Finalists

“Without a doubt the most difficult thing I had to face was educating the Brisbane market about what a Personal Concierge was and having them acknowledge that it was a legitimate service.” –Adele Blair.

Growth in personal services in the UK and the US led Adele Blair to establish a personal concierge and professional organising company for individuals and corporations in Brisbane. In its five years of operation, Adele says Blair Lifestyle Management has encountered just about every situation imaginable – such as decluttering wardrobes and offices, creating paperwork systems, sourcing trades and services and organising complex events. Its biggest achievement was winning a bid to develop and provide concierge services in a luxury residential environment – it provides onsite services for Mirvac at Brisbane’s Pier Waterfront. Adele achieved Expert Professional Organiser accreditation from the Australasian Association of Professional Organisers. She is a founding partner of the Institute of Concierge and Lifestyle Managers (iCALM), launched as a professional development and mentoring body in Australia and NZ. Adele also created Green Apple Organising, an online “marketplace” for fresh ideas and solutions about organising and creating simplicity in the lives of clients.

“I have developed product plans to launch more than 300 products in Australia and New Zealand and I’ve built 15 product brands of our own.” – Vanessa Garrard.

Vanessa Garrard launched E3 Style in 2006, driven by a desire to create a business model that delivered products to retailers and consumers faster, more economically and more efficiently. Vanessa is a director, sales and marketing head, and responsible for product and sales strategy, business growth and channel plans. E3 Style, which has 15 staff in Brisbane, Sydney and Shenzhen in China, offers retailers a complete product outsourcing solution that includes product sourcing and development, branding, packaging and artwork creation, and market intelligence. It has clients in Australasia, India, Italy, the US and UK and South Africa. Vanessa built the business plan for E3 and the company achieved all its three-year goals within a year and doubled its projected turnover within two years. It won business against international competition to supply AV cables to a major retailer as well as products such as top-selling ebook brands, digital photo frames and youth electronics.

“Working as a hospital pharmacist, I could see how urgently the health system needed a better way to co-ordinate and deliver care for cancer patients.” – Janine Garrett.

Janine Garrett left a successful career in hospital pharmacy – including leadership roles at Gold Coast and John Flynn Hospitals – to start up a health informatics company in 2000. After gaining a Masters of IT, the pharmacist turned software developer founded Charm Health Pty Ltd to use information technology solutions to improve care for cancer patients. Janine is CEO and executive director of the Bardon-based business that delivers chronic disease management and clinical decision support solutions for acute and community health service providers. The CHARM solution for oncology services contributes to a reduction in clinical errors, improved patient safety and more efficient allocation of health resources. Thirty-six facilities, including Victoria’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Queensland Health, use the CHARM software solution with more than 25,000 patients being treated this way in 2010. Charm Health, which has 25 staff, is developing a new product that will support management of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“Medication compliance is a challenge for our nation – our compliance sachet gives elderly Australians the ability to be safe and independent when dealing with medication.” – Cathie Reid.

Cathie Reid is Managing Partner of APHS’ Aged Care and Packaging divisions, a national supplier of pharmaceutical and clinical services for the hospital, oncology and aged care sectors. After being named 1998 Victorian Pharmacy Manager of the Year, Cathie was inspired to co-found the Active Care Pharmacy group with her husband Stuart Giles. Its success led them to merge with the APHS Pharmacy Group in 2002. In 2010 they took full ownership of the combined business that generates annual revenues of more than $200 million. Cathie is responsible for converting APHS’s aged care IP into a solution that allows community pharmacies to outsource their medication compliance packaging. For pharmacies, the solution comes at a third of the cost of manual packing, while increasing safety and independence for self-medicating customers. The product range includes web-based technology that alerts customers when medication is due and informs carers of a missed dose.

“When I am faced with adversity I look to all of the doors that are open rather than focusing on the ones that have closed.” – Lauren Thorne.

