Our Story
Beautiful Minds Australia®
Inspiring Girls Aged 7-14 & Their Families
Our story begins with a single workshop for young girls on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia in 2003.
Marina Passalaris decided to create a fun and empowering experience after school for girls in her area. She had noticed that there weren’t any programs around that supported girls aged 7-14.
At the time she was working at a yogurt factory and supplementing her income hosting women’s events.
Marina had a difficult time when she was that age. At one stage her severe anxiety and agoraphobia kept her in her house for an entire year.
The first workshops were fun, poppy and aspirational.
They covered topics like grooming, deportment, communication and make up. And featured high teas and other experiences that couldn’t be found anywhere else.
The girls went wild for it.
A few years later, after seeing more and more anxiety, confidence and friendship issues, Marina began experimenting with a different style of workshop.
Our beloved Beautiful Minds Australia workshops were born!
Due to the success of the workshops on the Sunshine Coast, Marina expanded to Sydney and quickly become a market leader in female education.
Beautiful Minds now had a school division offering well-being sessions around Australia and was hosting parent and child experiences.
This period also saw creation of BU Day in partnership with Girlfriend Magazine.
BU Day would see over 800 girls packing into auditoriums to listen to well-being advice and hear from inspirational female Australians.
2019
In 2019, Marina met Brendon A.J Rademakers. Brendon was working in the film industry in the United States at the time. They quickly became life partners and business partners.
Brendon had strong personal relationships with some of the world’s best storytellers and well-being experts, and with their support, they decided to embark on a risky business venture that would sit at the intersection of entertainment, well-being and education.
Today, Beautiful Minds Australia® operates in four Australian states. And work with 935 schools across the country.
After starting with the single workshop on the Sunshine Coast, over 1.6 million kids have learned to navigate the challenges of growing up with Beautiful Minds®
Our partnerships include Nestle, 3M, FujiFilm, COTTONS and the North Melbourne Kangaroos.
Our brand ambassador is Cricket World Cup Final hero Marnus Labuschagne.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Click here to read about Marina’s story in The Daily Mail
Click here to read about Marina and our girls workshops in The Washington Post
Connect with Marina on Linkedin.