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Career Reinvention: Starting Something New | Talitha Cummins | F*ck, I’m Nearly 50! · F*ck, I’m Nearly 50!

• 0:00
  Dominique Hind: Dom Hi, I'm Dom hind and fuck. I'm nearly 50.
• 0:04
  Dominique Hind: Actually, I'm 47 and a month, and I have started the countdown. The thing is, Time moves fast. One minute you're deep in the hustle, building a career, hitting milestones, feeling like you've got all the time in the world, and then suddenly you look up and think, Wait, is this still what I want?
• 0:27
  Dominique Hind: That moment of questioning can feel terrifying. I know because I've been there. And today's guest Talitha Cummins knows it too. For years, she was a face we all knew, reading the news, delivering the stories that shaped our days. But after leaving channel seven, she found herself at a crossroads, asking the same question so many of us do what now? For a while, she didn't have the answer, but then she found herself drawn to do something totally new, the cut a Fine Jewellery brand built on craftsmanship and meaning, and in a way, she was following in the footsteps of her family. Her uncle has run a hugely successful jewellery business in Melbourne, and that legacy of crafts, craftsmanship and precision, was something she wanted to bring into the modern era. And with that, she stepped into what I like to call career 2.0 a complete reinvention. But Talitha story isn't just about career change, it's about total transformation. She's been open with her battle with alcoholism, and she has made the decision to stop drinking and commit to a clean, clear and intentional life, and that shift has shaped everything from the way she approaches business to the choices she makes every day. I met Talitha through her husband Ben Lucas, Benda, as we affectionately call him, and I've watched her step into this next chapter with so much purpose and clarity, and I knew I had to have this conversation with her. So let's get into it.
• 2:03
  Dominique Hind: Because fuck, I'm nearly 50, and isn't it amazing?
• 2:22
  Dominique Hind: Some people completely redefined what success looks like for them, and Talitha Cummins is one of those people. She spent years in the media as a journalist and news presenter, then a decision was made for her, it was time to leave it all behind and not on her terms. What happens when the career you built no longer fits?
• 2:45
  Dominique Hind: How do you start over? And more importantly, how do you find something that actually feels like you? Talitha backed herself, took a risk and created the cut, a Fine Jewellery brand built on craftsmanship, smart design and giving people a smarter way to buy diamonds.
• 3:07
  Dominique Hind: After 12 months in she's absolutely killing it, reshaping the traditional diamond industry by championing lab grown diamonds are more ethical, accessible, smart and sustainable choice. And the industry is changing fast, even to beers. The King of the traditional diamonds has seen a drop in market cap and profitability as more people realise that lab grown diamonds are chemically, physically and aesthetically identical, but without the ethical baggage and the ridiculous price tag.
• 3:49
  Dominique Hind: Talitha own transformation, stepping into sobriety, away from the media industry and now leading a thriving business reflects smart, intentional choices. It's a story of reinvention, resilience and trusting your gut. Talitha, welcome to fuck. I'm nearly 50.
• 4:15
  Talitha Cummins: Thank you so much for having me here. I'm excited. We've already been laughing a lot. Yeah, I think it's sweating and sweating. Yes, that's part of fuck. I'm nearly 50. Let me just tell you that.
• 4:28
  Dominique Hind: Now, before we dive in, I want to hear it from you. Can you please introduce yourself in the most Talitha
• 4:36
  Talitha Cummins: way, impossible. Okay, there have been a couple of iterations of Talitha. I've had Talitha 2.0 which was, you know, party girl, crazy, wild, falling asleep in the front yard, passing out to lethal. And then there's the Talitha who started getting her life together. And. And has just at the age of 42, or three, started a whole new career. It's amazing. I have two beautiful children, yes, six and eight years old, and an amazingly supportive husband. I Yeah, I'm pretty happy with where I am now, but I would say that being close to fucking 50 makes me happier because I'm feeling more stable and and a lot more sure of myself. Yeah, in this decade,
• 5:32
  Dominique Hind: it's so funny, isn't it? I think when you do get older, you do start to think and feel that, who gives a shit?
• 5:41
  Dominique Hind: And you've got the confidence to actually back yourself, because it doesn't matter like you've got one life to live, that's right, you've got to do it.
• 5:51
  Talitha Cummins: And you start to do that inventory of, you know, people and of things and of and you come to this realisation that, yeah, this is, this is crunch time. Yeah,
• 6:04
  Dominique Hind: yeah. I think it's the inventory of things is a massive thing, like even your jewellery, I think is a massive thing. To look through the inventory and go, Okay, do I need it all? Yeah, but now you can't sell it. And I went, now you can't sell
• 6:17
  Unknown: it, but we'll talk a lot about that.
• 6:20
  Talitha Cummins: But I went through to our storage because we live in a terrace, yeah, and so we have to have an outside storage. And I looked through on the weekend, I had this whole case full of Louis Vuitton and Gucci and all of these bags that I've wasted my money on for the last, you know, 20 years. And I just thought, wow, that's it's a lot of money. It's a lot of money there. Yeah, I know. So
• 6:44
  Dominique Hind: Justine, who was on the first guest, she sent me a message because she was going through and packing up her life.
• 6:51
  Dominique Hind: She sent 120 items to consignment as she was moving.
• 6:56
  Dominique Hind: And I was like, consignment, that means they're expensive to begin with. I don't even want to
• 7:02
  Talitha Cummins: know concerning, isn't it, the things that we waste our money on over the years? It is. It's unbelievable. I feel like, you know, I feel like luxury in that way, is starting to change.
• 7:10
  Talitha Cummins: Luxury
• 7:12
  Dominique Hind: is definitely it is, and I know that we will talk about it, but let's talk about your career early on. So you spent years in the media world a very tough, tough world. When did you realise it was time to move on? And how did that come about?
• 7:33
  Talitha Cummins: I Yeah. So I was in in the media for about 18 years, working for Channel Seven, all up this eastern seaboard, finishing up in Sydney for reading news, reading for weekend, sunrise. Just briefly, I was always a very shy and anxious young girl, really, yes, definitely, very quiet, very timid. So for me to be in that career in the first place was just a shock for my family.
• 8:02
  Unknown: Hi, hi, um,
• 8:04
  Talitha Cummins: but when I was in front of that camera, I was able to compose myself and put all of that away and become this different person. Isn't that interesting? So yeah, it was.
• 8:13
  Talitha Cummins: It's and I would say right through until the end of my career, I felt nervous and anxious. And working in the TV industry, you haven't an earpiece in your ear, and we're coming back from the break, and it's 54321, you know, I would always have, if you've ever felt anxious in your life, that tight chest that that never left me really that whole time. Wow. And so for me, it became a performance, yeah, okay, you know underneath, though, is just sort of a duck treading water.
• 8:47
  Talitha Cummins: So, yeah, so for 18 years, that was essentially me, Wow.
• 8:51
  Dominique Hind: You must have, like, just fallen in a heap.
• 8:53
  Dominique Hind: Then at the end of it, just from not having to be so anxious, well, I
• 8:58
  Talitha Cummins: fell into a heap.
• 9:02
  Unknown: Which Which time Hang on.
• 9:05
  Talitha Cummins: You know, at the age of 33 when, with those anxious feelings, I would go home and drink myself into oblivion. Yeah, right, you know, I know I'm talking volume bottles, right, of wine or alcohol or whatever it was a night, just to and I think I was just in this survival mode and trying to deal with other things in my life. And so at the age of 33 I, you know, exposed to the world that I was an alcoholic, it hit the papers. And
• 9:41
  Dominique Hind: how was that?
• 9:44
  Talitha Cummins: Strangely, not as terrifying as it would sound, there was sort of something in me which said that I could help people with sharing this message. It was a strange believing, you know, I don't know if. A higher power, or whatever's up there. There was some kind of thing that was telling me that this needed to be told to the world. It was bizarre. So anyway, leaving television that wasn't entirely my choice. Do you know what? I
• 10:16
  Dominique Hind: think it's a great choice. After just going through that
• 10:20
  Talitha Cummins: I tried to leave a couple of times over the years, and they said, Hey, what do you want? We can, you know, you want different positions you want. And so I did those things.
• 10:29
  Talitha Cummins: But I was nine weeks into after having my first baby, and, you know, I'd said goodbye to everyone on air, and I'm sort of a little bit restricted in what you want to say, Yeah, that's fine, but I got a call saying that there's been a shuffling of the deck chairs. And would I like to now become a 5am news reader?
• 10:51
  Dominique Hind: That would work, that would work with my child?
• 10:54
  Talitha Cummins: Yes, great. So that
• 10:57
  Unknown: wasn't going to work.
• 11:01
  Talitha Cummins: So yeah, I took some further steps and legal action there, which totally understandable, yes, and so I was never going to work in the television industry again after doing that. So for a few years, I sort of shuffled around. I did a lot of media consultancy, going into boardrooms and training corporate people to how to speak to the media, which was not fulfilling entirely. You know, we'd have great days with non for profit organisations where you can really contribute.
• 11:35
  Talitha Cummins: But yeah, and then I jumped around a little bit, did some PR, spent a day at the weather bureau in communications, and then I just thought, this is not working. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, I just keep talking.
• 11:48
  Talitha Cummins: Do you no stop?
• 11:54
  Dominique Hind: You could have actually helped the Weather Bureau and actually, like, got the weather right and forecasting Correct.
• 12:00
  Talitha Cummins: Hey, I back the weather bureau. Forecasting is an inexact site, okay? They use a lot of I'm very defensive.
• 12:07
  Unknown: Okay, wow, all right.
• 12:11
  Dominique Hind: And I can remember your journey going through and, you know, trying to find what was actually right.
• 12:16
  Dominique Hind: And we did have a few conversations about it, and this thing kept coming up with your uncle, which I think is amazing.
• 12:24
  Dominique Hind: But how did you actually navigate that? What's next like?
• 12:29
  Dominique Hind: Were you scared that you wouldn't actually find your thing? I was
• 12:33
  Talitha Cummins: terrified because I people around me seemed to have found their thing or something. You know. My husband still gets out of bed at 430 in the morning, jumps out of bed excitedly, looking
• 12:47
  Dominique Hind: forward to his day. You ever know, but that is just better. Like, that is just him, like, let's be honest.
• 12:54
  Talitha Cummins: He's he's just, you know, and then I'd see other people, and they were happy in what they were doing, and they were fulfilled, and they talked animatedly about their life and their job, and I wanted that, but I felt so far away from it at the same time as well. And so my uncle, who has been in the diamond industry for nearly 55 years, kept sort of contacting me and saying, Hey, look, I think this would really work for you. The bespoke side of my business in Victoria is going really well. People don't want something off the rack. They want something bespoke made for them. And I think if you opened an office in Sydney, you went to the GAA and studied diamonds, this could really work for you.