Inspired by dedicated art and music teachers at school, Lauren Thorne seeks to help children reach their potential and goals through the Concenti Academy of Music in Toowoomba. After completing a Bachelor of Music and Education, in 2008 she opened her academy to offer private vocal and instrumental tuition. With five music teachers and fully-equipped studios, Concenti Academy also provides Kindermusik for children up to seven and promotes community based choirs. Lauren said she has faced countless challenges over the years and worked extreme hours, often three jobs simultaneously, but always kept focused on her goals. She has not stopped studying – or teaching music in local secondary schools - and is undergoing a Masters of Learning and Development, training as an instrument technician and continuing with vocal tuition to maintain her performance levels. Concenti Academy is running at full capacity with 100 weekly clients and a similar number in its Kindermusik program.

“While SMEs often can’t compete on salary, their corporate culture can set them apart from larger organisations.” – Sue-Ellen Watts.

A belief that employees and managers of small to medium enterprises deserve access to the same level of human resources (HR) support as larger organisations led Sue-Ellen Watts to start up her own niche business. Watts Next operates as an external HR department and has provided specialist HR support to more than 130 SMEs since it was established four years ago. Sue-Ellen started Watts Next as a newcomer to Brisbane three months after the birth of her first child, working from her son’s childcare centre so she could continue to breastfeed. Now with eight employees, the Upper Mt Gravatt-based business manages employment contracts, job descriptions, policies and procedures, and performance management systems. Sue-Ellen, Managing Director of Watts Next, said the business ensures clients’ vision, culture and values are embedded in their HR. Although most clients are located in Queensland, winning multiple SA clients has led to plans to open an Adelaide office.

“Many of the projects we work on are extremely remote. Sometimes the address supplied consists of two numbers - longitude and latitude.” – Fiona Berkin.

Fiona Berkin is Managing Director of Morris Holdings which provides industrial hospitality services to the resource, construction and defence sectors in Australia and the Middle East. Services for remote working communities range from catering, laundry, bus-driving and management of airport activities and accommodation to building and ground maintenance. Morris operates sites all over Australia including five villages in the Pilbara for Fortescue Metal Group, providing 18,000 meals a day. Other clients include Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Woodside. Fiona began her hospitality management career at 17, later gaining a Bachelor of International Business before joining Morris Holdings in 1997. In 2004, when she was appointed General Manager, the business had revenues of $11 million – today they’ve reached $140 million. Fiona’s influence extends over the entire Australian team of more than 1000 employees. Recently becoming a minority shareholder in Morris Holdings, Fiona said the business’ focus on “treasuring” its customers has built its reputation.

“From the outset, in introducing a five-year vision, my focus was on getting the four Ps right – people, process, products and performance.” – Susan Buckley.

As Managing Director of QIC’s Global Fixed Interest business, Susan Buckley heads a 28-member team managing about $46 billion for 56 national and international institutional clients. Previously head of strategy at NRMA Asset Management, Susan joined QIC in 2001 with a mandate for change to build a world class fixed interest capability and diversify the client base. QIC is one of the largest institutional investment managers in Australia and operates a “house of boutiques” business model. When Susan joined QIC, she led a team of six managing $6 billion for Queensland-based clients. Today, QIC’s GFI Business offers investors a mix of mature products and innovative and dynamic investment solutions. Susan said one of the most challenging periods for the GFI business was managing portfolios through the highly volatile and unpredictable period of the global financial crisis – she ensured her team remained close to clients throughout and provided immediate transparency in its exposures.

“We aim to allow elderly people to experience hope, dignity, compassion, fun, choice and security – as well as companionship, privacy and independence.” – Deborah McKern.

After a nursing career in acute and community care, Deborah McKern is now Director of Business Development and one of four partners in Seasons Living Australia (SLA). The North Lakes-based business constructs retirement villages of one and two-bedroom apartments around a central community area that also deliver high care nursing. SLA is a government-approved provider of aged and nursing care with developments in Brisbane and Caloundra. Deborah says SLA’s culture keeps families together, encourages pets, vegetable gardens and chooks. She is responsible for funding contracts with Federal Government and other care providers and also acts as a clinical consultant, educator and mentor to care staff. Deborah has a strong interest in dementia care and lectures to post graduate nursing students at the University of Queensland. SLA has three more villages about to open and four in planning, a total investment of more than half a billion dollars that will care for 1530 elderly people.

