences aren’t found in the nosebleed section. Next time you find yourself hesitating or holding back… step forward, even just a bit. Choice by choice. Moment by moment. Day by day.

A bold life is created through small choices. 

If you do, I promise that before you know it you’ll find yourself up front where you belong. 

This article was first published on Anna Mackenzie’s Substack.