From Chemistry to Science Commercialisation: Leveraging 10+ Years of STEM Experience to Build a Sustainable Business from Day One with Natalie Chapman, a reinvented STEM entrepreneur

🎙️ From Chemistry to Commercialisation: How Natalie Chapman Leveraged 10 Years of STEMM Experience to Build a Profitable Business from Day One

After a decade working in science, marketing, and tech transfer, Natalie Chapman launched Gemaker—an award-winning commercialization agency helping researchers and innovators turn ideas into impact without chasing VC funding

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

• Why 10 years in STEMM can be the perfect foundation for a purpose-led business
• How to build a profitable business from day one—with no outside funding by leveraging your network and reputation
• Why you dont need. 50 page business plan and how to do it instead
• How to build a flexible, remote-first team that unlocks hidden STEMM talent - your business, your rules
• How to leverage awards and public credibility for your business growth
• Why you can still be involved in your children school volunteering even if you are time poor by doing strategic work instead of cookies

🧠 About the Guest:

Natalie Chapman is the founder and managing director of Gemaker, a science commercialization agency working with researchers, universities, and innovation-driven companies to bring ideas out of the lab and into the real world. With a background in chemistry, an MBA, and over a decade of experience across tech transfer, marketing, and strategy, Natalie is also a vocal advocate for women in STEMM, a mentor, and a Telstra Business Award winner.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 Starting Gemaker from a garage—and building credibility

02:00 From chemistry degree to marketing and tech transfer

05:00 Why she chose impact over prestige (and how it paid off)

08:00 How Gemaker grew from 2 to 20 staff—without outside capital

12:00 Flexible work before it was trendy: hiring women returning to STEMM

16:00 What tech transfer really is—and why it matters

21:00 Differentiating Gemaker from typical “one-man” consultancies

26:00 How Natalie landed her first two clients and bootstrapped the business

29:00 Sustainable from day one: how she built a model that worked

35:00 Why she never wrote a 50-page business plan—and what she did instead

39:00 The power of credibility: how awards transformed Gemaker’s trajectory

44:00 Hiring well, building trust, and growing the team with aligned values

49:00 What founders really need: legal, finance, and expert marketing

52:00 Systemic privilege, grit, and building from scratch as a woman in STEMM

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Gemaker – Official Website
• Natalie Chapman on LinkedIn
• Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia
• Telstra Business Awards
• DeadlyScience – STEM Education Access

🤔 Reflection Time:

• Could your decade of work experience be the launchpad for your own consultancy?
• Are you holding off starting a business because you think you need outside funding?
• What if your first client was right there in your network?
• What rough gem of an idea have you been sitting on—and what would it take to polish it?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the