Finalists

‘My early focus on budgets, a business plan, benchmarking, marketing and a vision to offer something unique enabled me to build a sound base to launch this business.’ Sarah Hirst

Marketing wine in Dubai, interviewing Richard Branson, organising fundraising dinners in Fremantle's historic jail and lobbying for the National Farmers’ Federation – former Examiner and Herald Sun journalist Sarah Hirst had a busy career before returning to Tasmania to put her passion into her own business. A farm upbringing and love of agriculture and food led Sarah to open Leaning Church Vineyard three years ago. Set in a 23-year-old vineyard at the foothills of Mt Arthur in the Tamar Valley, visitors tour a historic church, vineyard and taste its six wines at the cellar door. The business has a permanent garden marquee for 160 guests for corporate functions and weddings and a newer lakeside marquee that can seat up to 360. As joint owner with husband Mark, Sarah personally oversees every wedding and event, from table settings to guests' arrival and departure. Leaning Church Vineyard has been recognised with local business chamber, State tourism and wine show awards.

‘We continually deliver outstanding and memorable experiences. We have one chance to create moments that turn into memories, and everything we do is underpinned by our motto ‘it’s all about people’.’ Paula Leishman

When she moved to Hobart 18 years ago, Paula Leishman was content to develop a business that helped pay her daughter’s school fees and provided the family with an income. Today, Leishman Associates has offices in Hobart and Melbourne and employs a team of 17. The conference and events business now hosts 25 events annually for clients across Australia and overseas. As Managing Director, Paula oversees strategic planning and ensures the business stays in the forefront of current business and conference trends. These include a move to online formats, webinars and the use of apps to communicate with delegates. Her decision to start her own business came reasonably late - at 38. But Paula says she was inspired through the excellent mentoring she received as a young executive assistant at Honeywell. She feels strongly about staff development and in turn mentored the 2007 Telstra Tasmanian Young Business Woman of the Year.

‘I attribute the success and growth of the business through our motivation, enthusiasm and passion for the hairdressing industry.’ Julia Ralph

Since buying her mother’s hair salon in Launceston, Julia Ralph has transformed Newstead Hair. Within four years, she has attracted 6000 clients, tripled the number of stylists and increased the salon’s annual turnover five-fold. Accolades have flowed through winning the International Hairdressing Society Tasmanian Salon of the Year on four successive occasions. For Julia, hairdressing is a family passion with an unbroken chain of family ownership of the business, spanning 35 years starting with her grandmother. The salon offers the highest level of hairdressing services including cutting, colouring and perming. Career highlights include styling for TV reality show Project Runway Australia. Julia generously gives back to the industry and is committed to staff training. She has served four years as the Treasurer for Hair and Beauty Tasmania and regularly judges hairdressing competitions. Her mentoring has paid dividends with several staff members winning awards including Australian Apprentice of the Year.

‘We are not content with satisfied customers, our mission is to create raving fans.’ Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams ignored sceptics who warned against starting up a property management business in uncertain economic times early in 2009. The risks were high as she began with no financial backing, premises, licence or customers – and faced competition from established agencies. But Michelle’s 12 year career in real estate gave her the courage and vision to set up @home Property Management Solutions. Its sole focus is managing residential property including the marketing and letting. Determined to be more than just a rent collection service, Michelle built a team that prides itself on quality service, consistency and market knowledge. While most agencies conduct group inspections, she offers individual viewing and a self-qualifying process to match people with the right homes. Almost 90 per cent of new business is generated from referrals. While rising vacancy rates recently led to falling rents, constant communication has ensured no loss of clients for the Launceston business.

‘We pride ourselves on the fact that more than 80 per cent of our clientele is generated by repeat business or by word of mouth from our current happy clients – customer retention and reward strategies are what sets us apart from our competition.’ Megan Hampton.

Despite one of the toughest property markets in Tasmania in recent years, CEO Megan Hampton has helped steer Elephant Property’s continual growth. The boutique real estate agency, with offices in Launceston and Hobart, focuses exclusively on residential property management. During the past three years, the number of properties in their care at their Launceston office has increased from 20 to about 200. Megan re-entered the industry in 2009 after a stint as an employee with a real estate franchise in 2005 left her despondent with the lack of personalised service. The culture she has helped develop at Elephant Property is the exact opposite. Megan says their success is due to robust systems and processes which keep property owners up to date regularly on the state of their assets and maintenance issues. Also, as the executive team are property investors themselves, they treat clients’ properties as though they were their own.

