Podcast
Podcast
In this episode of A Founder’s Life, Leo Gestetner sits down with Benjamin Read, a founder, husband, and high-performer who had to unlearn everything he thought he knew about success, ambition, and balance.
Ben shares the unfiltered reality of life behind the scenes—how the pressure to perform nearly broke him, and how redefining success around presence and integrity helped him build a life and business that finally feels like his.
Ben is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mercha.com.au, Australia’s smarter way to do branded merchandise. Under his leadership, Mercha cracked #48 on AFR’s list of fastest growing Aussie startups – proving that even corporate merch can be cool, sustainable, and worth talking about. When he’s not building the future of branded merch, you’ll find Ben with his family and friends – hopefully out in nature – searching for adrenaline.
In this episode of A Founder’s Life, Leo Gestetner sits down with Benjamin Read, a founder, husband, and high-performer who had to unlearn everything he thought he knew about success, ambition, and balance.
Ben shares the unfiltered reality of life behind the scenes—how the pressure to perform nearly broke him, and how redefining success around presence and integrity helped him build a life and business that finally feels like his.
• Early Career: Ben’s background in high-achieving roles, always chasing the next milestone.
• Big Challenge: Faced emotional disconnection and burnout from trying to live up to external definitions of success.
• Turning Point: Realized the cost of constantly proving himself and began to shift toward presence and integrity.
• Personal Growth: Rebuilt his foundation around values, family, and living aligned—even if it meant slowing down.
• Business Success: Found a new kind of growth—less about scale, more about meaning.
• Future Vision: Creating a life where business supports his values—not the other way around.
Learn more about Mercha:
Connect with Benjamin:
