Anthea Stevanovic

The output of SMEs create a powerful ripple effect that flows onto families, communities and wider society.

Anthea has a real passion for business, instilled in her from an early age, while growing up in the heart of a family business. Being part of a family in business meant she was completely immersed in its culture. It was not a job her parents did that finished at 5pm. It didn't take holidays – it was always on.

She loved every minute of it.

Anthea couldn’t wait to start work, and found a job as soon as she was able. She loved to work, to learn, and generally be involved with business and its people, soaking up as much of their expertise and experience as possible.

She always knew she wanted to help people and make a difference in the world. This quest took her to university to complete a degree in social work, before gaining a Bachelor of Business and Commerce, majoring in Management.

After gaining some amazing and invaluable management experience, with a variety of outstanding Australian companies, she established Intelligent Directions, which has allowed her to combine my two passions of business and helping people.

Anthea considers herself fortunate in that every day she gets to work with some truly incredible and inspirational business people and support them to grow, scale, transform and triumph. It all starts with a conversation, and develops into a close collaboration to reveal and deliver a winning strategy for business success.

Her work is truly a labour of love and she treasures every minute of every business day.

Business Leadership Effectiveness Authenticity Team Culture

Exposed to world-class business and management systems from a very young age.

Commencing employment with McDonald’s at the age of just 13, Anthea was exposed to the cutting-edge systems and processes that have facilitated the company’s ongoing global success with its relatively young workforce. Then at 15, she was the youngest McDonald’s staff member in Australia at the time to be promoted to management.

Anthea singlehandedly led a retail store's revenue growth from $250k to $1m within 12 months

In her second management role, Anthea was asked to manage a retail store that was part of a young, rapidly expanding national chain. Given free rein to do whatever she saw fit, from hiring the team and establishing systems and processes to merchandising, Anthea used a combination of strategy and intuition to quadruple turnover within a year, causing other store managers and head office to seek her advice.

Deeply present to a business owner’s burning pains and challenges.

Having grown up in a family business, Anthea has personally witnessed how the challenges associated with business ownership cross over to every aspect of the owner’s life, from their health and wellbeing to relationships and family. The more exposed she became to various small to medium business types, the more she realised how many barely survive rather than thrive. These experiences made her deeply empathetic to their challenges and sowed the seed for a passion for supporting business owners to break through the barriers to success and fulfilment.

Today, Anthea works with business owners to systemise their businesses from beginning to end and create the life they want.

Through her business, Intelligent Directions, Anthea helps businesses thrive by focusing on three key elements – Business Efficiency, Business Strategy and Business Growth. From creating the right organisational structure and roles to hiring the best people and developing effective systems and processes, Anthea supports owners to achieve sustainable success and create abundance and fulfilment in every aspect of their lives. Seeing a business and its people grow and thrive drives her every day.

Building the ‘dream team’ is key to success

With people leaving jobs in droves and skills shortages rife in many industries, Anthea commits a great deal of energy and time to support business owners to attract and retain the right people. She knows the key to achieving those objectives is building excellent systems and processes that deliver clarity so people can thrive in their roles without micromanagement. The flow-on benefit is a culture that attracts the best in the industry.

A business owner's personal development and growth directly impact their business's growth and success.

When something isn’t working in a business, it’s often because there is a deficiency in the owner’s abilities and skills and/or how they are being. Anthea supports business owners in asking themselves what they need to do AND how they need to be to have the business and life they desire.

Imagine if your business delivered not only financial rewards but also contributed to the wellbeing of yourself and others.

Anthea knows that while profitability, solid systems and efficiency are critical to business success, they are also a means to living the life you want and being able to contribute to the prosperity of your family and the people around you – your employees, your contractors and suppliers, your customers, the community and broader society. She also knows through experience that the health and wellbeing of the business owner and every team member are deeply linked to building a healthy business.

Personal Life

Aside from business, Anthea enjoys renovating and flipping properties with her husband. She is also passionate about all aspects of health and wellbeing and has a particular interest in natural health and the body’s ability to heal without medical intervention. She and her family run a health and wellbeing retreat centre in northern NSW.