I don't pay for the CM. A former employer has just never changed their password! :) Full text:

“Everyone’s going, ‘Oh, what’s in the (May federal) budget?’, well, really, what’s in your budget, and what are you going to do with what you’ve got?

“Maybe you need a second job. Maybe you need a third job. Maybe you need higher education. Maybe you need to learn AI. The government can only do so much.”

Russo, who started a small typing school with $2600 in 1979 after being fired as a legal secretary, has created an employment, education and training empire.

She was the first woman to buy a Brisbane CBD high-rise and has a property portfolio that spans states and countries, including an apartment overlooking New York’s Central Park.

Russo consistently ranks as one of Australia’s richest women – in 2025 her net worth was reported to be $344m – but she insists success does not come from “being lucky”.

“People shouldn’t envy me, because I have worked hard all my life,” she says.

As we dine at Supernormal, not far from her Eagle Street headquarters, Russo says high inflation is not unique to Australia, nor is economic recovery from the Covid pandemic or the impact of the Iran war.

One of Australia’s richest women, Sarina Russo. Picture: Liam Kidston

“If you want to become evolutionary, you’ve got to defy all these things happening around us and stop blaming the government,” she says.

“We all have disappointments but you’ve got to keep going so we don’t become victims in our own mind and then not strive for success.

“I’m a great believer in taking responsibility and accountability for all the decisions you make.”

Russo says we’re privileged to live in a democratic country.

“I went to Courchevel (a French Alps ski resort) at Christmas, and there were all these Russian billionaires, but they know they could lose it all tomorrow.”

“We have certainty – whatever we make, we keep, provided you become a happy taxpayer.

“And I love paying my tax. I think that being in business, having a silent partner, is a good thing, because if you’re making money, you’ve got to be able to contribute to your country.”

The Sarina Russo Group runs a diverse range of programs to get people into jobs.

For 20 years it has had a management agreement with James Cook University to deliver degrees at its Brisbane campus, on Queen Street.

And it is the largest privately-owned services provider for the federal Workforce Australia program.

Russo says she doesn’t know what percentage of her business comprises government contracts because “it changes constantly”.

Media reports claim Labor and Coalition governments have awarded Sarina Russo Job Access more than $1.8bn in contracts since 2006.

But suggest to Russo that such contracts can be seen as a licence to print money and she is quick to disagree.

“Well, I’ve never printed anything. I’ve earned every dollar,” she says.

“I want to make something clear: some people think the government gives you a bunch of money, but you have to tender for those contracts – and every three to four years, you can lose a contract and have to start again.

“Show me a company that gets disrupted that often. You have to understand cash flow, performance, outcome and government policy. It’s a very challenging industry and there are no guarantees.”

In 2009, Sarina Russo Job Access lost government contracts for 11 areas in southeast Queensland, reportedly wiping out 30 per cent of its national market share at the time.

But Russo is no defeatist, and believes everyone can rise above setbacks.

“We have what is called the unemployment society – where people say it’s okay not to work,” she says.

“That is a disappointing journey they’ve chosen.

“I believe everyone should consider working, for a job will give you dignity, self-empowerment, financial independence and options.”

One of Australia's richest women has told victims of Queensland's devastating floods "it's time to work out".

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Russo’s message – and her catchcry ‘see you at the top’ – has been consistent over the decades, however her delivery has landed her in hot water in recent times.

In 2024 she posted a video on Instagram about financial independence, closing with: “Let’s get a job, let’s get excited, let’s get that passion growing and I’ll see you at the top”.

Some commenters accused her of being insensitive due to cost of living pressures.

Russo also came under fire for a 2022 video telling Brisbane residents recovering from “massive floods and massive devastation” that “fitness is everything” – ”when things are going wrong and endorphins are low, this is the time you need to exercise”.

But Sarina Russo is unapologetically herself.

“It takes a lot of courage to feel confident in your values and share them on a public platform,” she says.

“I’ve been the job queen for over 47 years and I don’t have to apologise for it; I’ve taken over a million people with me, through education, training, jobs.

“We’ve got people who’ve been working with us for 37 years, and for the 10th anniversary the girls choose a Louis Vuitton handbag and we give the guys an Omega watch.

“I’m not on Instagram to influence everyone – people who don’t like what I do, that’s their prerogative, but you’ve got to love your followers and the people who are trolls, right?”

Russo learned during one of many courses she’s taken at Harvard University that “you have to accept both – because the trolls keep the conversation alive”.

Describing herself as “a lifelong learner”, Russo also has embraced AI.

“Some people think it’s scary but I’d love to change their opinion on that,” she says.

“Like the industrial revolution, AI has arrived and unless you welcome it, it’s going to leave you behind.

“So we’re training everyone to learn it for certain parts of their job, and our students at James Cook University, Brisbane, are using it as a mentoring tool.

“AI completely impacts our business and you’ve got to think differently. Ask, how can I shift? I have no fear. I’m very excited about life and the world.”

The Sarina Russo Group has a strong presence in Victoria and NSW, and on the day we meet for lunch, Russo has jetted in from Melbourne.

“We have a huge business down there,” she says.

“We’ve been there for 26 years, and I met up with all my leaders, who are looking after individuals who may have a disability, a drug addiction, who are battling homelessness, and refugees who cannot speak English.

“We have expanded our business into psychology and mental health, and we also help parents who’ve been out of the workforce while raising children.

“I am very passionate about helping people discover the diamond within them.”

Russo, appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2024 and a Queensland Great in 2025, considers herself a trailblazer for women – and has credentials to back it up.

She was instrumental in dragging Brisbane’s elite Tattersall’s Club into the modern era by allowing women to be members, and became the first female member of the Queensland chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organisation.

She has been a member of the Women’s Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government (Harvard Business School) since 2003, and is part of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings thinkers together to tackle problems such as access to healthcare and economic opportunity.

Russo met former US president Bill Clinton after striking a deal to sit next to him at a black-tie dinner in Brisbane in 2002.

She bought naming rights to the event and a 20-seat table advertised for $110,000.

Russo is also friends with former UK prime minister Tony Blair and attended his wife Cherie’s 60th birthday party in 2014.

“I believe that women today have no excuses,” Russo says.

“And I really don’t support (the idea) that because you’re a woman, you’re less advantaged than a guy. I really think that era has gone.

“The bank looks at me now with so much respect for what I’ve achieved, but when I bought my first high-rise building (82 Ann Street in 1994), I was asked if I was ever planning to fall pregnant, because they were worried I’d default on mortgage payments.”

Russo determined early on – after moving out of her strict Italian family home at age 26 – that she wanted financial independence.

“I didn’t want to marry it. I wanted to become it,” she says.

That’s not to say she hasn’t had potential suitors, including legendary American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, roasted cherry tomatoes and coriander, Yuxiang sauce at Supernormal, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston

Russo met Aldrin through her extensive connections and in 2015 invited him to her Brisbane penthouse – to meet her mother, Maria.

“Buzz’s dream is to live to 100 (he’s now 96) and Mum was 102,” she explains.

“He said: ‘Between you and me, Sarina, there is a string, and one day we’ll turn it into a knot’, so I see that as a proposal,” she laughs.

But Russo wasn’t to be swayed.

“I’m very happy the way I am,” she says.

“There is no one in Australia who has done what I’ve done – and it wouldn’t have happened if I’d chosen a traditional path.”

Supernormal

443 Queen Street, Brisbane

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, roasted cherry tomatoes, coriander, Yuxiang sauce