28. Sue Ismiel

Company: Nad’s Hair Removal
Revenue: $42 million

“While the competition is fierce, it’s actually healthy, and it keeps every one of us on our toes. While it’s heartbreaking to see your product copied, it’s rewarding to know you’re ahead of the game,” Sue Ismiel told SmartCompany in May last year.

With a global hair removal brand Nad’s, which started from formulas made in her kitchen in 1991, Ismeil knows a thing or two about international competition, saying she’s even had to “flex her muscles” on the world stage every now and then, just to survive.

The company was launched off the back of Ismiel’s own formulas and is now a family operation with big goals for the future.

With $42 million in annual revenue, and a plan for reaching $50 to $100 million in the next three to five years, Ismiel isn’t putting the brakes on her business’ growth, and with her three daughters Nadine, Natalie and Naomi on board, she says the vision is big.