• 13:34
  Talitha Cummins: And I just I wasn't convinced, yeah. I just thought being a journalist and then selling just seemed so far apart. Yeah, to me, you know, different skill sets completely. I would have to potentially have an opinion, you know, in sales and and so it took me some convincing, but I did say to him, Look, I will do the online component of a diamond grading course for the with the GAA, and I'll see how I go. So I did that online component, and then I thought, that's actually
• 14:10
  Dominique Hind: good, interesting. What did you do when you were like, did you have to touch all the diamonds
• 14:14
  Talitha Cummins: or Well, I did the online part, and then I said, Okay, well, maybe I'll go to London and I'll do the face to face practical diamond grading. So went there into the laboratory, and, you know, there were seven or eight of us in the class, and you have your own microscope, and you have your tools, and you learn how to basically look at a diamond.
• 14:34
  Talitha Cummins: They hand you diamonds and grade them from start to finish in accordance with the four C's really interesting. Also a lot of maths involved. And you know, which I didn't see coming. I did fear that I was going to fail the exam, but I passed that, but I was still I finished that, and I thought I still don't. I'm not brave enough to open a business of my own. I'm too scared. It's.
• 15:00
  Talitha Cummins: Terrifying. What do I know about business? I've always had a business brain. I've got good support around me, but, yeah, I just one step at a time. I thought, Okay, I'm going to work out a name, and then I'm going to work out a strategy. And, you know, these building blocks started to grow, and
• 15:21
  Dominique Hind: that, that anxiety that you had are in front of the camera. Yes. Do you have that now with selling, or is it just totally dissipated?
• 15:28
  Dominique Hind: And I did
• 15:32
  Talitha Cummins: to begin with, but you know, the first, the firsts are always challenging, yeah, and then I think with entrepreneurship or having a business, it unearths all of your insecurities, or so many or anything that you may not be 100% with. You know, I remember handing up my first quote,
• 15:58
  Unknown: and I think it was like, via email or something, and I was like, okay, he hasn't responded. It's two days I haven't responded. I'm bad. This is not going to work. This is, you know, all of those anxieties, and it's so hard in that instance where you go, for you, it is the most important thing, yeah, for you right now, you put all of your time and all of your energy, but for the person you're giving it to, it's just one of the many things that they're doing. But
• 16:22
  Talitha Cummins: John was not worried about the 1010, characters. He was just wanting for his wife for a few months down the track, for his, you know, her birthday. But to you, it's the centre of the the universe. It
• 16:33
  Dominique Hind: is. And, yeah, I think yeah, that anxiety, yeah, would build there totally.
• 16:38
  Talitha Cummins: But I but also what it's I love that unearthing of the anxieties as well, and if you lean into them a little bit, and do you have a great therapist like I do, and I take these to her every week, you know, or every night. I go once a month. Now, I
• 16:56
  Dominique Hind: do think the anxieties would be different, though, because you control these anxieties like you are the master of driving the sales, of driving the business, whereas 321, back on air, that's someone else controlling. It's
• 17:11
  Talitha Cummins: a different it is a different way. That's true to a certain extent, but there are things that are thrust upon you in business that you know, we've our social media has expanded quite quickly, and we do a lot of education online, and the lab versus natural debate is very divided debate, and we've copped a lot of, you know, angry people abuse in that time, which also unearths all of these other things that You you sort of need to deal with as well. So it's been a great personal development year as well.
• 17:50
  Dominique Hind: Starting over is really scary. What were the biggest fears or doubts that came out of it?
• 18:00
  Talitha Cummins: Everything was terrifying. What if I fail? What if I, you know, going from what I was doing, you know, there were articles written and things like that, and I came out pretty hard saying, This is what I'm doing, and we're going to create the best, you know. So I really put myself out there. And I just thought, what if this all fails and I can't run a business and no one wants to buy? And I was thinking, who, who is going to want to buy from me? Who? Yeah, like, what if I open the doors and
• 18:33
  Dominique Hind: it's crickets, yeah. So it hasn't been
• 18:38
  Talitha Cummins: no
• 18:40
  Dominique Hind: gratitude.
• 18:42
  Talitha Cummins: But, but, yeah, the whole thing is terrifying, but I found breaking it down into a step at a time and just taking action points was was just the way that I got through it, yeah? And
• 18:53
  Dominique Hind: I think it can be so overwhelming, like so overwhelming, but it is just about the next step, and the next step and the next step, definitely, and it just makes it a little bit easier, yes, yeah, much easier. So the cut isn't just a business. It is, as you said, reshaping the industry.
• 19:15
  Dominique Hind: Did you always see yourself? You know, even from an early age as an entrepreneur or a business owner, or is this just something that you've, you know, reshaped and moved into? This has just happened
• 19:29
  Talitha Cummins: organically, really, like it's and and I think maybe that's why it's resonating with people, because what I'm doing when I first started in this industry, and they were saying diamonds were rare. And I did a real and said, diamonds are not rare. You know, most people in the Western world are wearing at least one on their hand and earrings. And there were all of these things that we had been. Told over the years that, as a journalist looking into this new industry, I thought, what
• 20:10
  Dominique Hind: is that actually correct? Yeah or not. Are we what? Yeah? Because, I mean, yeah, you can literally say, I want this diamond and this and this, and they will
• 20:17
  Talitha Cummins: find one for you. Find me a DVS one, you know, two and a half carat, yeah, and it will, I mean, there are, of course, exceptions, but for the engagement ring market, and, you know, tennis bracelets, jewellery, Fine Jewellery, when this is they're not rare, yeah,
• 20:36
  Dominique Hind: yeah, yep. Okay, good, great.
• 20:41
  Talitha Cummins: So when I put that reel out, it blew up. Yeah, exploded like millions of people viewed responded
• 20:50
  Dominique Hind: at how much of it was positive versus negative?
• 20:52
  Dominique Hind: Oh, I would say both. Yeah, right. So pretty evenly skewed, yeah. And do you think the negativity stems and, I mean, it's funny, like, I I said to Justin, can I just sell because I'm not very sentimental, which is probably not a good thing.
