The Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame honours top female business owners, and this year the list recognises the achievements of 17 female entrepreneurs from industries as diverse as food, finance, motorbikes and education.
“They’re from diverse backgrounds, some are regional, some are from city centres, some are younger, some are older – and that’s the diverse landscape of women in business,” ABN CEO Suzi Dafnis told Dynamic Business.
Each year, the ABN Hall of Fame honours and celebrates Australian female business owners who have been exemplary in their industries, are trailblazers and demonstrate inspiring and aspiring business journeys.
Dafnis said the list aims to correct some of the imbalance in recognising female entrepreneurs. Running since 1998, the ABN has no shortage of women who qualify with their achievements.
“In fact there are more women now to choose from than when we started because there is more women doing fantastic things,” Dafnis said.
The inductees of the 2014 ABN Hall of Fame are not all high profile businesswomen. Many are emerging entrepreneurs of small businesses or champions of the community sector.” Not all of them are household names, though a couple are, but all of them are doing things that are remarkable and notable, and we want to recognise them through this initiative,” Dafnis said.
“The ABN Hall of Fame aims to celebrate successful female business owners through sharing their stories, to inspire and empower other female entrepreneurs,” Dafnis added.
The 2014 ABN Hall of Fame inductees include:
- Maggie Beer, Maggie Beer Products
- Liz Davenport, Liz Davenport
- Dr Catriona Wallace, Fifth Quadrant
- Kristina Karlsson, kikki.K
- Tammy May, MyBudget
- Barbara Etter, BEtter Consulting
- Lisa McGuigan, Lisa McGuigan Wines
- Saskia Havekes, Grandiflora
- Chandra Clements, One Legacy
- Helen Summers, Helen Summers Optometrist
- Eve Mahlab, Australian Women Donors Network
- Carol Schwartz, Trawalla Foundation
- Sam Sheppard, The Buildmore Group
- Viv White, Big Picture Education
- Sonja Cameron, Cameron’s Nursery
- Robbie Sefton, Sefton & Associates
- Christine Kris Macauley of Robbo’s Motorcycles
Each woman’s business history and top five strategies for success are available to inspire both women and men via a free downloadable Keepsake Booklet.