“I have a strong belief in providing career pathways to our staff - at times this means losing valued staff as they spread their new Registered Nurse wings and leave the aged care system for acute care.” – Megan D’Elton.

Megan D’Elton is CEO of NoosaCare, a not-for-profit aged care organisation owned by the local community with 183 residents living at two sites overlooking native bushland. Managing the business under the direction of a voluntary board, Megan oversees 230 employees from registered nurses and physiotherapists to administration and kitchen staff. Her achievements include successfully negotiating three enterprise bargaining agreements and a key role in the 2006 amalgamation of two community-owned organisations, Carramar in Tewantin and Kabara in Cooroy to form NoosaCare. Megan has spent 11 years in management roles for the organisation and gained a Bachelor of Business (Management) in 2007. She says it is a privilege to lead the team at NoosaCare which continually strives to improve the living and care environments of the residents. NoosaCare’s Carramar site has two dementia units and the business is designing a new 32-bed unit that will provide care for younger people with dementia.

“Our vision is for every deaf child globally to hear, listen and speak by the time they are school aged.” – Dr Dimity Dornan, AM.

In 1991 Dimity Dornan came across a crying boy who had lost his bus money. She could not console him and he could not communicate with her because he was deaf. The incident led Dimity to found the Hear and Say Centre in 1992, which teaches deaf or hearing impaired children to listen and speak. One of the world’s leading paediatric auditory-verbal and cochlear implant centres, Hear and Say assists 500 children and families every year across five Queensland centres. It aims for children to achieve speech and language in the normal range for their age by six years - 100 per cent of Hear and Say’s early intervention graduates from 2010 are now in mainstream education. Dimity says clear language is a genuine reality for deaf children through early diagnosis, advanced hearing technology and appropriate therapy. She also Chairs First Voice, an alliance of Australasian organisations that benefit children with hearing loss and their families.

“I am driven by a belief that education is a social driver for change, enabling people to attain their personal best and improve their life options.” – Lynne Foley.

In the highly competitive vocational education and training environment, Lynne Foley heads one of the largest and most successful institutes in Queensland. As Director of Brisbane North Institute of TAFE (BNIT), she manages a budget of $87m and leads 700 staff and 38,000 domestic and international students, across seven campuses with partnerships in China and Vietnam. With BNIT offering more than 200 VET programs, Lynne has driven significant business improvements, enhanced student outcomes and brand recognition. They include increasing commercial revenue by 80 per cent and student completion rates rising from 83-92 per cent. After principal roles in primary and secondary schools, Lynne was promoted to District and Regional Director positions where she administered 126 schools and achieved the amalgamation of four districts into one region. Lynne, who has taught music, directed community theatre and played professionally in a Big Band, was a member of the Central Queensland University Australia Governing Council from 2002-10.

“I was inspired to act by the lack of support services available for child sexual assault victims and the community’s reluctance to discuss and address this insidious crime.” – Hetty Johnston.

A family crisis in 1996 prompted Hetty Johnston to establish the registered charity Bravehearts Inc with the aim of stopping sexual assault against children. The organisation now employs 36 staff across four states to educate, counsel, research and lobby in the area of child protection. A former finance administrator and State leader of the Australian Democrats, Hetty is widely recognised for her leadership in pursuing significant legislative and judicial reform as well as a movement for change in the community. By distinguishing child sexual assault from other forms of child abuse and neglect, Hetty says Bravehearts has moved a once taboo subject out of the shadows and into the light. Bravehearts works closely with police and child protection authorities and every week its counsellors provide therapeutic services to more than 80 children and their families. Hetty’s community appointments currently include membership of the Federal Government’s National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020 and the Federal Government’s Cybersafety Working Group.

“The opportunity to lead prisons across Queensland during a time where government was signalling a return to rehabilitation, drew me in.” – Marlene Morison.

