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“I think it’s nice to have something else and not have all your eggs in one basket,” Henderson says.
“Radio for me has been my life … I’ve always been happy with that. It does play in the back of your mind, that as you get older – I’m not the sort of person that can see myself retiring any time soon … there’s no way I can see myself just hanging up work entirely. I love that part of my life.
“I would love to have something already established that I’m passionate about that I could continue on with [after radio].”
O’Neill says Henderson has approached negotiations from a different perspective this time around.
“When you put your business hat on, there are quite a few options on the table … and then decide what is going to be the best alignment and what is going to fulfil what each of them want at this point in life.” She turns to Henderson.
Media frenzy
“Even what you guys wanted in life with a radio duo 10 years ago is very different to now, so it’s been a lengthy process for that reason.”
Their new business venture, called Besties, a reference to the Henderson and O’Neill’s long-standing friendship (they share a psychologist and are renovating houses three doors apart), is aiming to hold conferences, host trips and collaborate with designers in homeware, fashion and more.
Life after radio is just one factor behind launching this new business.
Henderson says she’s less worried about spreading herself too thin now she is healthier (a passing reference to the tabloid media frenzy about her recent weight loss) and as her daughter Kitty gets older and becomes more independent.
But does she think that her own success is overlooked because her on-air role is to support or shut down radio partner Kyle Sandilands?
“I would disagree that I’m just the person that says ‘oh don’t do that, Kyle’, ‘that’s funny, Kyle’. Because I think if you listen, there’s a hell of a lot more I bring to the table,” Henderson says.
“Yes, by nature, Kyle’s always going to make a lot more noise because of the things he says on radio … maybe there’s a perceived dynamic that I’m maybe the foil to that.”
At this point, O’Neill, a former executive producer on the program, picks up the thread. There’s more to any radio show – let alone a top-rating one – than just talking.
Casting the net wide
“It is the emotional journey that you take someone on when they’re listening to the show over the space of three or five hours … so much planning goes into that,” she says, adding Sandilands has always left straight after the show and Henderson stays to work with the producers.
Henderson says she’s not overly fussed by the way outsiders see her. And within the radio industry – still an “outrageous boys club”, though it’s slowly improving – it is understood how much she brings to the show.
“Whatever the perception is, it doesn’t really bother me, to be honest … I don’t ever want to be in a situation where my ego gets in the way,” Henderson says.
Brand does matter because Besties is casting the net wide. At this rate, O’Neill, who is in charge of the balance sheet and numbers, says it would be great to have a database of 50,000 people within 18 months.
And yes, that’s how we got to the vibrators. Because it does sound a bit Goop-y – and, perhaps not coincidentally, Gwyneth Paltrow is their first guest speaker. So, is Besties really a nascent Australian Goop?
“It is a little bit. Yes, it is,” says Henderson. O’Neill jumps in: “But maybe not as outrageous … but maybe we’ll get there.” Henderson adds: “Yeah, I hope so. Vibrators! Big business.”
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