‘I'm proud of outcomes achieved through the strategic review which include a flexible and progressive organisational culture that has enabled more women to combine senior management roles with raising families.’ Lucinda Mills

At 29 years of age, Lucinda Mills became the first female partner in Camerons, one of the largest locally-owned accounting practices in Tasmania and one of the largest regional practices in Australia. She leads an accounting team of six delivering services to individuals, families and small to medium-sized businesses. Lucinda oversees key aspects of Camerons' business management and strategic direction, including marketing, debtor policy and control, financial performance review and establishing business and financial practices to support the growth of Camerons. In 2009-10, she drove a strategic review which achieved outcomes such as a review of the profitability of Camerons’ accounting division, a rebranding of the organisation, a renewed focus on technical excellence and a database of standard work instructions, templates and quality checks. The review’s success was reflected in improved staff morale and a 50 per cent improvement in retention, improved client satisfaction and an 88 per cent increase in profitability.

‘I'm proud of the sense of achievement and community pride that the National Breast Cancer Foundation events have brought to our Hobart community.’ Judi Adams

Judi Adams has been Chair of the Volunteer chapter of the National Breast Cancer Foundation in Tasmania since 2008 and aligned with fundraising for the charity since 2004. She has organised events and activities that have raised more than a quarter of a million dollars. The events have increased the profile of the foundation as a fundraising vehicle across a broad spectrum of community events such as race days, community walks, and music and arts festivals. Judi says the funds have assisted research projects that provide better treatments, prognosis and better outcomes for the one in eight women and one per cent of the male population affected by breast cancer. The events also provide a positive message of hope for survivors and their families. Judi also works full-time for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as its Tasmanian representative for ASIC in the community. In this role she promotes 25 charities that ASIC supports as well as environmental, indigenous, workplace-giving and volunteering programs.

‘I engaged a team of volunteers to take the mobile health clinic to a remote community –they were appalled at the sight of impoverished children with dehydration, skin infections, sunken eyes and the suffering.’ Diana Butler

While working as an emergency nurse in Launceston, a chance conversation with a colleague about extreme poverty in Africa inspired Diana Butler to embark on a new journey of intense learning and fulfillment. Diana helped form The Care for Africa Foundation to address poverty and lack of water, medical and educational services in Tanzania’s Tarime region. Since inception, the not-for-profit organisation has delivered education programs, child and teacher sponsorships, a water well, mobile medical clinic and more than $700,000 in medical, educational, and community equipment. Diana has become astute at navigating through local geo-political issues and border practices to ensure help is delivered where it is required most. As Executive Director, Diana has shaped the Foundation into a vehicle for encouraging sustainable and long-term philanthropy among Northern Tasmanian communities with a focus on younger people. She visits schools and community groups to inspire and create awareness to help people living in extreme poverty.

‘I am an introvert who juggles a million ideas and has a core group of awesome friends and mentors who participate in making each day a joy.’ Penelope Dodd

A glut of tomatoes in Penelope Dodd's backyard and considering how food waste could benefit the community led to the birth in 2009 of a community project called Produce to the People Tasmania. Now, two thousand kilograms of vegetables are gathered and given to those most vulnerable along the north-west coast of Tasmania each month. Adelaide-born Penelope Dodd has a background and qualifications in small business, working as a business enterprise consultant, managing a high-end muesli manufacturer and owning a niche cake mix business. Penelope says the aims of the project she founded are food access, healthy eating, food enterprise, local employment and strategic partnerships. On a typical day she could be delivering 400 kilos of potatoes along the coast, liaising with volunteers and collaborating with the University of Tasmania on research to capture the social impact of her project.

‘I set about to build a financial plan that would not only detail the school’s requirements but would also incorporate strategic plan and masterplan future thinking.’ Jenny Self

In 2005, Jenny Self became the first female bursar at The Hutchins School since the Hobart private school for boys was established in 1846. Her appointment followed 16 years in a financial role as business manager at Incat, a Hobart manufacturer of large commercial catamarans. At Hutchins, she is responsible to the Headmaster and Board for management of efficient administrative systems and resources to support the business of teaching, learning and community engagement. That includes developing and implementing strategic plans, managing financial and non-financial resources, and oversight of building works. A key achievement in 2011 was a $4m full redevelopment of the school's boarding facility – a need she had identified if boarder numbers were to rise. Jenny is currently vice-president of the Association of School Business Administrators Tasmania and was a Bench Justice, hearing out of hours bail applications in Hobart’s Magistrates Court, from 2004-11. She completed her MBA in 2012.

‘My vision for Leaning Church was to create a distinct point of difference from our competitors by offering an interactive experience based around wine, whisky and food.’ Sarah Hirst

Sarah Hirst’s planning and management skills have been rewarded by the Launceston Chamber of Commerce Business Awards for Emerging Business and Outstanding Visitor Experience and a 2011 Tasmanian Tourism Award.. The co-owner of Leaning Church Vineyard studied cellar door offerings and found that most offered only a wine tasting with an expectation of purchase. Determined to provide a friendly and inviting experience, Sarah offers food to boost on-site wine consumption and quirky interactive wine descriptions to engage consumers. Her idea of a cook-your-own BBQ served with home-made salads means three staff can cater for up to 70 guests. The business generates a profit from the food and about 96 per cent of diners order wine. With few local food options, it’s drawn wine tasters to the area, benefited local producers and built up a loyal local base that lessens its reliance on seasonal tourists.