• 21:08
  Dominique Hind: I'm a few when I die, what are you going to burn it? Like, like, what's going to happen to it doesn't it doesn't matter. So I said to him, I just want to sell on my diamonds, and then I'll just get the lab grant, and he's like, there's not a market, and you can't do that. But I think it is, you know, you've spent so much money on these natural diamonds that you feel like there's an price attached to them, yeah, and there's actually not.
• 21:38
  Talitha Cummins: And we're learning now that diamonds, the engagement ring variety, and when we're not talking four plus carrot natural diamonds, which you can invest in and, yeah, that's a different market. Tiny amount of the market engagement ring white diamonds and Fine Jewellery. There is no secondary market. For the best that you can do is take them to a pawn broker or to an estate jeweller or sell them on Facebook marketplace, you will get back what someone is willing to pay for them. So the illusion that we are going to, you know, you've got this beautiful$50,000 necklace, and it's, it's appreciating in value. It's just not true.
• 22:22
  Dominique Hind: Yeah, great. And that's where the sore
• 22:26
  Talitha Cummins: point is for a lot of people. And I think I feel like, in the last year and a half, we've been observing through our reels and our feedback and everything, a revolution in what luxury means.
• 22:36
  Talitha Cummins: Yeah, you know the there's the old luxury avert, displaying our wealth, you know, in that way.
• 22:49
  Talitha Cummins: And then there's, yeah, like the Logos, the big T shirts, yes.
• 22:56
  Talitha Cummins: And now there's a new luxury, which is, it's almost like a smarter luxury, where people are buying things for themselves for the reasons that they want it, and for the reasons that are, you know, important to them.
• 23:13
  Dominique Hind: So what less show, rather
• 23:16
  Talitha Cummins: show and buying something that they're meaningful? Yeah, but doing it in a smarter way, and saying, Hey, and this, I have Eloise, who is on my page. Beautiful Eloise. She we use her hands because I've got sausage fingers. I
• 23:30
  Dominique Hind: didn't even think about that like a hand model.
• 23:33
  Talitha Cummins: Okay, great. At the start, when I was starting to, you know, video, diamonds on my hands. Oh no, yes, it's someone else so beautiful, Eloise bought her diamond ring the engagement off me to begin with, and she was toying with the idea of natural and lab grown, and I think the natural was going to come in around$50,000 and the lab grown around 10 or $12,000 and she her and her partner thought about it, and then she said to me, no, we're not going to buy the natural because we want to buy a house and we want to deposit.
• 24:08
  Talitha Cummins: And she said, we're buying a place in Queensland because we can't afford to live in Sydney, but we want to invest our money in a different way, in a smarter way, yeah, which and totally understand. And this is sort of, this is what we're seeing? Yeah, I It's interesting. Yes,
• 24:24
  Dominique Hind: yes, I bet it is with backing yourself in business. It's a whole different mindset than having a career.
• 24:34
  Dominique Hind: What's been the biggest learning curve,
• 24:38
  Talitha Cummins: because to have them daily, do
• 24:43
  Dominique Hind: you know, I think when you start your business, everything that you think is easy, yes, is actually really hard, and all the things that you think are going to be hard actually tend to be quite easy. Gosh,
• 24:56
  Talitha Cummins: I just that's a really big question. Jen, isn't it the biggest learning curve?
• 25:00
  Talitha Cummins: Look, I love the I love being in control of my own destiny. Yeah, I love being able to change things on a dime, to be able to have impact quickly. If I want to buy something and create a new product, I can do that straight away,
• 25:24
  Unknown: that's a really hard question.
• 25:28
  Talitha Cummins: I mean, we had, I had, I did a record of myself last week because I was having a meltdown. We had seven product seven packages stuck in us, customs. Oh, wow. And I, oh no, I don't hear about Donald Trump wanted them, yeah, before he had some tariffs. And, you know, I just had no knowledge of this area. I had no idea what to do.
• 25:49
  Talitha Cummins: Shipping consultants are hard to come by. Like it's, you're dealing with problems all the time, yeah, and it's about being resilient and living through the pain and looking at the problem, compartmentalising it, and then moving to the next one.
• 26:10
  Dominique Hind: I think that's it. That's a massive one, like being able to move on, yeah, not
• 26:13
  Talitha Cummins: dwell, not dwell on it. And I think it's a like, it's a business is a battle of wills, more so than than, you know, intelligence, it's persistence, it's resilience, it's waking up again when you just really don't want to go in that day because you've yesterday was awful, you know.
• 26:32
  Talitha Cummins: And that's, I kind of like it, yeah,
• 26:35
  Dominique Hind: it's like Benny getting up at 630 again, again and again, totally
• 26:39
  Unknown: again.
• 26:42
  Talitha Cummins: You know, it becomes a challenge. Yeah,
• 26:44
  Dominique Hind: what have been the moments where you've thought, What have I done
• 26:50
  Unknown: earlier today?
• 26:52
  Dominique Hind: What people coming here? Thanks.
• 26:56
  Talitha Cummins: No, I've had a whole day before I came to see you. But you know, if we have, we've, you know, a particular chain, yes, supplier at that, oh, beautiful, amazing chains that I love so much, not making them anymore. Can't get them for six months. You know, tennis bracelet mounts. There's a shortage at the moment because suppliers are not stocking them because the gold price is insane, and I don't compromise on the quality of my thing, so I need those particular ones, so you either have to make the client wait, you know? So, so these are the challenges that we're facing daily.