As Deputy Commissioner (Custodial Operations) of Queensland Corrective Services, Marlene Morison heads the management of secure centres, low custody centres and work camps for 5500 prisoners. She leads 2600 staff across Queensland and is accountable for service delivery and operational strategy. Marlene is also the most senior woman in the broader Department of Community Safety. Her career includes senior leadership roles in government and the private sector where she has driven strategic and organisational change. For nine years until 2002, Marlene was CEO of psychological services company Caraniche which she founded with five other women. She led the 2006 delivery and subsequent management of Marngoneet Correctional Centre, a prison at Lara in Victoria recognised for its rehabilitation focus and innovation. Marlene says one of her most rewarding roles was her secondment to the Victorian Country Fire Authority to manage a program to achieve rapid implementation of essential responses to the tragic bushfires of 2009.

“I am dedicated to teaching women to value their own identity and desire for achievement and to not let their circumstances hold them back.” – Elena Gosse.

From success as a professional actress in Russia to director of a Brisbane exporter of chlorine generators, it’s been an interesting journey for Elena Gosse. In the past 16 years, Elena has migrated to Australia, learnt to speak English, graduated as a Bachelor in Business (Accounting) and now leads a company that exports to 59 countries. Australian Innovative Systems (AIS) is a manufacturer specialising in water disinfection via electrolysis that has grown from three to 63 employees since it was bought by Elena’s husband Kerry in 1992. Elena, Company Secretary and Executive Director since 1997, said her goal is to establish AIS as the world’s premier supplier of eco-friendly sanitation systems. AIS developed ‘Ecoline,’ a technology capable of producing chlorine in fresh water that is suitable for commercial water treatment. Elena is President of the Queensland Russian Community Centre and an avid supporter of women’s organisations that empower women to taken control of their own lives.

“My mother instilled a great sense of social justice, responsibility and equality in me – she says ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’.” – Jean Madden.

A decade as a volunteer caring for homeless people gave Jean Madden the inspiration in 2005 to give a swag for Christmas to all of Brisbane’s homeless people “sleeping rough.” Her knowledge of the physical and mental effects of sleeping out led her to design a lightweight, waterproofed canvas swag with mattress, which rolls up to become a bag with room for belongings. The charity Street Swags Ltd was born and, as Managing Director, Jean won community, corporate and private support to sponsor, produce, pack and distribute the swags across Australia. A measure of Jean’s success is that Street Swags has provided this basic bed and shelter protection to more than 16,400 Australians. Her patented swag won the 2009 People’s Choice Award at the prestigious INDEX design awards in Denmark. Jean, who has a Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Theology, was recognised as the 2010 Queensland Young Australian of the Year.

“Workplace design impacts on the attraction and retention of staff and the productivity and profitability of a business.”– Melissa Marsden.

Melissa Marsden is Director of Business and Design Development at Smith Madden, a national interior design and project management consultancy specialising in corporate office and airline lounge design and commercial building refurbishments. Melissa joined the business as senior interior designer in 2005 and within three years was invited to become an equity partner. She has secured high profile clients including Allconnex Water, Virgin Australia and Ausenco. Melissa used research from global studies on the financial returns from workplace design impacts to present advice to clients, initially as a value-add service. This grew into an independent service, first for a large corporate client that had undergone considerable growth through mergers and acquisitions. It is now offered widely as a Workplace Transition Study that makes recommendations on the culture and aesthetics of a workplace and the effectiveness of the office space. In 2010 Melissa won the Australian Institute of Management’s Young Manager of the Year Award for Brisbane.

“My motto is ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ so I am always looking for ways to increase my knowledge so I can grow as a person as well as a leader.”– Vanessa Garrard.

Chermside-based product solutions provider E3 Style prides itself on the research and development it does for the consumer goods it offers Australian and international retailers. Director Vanessa Garrard, 33, says the company’s knowledge of products, technology demands and shopping trends means it is developing products that consumers want and need. Throw in international reach and experience and it’s no wonder that E3 Style is turning over $15 million after only five years in business. Vanessa started earning money at eight years old, weeding gardens. At 12 she’d started a business and by 18 she had her first company before moving into the electronics industry. E3 Style was launched in 2006 with a business model to deliver products to retailers and consumers more economically, while being faster and more efficient. The company works with international retailers and distributors to supply products under E3 Style brands, home brands or under licence.

