Introduction

Naomi Simson is an Australian businessperson, blogger, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the online experience gift retailer called RedBalloon, which is part of the Big Red Group. She is also the writer of 3 books including Live What You Love  and is a “shark” in the hit reality show called Shark Tank. Among her many features, Business Insider ranked her among the top 30 tech influencers on Twitter.

Early Life

Simson was born on 22 February 1964, in Australia. Before her journey to making RedBalloon a multi-million dollar company, she worked in the corporate world where her main focus was on marketing. She worked for some of the most reputable companies in the world namely IBM, KPMG, Apple Computer Australia as well as Ansett Australia. Working in so many top brands, she gained the needed experience in order to start her own venture in a right way.

Career

Therefore, stepping out of her comfort zone and daring to take action on a completely new venture, she started an online experience gift retailer company called RedBalloon based in Australia. She started the company with its head offices being in her house and with a personal investment of her earnings of $25,000. This venture that started in 2001 had 45 employees a decade late which shows the growth that it had.

With the rise of her name being the founder of such a growing company, she was named as one of the five “Sharks” on the popular reality show called Shark Tank Australia. The other investors are well-known figures namely Andrew Banks, John McGrath, Steve Baxter, and Janine Allis. However, this is not Simson’s first taste of television. In 2009, she was a secret millionaire in the show called The Secret Millionaire – Australia. Upon conclusion of the show, Simson reveals her true identity to others and donates money to a number of the causes and individuals she volunteered for during the show.

Simson is a blogger and owner of NaomiSimson.com, ranked #2 in the 15 Top Business Blogs by SmartCompany.com as of 2016.  Simson is the author of I Want What She’s Having – The Experience of Creating a Pleasurable Business. In 2016 she released the book Ready to Soar: Turn Your Brilliant Idea into a Business You Love. In 2016, RedBalloon started to diversify their portfolio by investing in new technologies to improve businesses. With this idea in mind, they started a stand-alone small business reward platform Redii in 2016. This product has seen great growth in the market.

Naomi Simson Net Worth

As of 2018, she has an estimated net worth of $40 million.  The Smart Company Australia reported that she has annual revenues of $60 million in her company. Some accolades of her that she should be proud of, include the 2005 Westpac NSW Entrepreneur of the Year and the National Telstra Business Women’s Award for Innovation in 2008.

She strongly believes in sharing knowledge of what she has gained over the years through building a business. Linkedin recognized this in 2012 by naming her part of the World’s Most Influential Thought Leaders, a recognition shared by only 150 people.

Though we are unsure, how much stake she has in her company, it was reported that Dave Anderson had purchased a 50% stake of the RedBallon in 2017. The parent company Big Red Group currently owns Big Albert AI, Redii, Wrapped, and The Huddle. Her company proudly boasts of delivering more than 4 million experiences to customers over the years. She has more than 2 million followers on LinkedIn which shows her passion to share knowledge.

Personal Life

She recently married her long-term partner named Stuart King. King is a is a former Victorian police officer who now works as managing director for brand protection company Risk To Business. Both of them have two children from their former marriages.

She was previously married to Peter Simson but their marriage fell apart in 2011. However, Naomi continues to work side-by-side with her ex-husband in the company they founded together in 2001, Red Balloon

Simon is also active with philanthropy and is part of the council of Voiceless, spreading the word about the need for greater animal protection. She is also an advisor to Heads Over Heels. She is also a Governor of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance and a director of the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Business and Economics.