• 27:32
  Dominique Hind: Yeah? So even the supply like, it is, like the supply chain shortage, but not in construction, like we've all been told, it's in it's in other areas, other areas, yeah, yeah, okay, wow. And running a business means owning every decision, whether it is the marketing, the sales, the finance and the growth, yeah, or everything, like logistics, freight, whatever it may be, how have you adapted to wearing all of those hats? Yeah,
• 27:59
  Talitha Cummins: there are a lot of hats.
• 28:02
  Dominique Hind: Yeah, a lot.
• 28:05
  Talitha Cummins: Look, I have had some amazing consultants around me, and that is really, I would say, the secret to how we've become successful. Because I don't know it all, and I don't pretend to know it all, but if you can find the people who do know it all, you know, we've now got a shipping consultant. I've got a you know designer who were incredible in all of those different areas. I've got someone in HR who I talk to as well, and it's about leaning on other people and experts and extracting that information from them. I do think, I think it is
• 28:42
  Dominique Hind: no, no, I think you're right. Like, leaning on other people is a massive thing, because if you naive and think that you do know it all, that's when the problems start. Yes, like, and when you've got so many amazing people around you, if you can pick up the phone and have a conversation and just ask for some help, makes it so much easier,
• 29:02
  Talitha Cummins: and that's actually probably leads us to my biggest learning in business so far,
• 29:07
  Unknown: yes,
• 29:09
  Talitha Cummins: is asking for help, yeah and admitting that you don't know everything.
• 29:12
  Talitha Cummins: Whereas I spent my whole career in television pretending I was okay and I was there and I knew what I was doing, and just and was too afraid to ask for help, yeah, you know. So I had, and I was surrounded by some amazing journalists and, you know? And I just wish if I could look back now that I that I did ask for help.
• 29:39
  Dominique Hind: And, yeah, I think it is when you're in control, yeah, the business, it's easier yes than when you are an employee. Yeah,
• 29:50
  Talitha Cummins: trying to ask for the help asking questions is a is a healthy thing? Yeah? I Yes. I love asking a question.
• 29:57
  Dominique Hind: Why? So you touched on it before we. That smarter choice, and why people are now feeling more comfortable going lab, grown versus natural.
• 30:05
  Dominique Hind: But do you think it is just the money, or do you think it is, you know, that ethical thing, or that that is just one part of their life? I
• 30:18
  Talitha Cummins: think, I think it's an ethical consideration as well. In terms of sustainability, we can't say that lab growns are entirely sustainable, yeah, just like we can't say natural diamonds are entirely sustainable. And I can't as a journalist. I can't, yeah, you know, I can't say that. And I don't know whether it's a good or a bad thing about me being in business and being a journalist, but can't bullshit people.
• 30:43
  Dominique Hind: Sales are going really well. I'm yet,
• 30:49
  Talitha Cummins: so we move on.
• 30:49
  Talitha Cummins: No, I'm yet to meet clients who come in and say to me, I want an eco friendly diamond. Yeah, be very honest with you.
• 31:00
  Dominique Hind: I don't think it's even comes into the mindset the way you Yeah, it just doesn't.
• 31:05
  Talitha Cummins: It's essentially and, you know, as my uncle said, it's not about us and what we want to sell. It's about what the client wants. He loves natural diamonds, and he's always loved them, but he said, when these bloody things came up, I couldn't believe it, you know, like this is, this is revolutionised the industry, but, and it's not, yeah, it's less about the other things and more about, I would say, just the smarter option, yeah. And
• 31:37
  Dominique Hind: why? Why do you think? Or what? What is the biggest myth about lab grown diamonds?
• 31:43
  Talitha Cummins: The biggest myth, um, that they're produced in factories in China and just churned out by the 1000s. Okay, how do you actually
• 31:54
  Dominique Hind: produce the lab grown, lab grown diamonds? Like what goes into it? Yeah. So there can I give my dogs ashes a two?
• 32:01
  Talitha Cummins: There are companies that are doing that now. And you did ask me if you'd give me a dog that I was just debating
• 32:07
  Dominique Hind: whether you haven't done it, and I haven't done it yet. She's still sitting on our bedside. Title. So
• 32:13
  Talitha Cummins: there are two beds to growing the diamonds.
• 32:16
  Talitha Cummins: There's HB, HT, and there's CBD, so high pressure. Just to simplify, essentially, they get the slice of a very high quality natural diamond, yeah, put it in a chamber and apply high pressure, high temperature for between two weeks and four months.
• 32:34
  Dominique Hind: And is that based on how big it needs to be?
• 32:35
  Dominique Hind: Well, the rough will grow
• 32:37
  Talitha Cummins: as big as it's going to go. So once that diamond rough has grown. They then pull it out, they send it to India, where 85% of the world's diamonds are cut, natural and lab, yeah, the diamond is then cut, and then it's Well, our diamonds are sent to the GAA for certification, so the grading of the diamond to say, you know, its characteristics. Wow. And then it reaches us. And how
• 33:03
  Dominique Hind: long does it to grow? Like, from start to finish? How long is it? It
• 33:07
  Talitha Cummins: can be anywhere from two weeks to four months.
• 33:10
  Talitha Cummins: Oh, six months. Oh, wow, yeah.
• 33:10
  Talitha Cummins: Okay, so it's, um, so our diamonds are grown in Dubai, yeah. And then they're sent to India, the GAA for certification. So we know where our diamonds are being grown.
• 33:21
  Talitha Cummins: Okay,
• 33:23
  Dominique Hind: good that.
• 33:23
  Dominique Hind: That's probably a
• 33:24
  Talitha Cummins: good thing. It is a good thing, yes. So, yeah.
• 33:27
  Talitha Cummins: So there is this myth that they're just being churned out.
• 33:30
  Talitha Cummins: It's a very precise operation.
