Last month, businesswomen from around Australia were celebrated for their hard work and dedication in their respective industry at the annual Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.
The Awards ceremony was hosted at the Western Sydney Conference Centre on 23 September, with two Hunter businesswomen, Founder of Newcastle and Hunter Community Health, Alison McQueen and media communications professional, Jaimie Abbott walking away proud winners.
As a Registered Nurse and leader behind an NDIS and aged-care business, Alison was named Champion in the Professional Medical Services category.
Receiving the award, Alison shared her win with the team at home who make it possible.
“Receiving this national award is testament to the high-quality services our organisation provides every day,” Alison said.
“It would not be possible without the support of our exceptional team, valued clients and local community.”
This is Alison’s first Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Award and 3rd national Award recognition. Newcastle and Hunter Community Health have also been announced as Champions in Disability Services for 2022 and Champion Professional Medical Services in 2020 with Australian Small Business Champion Awards.
Continuing the theme of Hunter champions is Jaimie Abbott, an international keynote speaker, media professional and former Port Stephens Councillor.
A presentation skills expert who specialises in attracting high-paying event speaking opportunities for her clients, Jaimie provides media training and public speaking courses and masterclasses.
Her business was born from a vision to empower individuals to become confident public speakers and effective communicators includes her hugely successful ‘Paid to Speak’ online course, which nabbed her the Online Business category trophy at this year’s Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.
“I was once asked to speak at an event that I thought I just couldn’t take on at the time; so, I quoted a fee of $30,000 thinking the client wouldn’t accept such a steep amount for one day’s work. To my surprise, my quote was accepted within 45 minutes, and it was at that point that I realised I had been undervaluing my offering,” Jaimie said during her acceptance speech.
“My advice to the small businesswomen of Australia is to respect your worth and don’t undersell yourself because women in particular tend to do so,” she added.
This year marks the second consecutive year of the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards – a prestigious and comprehensive programme that celebrates the growing number of Australia’s most inspiring and influential women in small business.
“There’s no doubting the rising success of female-led small businesses from all corners of this country,” Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, Steve Loe said.
“Just as the Matildas shone during this year’s World Cup, attracting the nation’s admiration, and highlighting the positive contribution of women in sport, the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards programme has been specifically created to shine a spotlight on the rising economic and social contributions of women in small business – spanning all capital cities as well as rural, regional, and suburban towns.
“Precedent Productions has been running the Australian Small Business Champion Awards since 1999 so we’re generally in-tune with the countries best performing business operators. We created this standalone female-focused awards programme because frankly, it’s high time for greater recognition of Australia’s female business trailblazers who still face unique challenges with incredible grit and positively infectious entrepreneurial spirit.”
The Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards saw thousands of entries this year and honoured the achievements of a total of 65 category winners from a broad cross section of industries. Additionally, four individual category winners were recognised at the red-carpet event, which was hosted by accomplished journalist and popular broadcaster, Deborah Knight.
The 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards was sponsored by Nine Plus, CUB, NOVA Employment, Castaway Forecasting, Xcllusive Business Sales and Big Clean.
IMAGE | Newcastle and Hunter Community Health Founder, Alison McQueen with Australian Small Business Champion Award trophies.