“Juggling the time demands of being a single mum and a committed business woman can cause difficulties; however, they are always surmountable with commitment, effort and enthusiasm.” – Tracey Lines.

Tracey Lines’ achievements in converting many business opportunities to significant trade growth at Port of Townsville Limited won her recognition as the 2010 Premier of Queensland’s Townsville Export Champion. She was also named 2011 International Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Young Professional of the Year. Tracey, 33, completed a post graduate certificate in Maritime and Logistics Management on top of her Bachelor of Economics. She is Manager of Client Services and Trade at the Port of Townsville which managed record throughput of 10.25 million tonnes last year. In 2011, Tracey co-ordinated an integrated regional submission to Infrastructure Australia’s national land freight strategy. She also managed the “Operation Queenslander” post-cyclone Forestry Plantation Queensland plantation timber export project in 2011. In her role as chairman of the North Queensland section of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia, Tracey recently led a trade delegation to China.

“My greatest achievement is giving a basic bed and shelter to over 16,375 people – the government statistic of homeless people sleeping rough in Australia.” – Jean Madden.

Jean Madden, 2010 Queensland Young Australian of the Year, launched the charity Street Swags Ltd in 2005. Numerous aid organisations, hospitals, community groups and volunteers distribute the super lightweight street swags to homeless people and those living on the streets. In order to expand and better secure the charity’s sustainability, Jean launched a wholly-owned subsidiary Walkabout Beds Pty Ltd. This manufacturing entity sells a version of the street swag to the general public and international emergency aid organisations. As Managing Director of the charity and its commercial arm, Jean, 31, supervises numerous volunteers and liaises with a broad range of stakeholders that include prisoners from Woodford and Grafton Prisons who sew the raw canvas swags. She said courage, determination and learning have been her driving factors. After achieving a Masters in Theology specialising in Eco-Feminist Theology, Jean was head of Religion and Ethics at St Joseph’s Nudgee College in Boondall.

“You can’t do it alone. Delegation is key. Know what your strengths are and employ people to support you where your weaknesses lie.”– Melissa Marsden.

Thirty-year-old Melissa Marsden describes herself as a sponge, constantly seeking information from every resource available, before filtering it, trying it, reviewing it and improving it. She is Director of Business and Design Development at national interior design and project management consultancy Smith Madden as well as being a board director and equity partner. Smith Madden completes corporate office projects nationally and internationally with key clients including Emirates and Etihad Airlines. Melissa says clients are beginning to understand the impact of the physical work environment on employee attraction and retention. She spearheaded a service that reviews failing work environments and offers design solutions that allow workplaces to become more flexible to accommodate technological advancements and associated employee mobility. The service helps business to make informed decisions about real estate commitments as well as understanding how staff use desk space with new technology. After one study, engineering company Ausenco moved from L-shaped desks to 120 degree workstations.

“I believe that if you care about your staff as people and recognise their personal goals, they will recognise yours and together you can achieve both.” – Sue-Ellen Watts.

Sue-Ellen Watts established Watts Next, a business that provides human resources support to small to medium enterprises, while she was on maternity leave. The Upper Mt Gravatt business has eight employees and has provided HR support to more than 130 SMEs since 2007. As a newcomer to Brisbane, Sue-Ellen joined a business networking group, won some clients which lead to referrals. Today, 90 per cent of new clients are word-of-mouth referrals. Watts Next provides a wide range of services including implementation of performance review systems, HR training, recruitment and induction, retention strategies and advice on redundancy and termination. As Managing Director, Sue-Ellen visualises her dreams, which helps her focus and achieve goals, and continually puts herself outside her comfort zone. Sue-Ellen believes starting a family should not stop women from progressing their careers – in the past year she has promoted two staff returning from maternity leave despite their shift to part-time work.