‘I have established and lead a highly motivated innovation team, which contributes to professional satisfaction and the retention of our best and brightest.’ Lucinda Mills

Lucinda Mills is a partner in Camerons, an accountancy business that provides tax, audit and advisory services primarily to small, medium and family-owned businesses. Camerons employs 65 staff in offices in Launceston, Scottsdale, Ulverstone and Devonport and mobile services to King Island, St Helens, Hobart and Swansea. Staff had identified that quality and consistency of practice between teams was an issue that impacted morale, customer service and cost-efficient service delivery. Lucinda led the development of a firm-wide database of standard work instructions, templates and quality controls for accounting services typically required by clients. The resource enables any staff member to complete projects accurately, efficiently and to the standard expected. Lucinda says the innovation has seen significant improvement in the accuracy and consistency of work produced between individual staff, teams and branches. It enables job-sharing between offices, which has improved efficiency, allowing staff to work flexible hours without compromising the timely completion of projects.

‘Early on in the business I recognised the importance and power of keeping up with the local community and staying connected through the use of innovative technology.’ Julia Ralph

As a Generation Y entrepreneur, Julia Ralph has always recognised the power of staying connected with her community through technology. Launceston-based Newstead Hair was the first salon in the State to develop an interactive iPhone/iPad app. It enables customers to make bookings online, receive reminders and exclusive offers and purchase gift vouchers. The salon also develops on-line videos demonstrating the latest styles to help clients keep abreast of the latest fashions. Inside the salon, customers are given access to ipads to read magazines on-line, access Facebook and emails. Julia says social media has helped her grow their client base and establish customer loyalty. Within four years of buying the business, she has rapidly expanded her client base to 6000 and increased the salon’s annual turnover five-fold. Accolades have flowed with the salon winning the International Hairdressing Society Tasmanian Salon of the Year on four successive occasions.

‘In my new role as a Trainer for the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania, I’m looking forward to training a new generation of honest and innovative real estate professionals.’ Megan Hampton

Megan Hampton had her first taste of the real estate industry in 2005 at the age of 26. After becoming frustrated with the lack of personalised service being offered to clients at the franchise she left to work for a public speaker and entrepreneur. This instilled her with renewed self-belief and she re-entered the industry in 2009 by launching Elephant Property. The boutique real estate agency, with offices in Launceston and Hobart, focuses exclusively on residential property management. As CEO, Megan oversees every aspect of day-to-day operations. Despite tough property market conditions during the past three years, the business has increased properties under management from 20 to about 170 in Launceston and attracted local, national and overseas clients. Such is her reputation, later this year Megan will begin a role as a Trainer for the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania where she will be conducting training sessions on property management for professionals new to the industry.

‘I plan to maintain a healthy work/life balance by continuing to work from home a few days each week in order to spend more time with my daughter.’ Lucinda Mills

Lucinda Mills commenced work at accountancy firm Camerons in 1999 when she was 18. In 2004, she qualified as a chartered accountant and received an Institute of Chartered Accountants certificate of merit for being in the top five per cent of students in Australia for strategic business management. In 2008 Lucinda completed a post-graduate certificate in Financial Planning and two years later commenced a Masters in Applied Taxation. In 2010 she became the first female partner at Camerons –and co-founded the Taxation Institute of Australia’s Launceston Women in Business breakfasts to share experience and encourage and inspire other women to succeed. Lucinda surveyed all accounting firms in Tasmania and established a common need for presentation skill development for intermediate accountants. This led to two discussion groups that meet monthly in Launceston and provide this skills development. Lucinda was a finalist in the 2010 Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year Awards.

‘The birth of my son led me to step back and let go of the day to day operations of the salon – this fear has been overcome through mentoring and putting trust in my manager.’ Julia Ralph

On starting her apprenticeship at 16, Julia Ralph was extremely ambitious about owning her own salon and making a mark on the hair industry. After obtaining positions as an assistant manager and salon manager, she bought her mother’s Launceston-based business – Newstead Hair - at the age of 21. Julia’s management style has developed with the business. She has restructured to appoint a general manager, training co-ordinator and marketing manager to enable her to focus more on the salon’s overall strategic direction. Her customer base has continued to grow with the assistance of technology. The salon was the first in the State to develop an interactive iPhone/iPad app to keep clients updated on products and services. For Julia, hairdressing is a family tradition with an unbroken chain of family ownership of the business, spanning 35 years starting with her grandmother. Career highlights include styling for TV reality show Project Runway Australia.