Josh Schwerdtfeger.

Where it started

Most kids grow up with a dog or a cat. Josh grew up with two elephants and 32 peacocks. His family lived on a Gold Coast property that had once been a zoo, home to thousands of animals and birds, including two Indian elephants his parents rescued after a life in the circus. Caring for them taught him the value of hard work early.

In 2008 his parents divorced at around the same time as the global financial crisis. As property prices fell, the family lost everything, and Josh moved with his mum and sister into his grandmother's house. Without a dad around, he decided to step up and provide for his family. He says it is still his main driving force.

Work, and the Friday feeling

Josh started his first business, mowing lawns, at 13. Since then he has mined gold in Indonesia, lopped trees in Toowoomba, managed a waste removal project in Sydney, and worked in cabinet making, shop fitting and night fill at Coles, his least favourite job of all.

Every one of those jobs ended the same way. By 5 pm on Friday he just wanted to switch off and escape. Even as he earned more, nothing changed. He learned that no matter how much you earn, without time and freedom you end up spending your pay looking for happiness. A two-week trip to Bali each year was not enough.

Building, and building again

At 22, after a few attempts that did not work, Josh started a fitness meal prep business. It grew into a commercial kitchen with two part-time cooks selling more than 250 meals a week, and paid for a three-month trip through Europe, driving a camper van 8,000 kilometres along the southern coast. That trip gave him a real hunger for freedom.

Two years later he put all of his savings into a small cafe near Byron Bay. It was making around $50,000 a year in profit when he bought it. He grew that to more than $250,000 a year and used the profit to buy the land the cafe sat on.

Then COVID hit, and lockdowns and border closures hammered the cafe. With mortgage payments coming, Josh bought pressure cleaning equipment and started door knocking. He did more than $1,000 of work on his first day and more than $500,000 in revenue in the first nine months, which saved his property and made it one of the best-known pressure cleaning companies on the Gold Coast.

The turning point

Looking back, he saw that he had spent almost all of his twenties chasing a future goal and giving up his freedom to get there. He decided it was about the journey and enjoying every day. "The here and now" became his first tattoo.

How he got into ecommerce

Josh found ecommerce while looking for a way to earn that did not mean trading his time for money. The idea of working from anywhere, in a fraction of the time, hooked him. He sold the cafe and the property and went all in.

He ran his pressure cleaning business from abroad while building online stores in Bali, then spent a summer in Europe across seven countries. Teaching himself meant plenty of failed attempts before his first profitable store. He then started a second store in a different niche, and after more than a year travelling full time, he made Dubai home.

What he built

In February 2023 Josh met Will and Austin in Dubai. He describes them as some of the most honest and genuine people he has met, and says they have stuck together like brothers ever since. They shared one goal: show other people this way of life. In March 2023 they started Freedom, which grew into Freedom Club.

What he does now

Josh leads Freedom Fulfilment, the fulfilment company we launched in February 2026 so our clients' stock and shipping can keep pace with their growth. He co-hosts Freedom Fridays, and in 2025 he took 28 children from Chloe Orphanage in Bali to the island's biggest indoor theme park.

What he believes

Time and freedom matter more than money. Josh believes the point is to enjoy the life you are living now, not to keep putting it off for a future that is not promised.

What he has learned

• Look for the positive in every bad situation, however hard it is.
• Success starts with your mindset.
• Step out of your comfort zone. Most goals are more achievable than the excuses make them seem.
• Try, fail and try again. It is the fastest way to learn.
• Believe in yourself and do not give up.