• 33:30
  Talitha Cummins: Yeah, it's not a matter of, there are a lot of chemicals involved. There's a lot of research. It's, it's a fine art to producing these diamonds.
• 33:42
  Talitha Cummins: Yeah, it's not just set and forget to button on, okay, probably one of the biggest myths, I would say,
• 33:50
  Dominique Hind: What is your vision for the cut? What do you want to do? I
• 33:54
  Talitha Cummins: just have a vision where I I want to see I want to show everyone what I know now, you know, and that's these diamonds are incredible.
• 34:04
  Talitha Cummins: Like they at the end of the day, carbon is carbon, yeah, right, whether it comes from a lab or a mine. We are talking about pressurised carbon. And it's interesting, the ones that come from the ground and the story that you can attach to it and that, and that's wonderful. Like there are, there's definitely a market for natural diamonds, but fundamentally, and, and you being a rational person and not being attached to, you know, provenance, where the stone comes from, yeah, it's a decision. You know, the piece itself is, is manufacture, you know, is the jewellery and the person who gave it to you and the meaning behind it. There's, that's, you know, that's what I want to show people. And it's all about the craftsmanship.
• 34:50
  Talitha Cummins: It's about the diamond as well, but it's about the meaning behind that.
• 34:56
  Dominique Hind: Yeah, particular product, that's an amazing thing to think about, isn't it? Yeah.
• 34:58
  Dominique Hind: What it actually means, yeah, because
• 35:01
  Talitha Cummins: it's not about showing off. You know, there's particular bracelets. Maybe you're wearing one, yes, you're wearing two. Yeah,
• 35:12
  Dominique Hind: that popular.
• 35:14
  Talitha Cummins: Thanks Justin, and a lot of people wear them, yeah? And I want to move away from, yeah. I want to have, like, meaningful pieces where the craftsmanship is the king, yeah. Now my jeweller stays until three or 4am some days when we've got to finish something, and then I go in and collect it, and still he's so proud to show me it's, he's an artist, yeah? I get so excited, because I love handing something incredible over. And it doesn't matter whether it's a lab or a natural diamond, it's about that
• 35:45
  Dominique Hind: we've created.
• 35:45
  Dominique Hind: Yeah, that is amazing. It is amazing to ask. Okay, I'm gonna go back. Yeah, talked enough about the cut. Sorry. Can
• 35:55
  Talitha Cummins: we get more of my business in? Please? I
• 35:57
  Unknown: could talk a little bit about it.
• 35:59
  Dominique Hind: Yeah, wow. Okay, so you've been really open about your journey with alcohol. Yes.
• 36:04
  Dominique Hind: Can you share what led you to making the decision to actually stop stopping?
• 36:14
  Talitha Cummins: So we got Yeah, so I have done an Australian story. There is a half hour Australia. Sorry about a seat.
• 36:20
  Talitha Cummins: I've seen it, yes, not shying away from this topic, but I find it and it's part of recovery that we speak about it, because our stories could be helpful, yes, to others who are going through it. And I still get people emailing me. Still, I wake up most mornings and there's a message, really someone saying, I'm going through this. And I saw your story, and it really resonated with me. So, like, amazing.
• 36:43
  Talitha Cummins: That's, that's my life's work.
• 36:43
  Talitha Cummins: I'm so, you know, I've got goosebumps, because that is so important to me, to to have been able to have
• 36:53
  Dominique Hind: that to help other people. And I think it is really interesting. You know, Justin, I have this debate all the time or not debate. We just had this discussion. How so many mums are turning to having the glass, the two glasses, the three glasses, the four glasses, oh, the bottle a night and thinking that is not being an alcoholic, when, in reality, you know it, I think, what is it?
• 37:25
  Dominique Hind: Two glasses or two glasses a week? Yeah,
• 37:30
  Talitha Cummins: that's the recommendation. Yeah. And
• 37:33
  Dominique Hind: there's a trend where there are more women and more mums, yes, who are becoming alcoholics. And
• 37:40
  Talitha Cummins: it's and it's because it's acceptable. It's not a recreational drug or an illicit substance. It's available on every street corner, you know. And I was that person. I wasn't a mum at the time, but I was that person who would have 2345, glasses, until it ended up with three or four bottles a night, to the point where I just, I was comatose, and I, you know, and that, of course, you know, that that led me to hospital visits and, you know, all sorts of really ugly things. But I didn't stop until there was a weekend where I was meant to turn up to work on a Saturday and a Sunday, and I woke up at about 12 o'clock. I'd obviously been drinking the night before to, you know, like 50 missed phone calls. Where are you? And I didn't show up that whole weekend. And then I walked in on Monday morning just feeling a little bit terrified, because for the most part, I had concealed this from my colleagues. When I say concealed journalists are big drinkers, yeah, it's like the advertising industry lawyers, you know, like a lot of professional industries have that reputation. So my drinking was a bit like a party trick, really. You know, I was the funny one who could be the last man standing up and to a point. And then so my I walked into work that day, and my Chief of Staff sat me down in the boardroom, and she just said, she was lovely. She was amazing and very supportive. She just said, you're not okay, are you?
• 39:15
  Talitha Cummins: And that's that's that's all she sort of had to say. And I my work facade sort of crumbled right there. But
• 39:27
  Dominique Hind: you know what?
• 39:27
  Dominique Hind: That's a great question for her to ask. Yeah, rather than attack, because so many people would have attacked you at that point in time and not given you the chance to actually respond.
• 39:38
  Talitha Cummins: Absolutely. And it was, and it was that so. So prior to that, I had been trying for years to stop, but it was, and they sort of say it's a competing fear that it takes you to change your behaviour. So that competing fear was me potentially feeling like I was going to lose my job, although they made it clear. That time that I wasn't that time when, okay, read between those lines.
• 40:07
  Talitha Cummins: So I that night, I went to AA, and I'd already been to AA a number of years. I'd gone to AA and then gone to the pub, and I tried to do dry July, and, you know, dry August and whatever.
• 40:22
  Talitha Cummins: And I'd last a week, but I went that night, and something kind of clicked in me, yeah, wow. And I then went for 90 days in a row, so we worked. It's when the channel seven studios were in Martin Place, yeah, recce Central, yeah. And so I'd walk down to the rocks every afternoon, and there was this little downstairs, AA meeting, and it was like sort of sand set in the sandstone room. A lot of business people in there, a lot of people who, you know, come off Navy ships, few high profile, you know, international singers. But when I walked into that room and these people, whatever they did, just didn't matter. It was all about we had one common thread, and it was us trying to, you know, get sober and tell our stories and and the honesty, the support that I felt in that room, I wished that society was like that, because I got to experience something truly amazing and and I haven't looked back, yes, then see
• 41:32
  Dominique Hind: that's it like it is the support, like, whether it's in business or even getting through this, if you've got the right support
• 41:38
  Talitha Cummins: around you. And I was, and there are so many people out there now still fighting that battle. I'm just grateful that I had the self preservation and that support around me so
• 41:50
  Dominique Hind: and we live in a culture where alcohol is everywhere, like it is everywhere we go, like I think even when Alfred was going crossing the Queensland coast.
• 42:01
  Dominique Hind: And before the, you know, the shop shut down at 7am the bottle shops were open. Like, seriously. Like, what is going on? And we both can say that because we're from
• 42:13
  Unknown: Queensland, I doubt.
• 42:18
  Dominique Hind: But in the and it's especially prevalent in the corporate and social settings.
• 42:21
  Dominique Hind: What's been the biggest challenge in navigating this?
• 42:25
  Dominique Hind: It's I had
• 42:30
  Talitha Cummins: to change my life. I had to change how I did life, socialising over dinners.
• 42:33
  Talitha Cummins: Now I find big parties uncomfortable. It still unearths this social anxiety in me, so I find that to be quite challenging. So in that way, I've really, I've really kind of, and it took me to grow in confidence with myself, to be able to say, that's just not what I do anymore. Yeah, you know, I'm not going to live by society's rules of going to the pub and the you know, in socialising in those ways, it'll be done differently.
• 43:13
  Dominique Hind: I think I can still remember when Benny told us that he was going or he went out on a date with you. Yes, he was like, she doesn't drink.
• 43:20
  Dominique Hind: What do I do?
• 43:24
  Unknown: I was like, What do you mean? You need alcohol, like,
• 43:29
  Dominique Hind: to get your personality out any like, don't tell him. I said that he'll hear it anyway. But like, I can still remember it. And you know, even back then, it was a, oh, really, what do you mean? What do you mean you don't drink? I think it's more acceptable now, yes, like, even for me, I've had liver issues, and, you know, I definitely did, or was partial to a drink, or way too much. And it is about, you know, knowing the control. I also think I don't know for you, but my parents didn't drink when I was growing up, so they didn't actually teach me how to drink responsibly, properly.
• 44:11
  Talitha Cummins: Yes, that's a really good point, actually, well,
• 44:13
  Dominique Hind: because even if you think about it like, how many kids are actually, like the parents are just buying the alcohol rather than going, okay, you know, one drink will make you do this. To do that, three is probably a good limit. I just don't know whether, like, we just say, don't drink, yeah,
• 44:29
  Talitha Cummins: but they're gonna drink, and they're going to anyway. So why not or not?
• 44:31
  Talitha Cummins: Yeah,
• 44:33
  Dominique Hind: why not educate them on what it actually means, yes, to have that one, two or three, and
• 44:38
  Talitha Cummins: that's, that's a smarter way to do it. Yeah, would say, and I will, will do that with my kids? Yeah, sure.
• 44:43
  Talitha Cummins: Because just because I need to abstain from alcohol doesn't mean that anyone else in my vicinity needs to, you know, it's all about me. It's nothing about them. So, but you're right, if we can educate them in the right way and teach them how
• 44:57
  Dominique Hind: to, how to, yeah, because I just don't think. That there is, there's just don't do it versus just that education, yes, and I think if I was educated how to drink properly, I'd probably be a much better drinker. That's ridiculous, but I'd probably be not, like, a on or off.
• 45:17
  Dominique Hind: Probably, yeah, but I don't drink now either. So, yeah, you don't drink. No, my liver does not like it, so I will have, like, one very rarely, wow. But I haven't drank since literally January, or, you know, not much January
• 45:35
  Talitha Cummins: last year
• 45:38
  Dominique Hind: only. I've only drank, just stopped drinking since March 25
• 45:46
  Unknown: January last year. I did not know this. Okay, well, that's great. And how do you feel? Like I feel amazing,
• 45:52
  Dominique Hind: like you do feel amazing. And I do think you know, at times you go the fear of God gets to you the next morning, going, Yes. What did I say? Yes, what did I do? And not having to think about that, you can actually get on with your day and do something else. PTSD here,
• 46:13
  Talitha Cummins: thinking of all of those times, yeah,
• 46:17
  Dominique Hind: yeah. And for someone who might be questioning their relationship with alcohol but isn't sure where to start or where to stop, I guess. What advice would you give them? Go a month
• 46:33
  Talitha Cummins: without it. See how you feel. Can you do it? Can you How do you feel? Can you not do it? It's really, you know, removing something for from your life is a good way to examine exactly what impact it's having.
• 46:50
  Dominique Hind: I think that's great. And even just remove it for a month, sounds simple. It does sound simple, doesn't it sounds really
• 46:59
  Talitha Cummins: tried it many times
• 47:02
  Dominique Hind: you've made a huge pivot in your life, and you are still a few years away from being 55, years Yes, that's a few Yes. What one thing you still want to try before you're 50?
• 47:22
  Talitha Cummins: It was always going to be business before I was 50. I knew I loved business.
• 47:24
  Talitha Cummins: I loved the mechanics of business, and I want to, like, I have plans for growth, yeah, no, I don't do anything in half.
• 47:33
  Talitha Cummins: Everything I do is quite extreme, you know, I'm obsessed with what I'm doing now. I think about it morning night. I wake up during the night and write notes and work, and I want to see how far I can take that.
• 47:50
  Dominique Hind: Yeah, amazing, yeah, because I, because I want to show my kids, yeah, what I'm capable of. And I also want to show myself, yeah. I think that's the big one. Show yourself, yeah? Like, I honestly do, yes, such an incredible journey. Yeah, I think
• 48:07
  Talitha Cummins: this is for you. This is, this is for me.
• 48:09
  Talitha Cummins: Now it is for you. It sounds selfish, but it's there'll be byproducts for like, you know, kids and and they, they will see me working hard, and they'll see the persistence and the resilience and the qualities that I want to example for them,
• 48:27
  Dominique Hind: yeah, I think that's amazing. And what is, if someone's sitting on the fence about taking a big leap or starting something new, what's the one thing you would say to them
• 48:43
  Talitha Cummins: now, take small steps. Take the first step. You know, just try it. Dip a toe in, you know, for me, it was the study online. And, you know, I thought, Okay, I'll do this module. I broke it down to that, I'll do a module a week. And then I still, you know, it took me a few weeks to actually get into it. But you're not going to know unless you put yourself through it or take that first step, yeah, whether it's going to work for you or not, yeah.
• 49:15
  Dominique Hind: And you know what, even if you take the first step and it's not right, yes, that's okay. I
• 49:19
  Talitha Cummins: took many of those first steps, you know, in lots of different things, but this one just feels right, yeah.
• 49:27
  Talitha Cummins: And I think instinctively you'll know,
• 49:31
  Dominique Hind: yeah, well, I mean, it's so your gut, it's that, is it, it is interesting, even just seeing you now versus, you know, when you were trying to find out what you wanted to do. Yes, you're just You just seem content.
• 49:45
  Talitha Cummins: Yes, I've stepped and that's what my husband keeps saying. I've stepped into myself. You definitely have such a fucking great feeling like, oh, just pretended for 20 years, and now that was exhausting. Thing. This is a different type of exhaust sheet. Yeah, this is exhausting that it's not as exhausting as trying to fit the mould of something that you're not.
• 50:10
  Dominique Hind: Yes, I think that's the it is, yeah, fitting the mould of what you're not, yeah, and finding your feet and finding something that you love,
• 50:16
  Talitha Cummins: Yes, such a good thing. It's a good thing.
• 50:21
  Dominique Hind: Okay? Talitha, yes. This has been such a great chat. We've covered everything, yeah, from career pivot, yes, reinvention, sobriety, making smart choices with whatever diamond you pick, yeah, and stepping into something new. But before we wrap up, I have one last question, okay, which
• 50:45
  Talitha Cummins: is going to be
• 50:46
  Dominique Hind: a big question.
• 50:46
  Dominique Hind: It's not really there. If I could try just one thing before I hit 50, something to shake it up. Get me out of autopilot. Try something different. Be bold.
• 50:58
  Dominique Hind: What do you think I should do
• 51:02
  Talitha Cummins: it's, that's a hard one, because you've, you've been in business, you're pretty much sober, yeah, oh, that's a hard one. What should
• 51:14
  Dominique Hind: you do? Can't run marathons. I've done that, and my knees are now done. Short shot. Thanks, Benny.
• 51:21
  Talitha Cummins: Come and work with me.
• 51:25
  Unknown: Somebody, work with me.
• 51:25
  Unknown: That's what you should do. I will shake your life up, baby.
• 51:28
  Unknown: No, no. I will shake your wife up.
• 51:39
  Unknown: Great. I love being shaken up. I like the excitement. That is the best possible thing you can do.
• 51:45
  Unknown: Great, great, great, Yep, let's see. I can help you Anyway, anyway,
• 51:58
  Dominique Hind: you know, okay, good. I like that. That's a good one. That was a good one, just another, another person to support you in your your quest to take over the world in smarter choices. Smart luxury, baby. Smart luxury. Exactly.
• 52:14
  Dominique Hind: Okay, all right. Talitha, this has been incredible, as it always is, to see you, and thank you for sharing your story and all the ins and outs and the lessons and the ways that we can all step into change with confidence, because you have definitely done that. And I do think that you are you, are you now, and you found you, which is amazing, like it's absolutely amazing to see. And if there's one thing I'm taking out of this, it's that reinvention is not starting over. It's about stepping fully into what it's meant to be you, which is what you're doing, and that means backing yourself, trusting the pivot, and making choices that align with the life you actually want. And if you've loved this conversation, make sure you check out the cut. It's not just jewellery. It's a smarter way to buy diamonds and a brand that is actually reshaping the industry.
• 53:18
  Dominique Hind: If you enjoyed, if you have enjoyed this episode, hit, subscribe, share it with your friends and connect on socials.
• 53:24
  Dominique Hind: And before you go, why don't you all come and work with Talitha, or at least buy something from Talitha. Do something bold back yourself and take the leap.
• 53:33
  Dominique Hind: Because fuck, we're nearly 50, and isn't it amazing? You.