women on the go get going

It was wonderful to be part of the recent Eastern Women on the Go business networking forum out at Yering.


Cr Jeanette McRae, Maree Hamilton - Network Events
Melbourne, Donna Donovan - Shire of Yarra Ranges,
Karen Ostenried - Get on Stage and Cr Samantha Dunn.

A collaboration between Yarra Ranges Council, Knox City Council and the City of Maroondah, the Women on the Go forum gives women the opportunity to discover and learn new skills, network and make new business connections.

This event was packed to the rafters, with participants keen to hear the story of Maree Hamilton, a Black Saturday survivor who has turned her life around since that time to develop her business, Network Events. Karen Ostenried, principal and founder of Get on Stage, was the other keynote speaker who wowed the audience with a high energy, jam packed presentation on how to communicate successfully. 

It was a terrific event, the level of enthusiasm high amongst participants. The next Women on the Go forum will be hosted by the Knox City Council on the 30th August, for more details click here.

eastern women on the go - forum & expo - 7 june

Calling business women in the East!

This year's Eastern Women on the Go forum is coming up soon. The forum is a great opportunity to gain valuable insight into women in business and is a great chance to learn from others. There's also an expo to promote your enterprise.

Details:
When:7 June from 8:30am to 11:30am
Where: Chateau Yering, 42 Melba Hwy, Yering
Cost: $35 per person (includes brunch, expo and forum)
Bookings: online here

Last year's forum was terrific. I had the great pleasure of opening the day, here I am pictured with our wonderfully inspiring 2011 speakers, Rebecca Archer from Spitting Image - Mooroolbark, Liz Fritzlaff from Inspiring Futures - Lilydale and Vanessa Williams from First Aid 3 All - Montrose.

If you're keen to book a free expo table call email Joanne on j.tate@yarraranges.vic.gov.au.

women on the go

It was terrific to be able to open the Women on the Go Business Networking Forum in Lilydale this morning. They are great events, held four times a year in a partnership between the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Maroondah City Council and the City of Knox.

This morning's event was no exception, a great range of speakers takling about their journey in business and on business.

Pictured left to right: Rebecca Archer - Spitting Image, Mooroolbark, Liz Fritzlaff - Inspiring Futures, Lilydale, Cr Samantha Dunn - Lyster Ward and Vanessa Williams - First Aid 4 All, Montrose.

Vanessa, Rebecca and Liz spoke about how they've established themselves in Yarra Ranges and the trials and triumphs involved with being a woman in business.

The forum is a valuable insight into women in business and is a great chance to learn from others. Participants on the day learnt about networking tools, discovered new management techniques, and what resources are available in the community to support women within business.

It's terrific to be part of a motivated and inspiring group, I'm looking foward to the next one.

women work it out

Last week saw the regular quarterly forum and expo for the Eastern Business Women’s Network. The network is a collaboration between Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah. The day included three keynote speakers who spoke with much enthusiasm and honesty about their journey in setting up their businesses.

Pictured left to right: Meaghan Grace, Cr Samantha Dunn, Lauren Wilson & Kirsten Laken at the Eastern Business Women's Forum May 2010

The speakers, Meaghan Grace - The Functional Beverage Company, Organic Tea Specialist, Kirsten Laken - Spirit Of Glass, Glass Art Design and Lauren Wilson – Moskito Blue, Fashion Store were passionate about their businesses and in their own unique ways have persevered through many triumphs and tribulations to get to where they are today.

It was wonderful to see such energy and enthusiasm from speakers and participants alike. I look forward to the next forum which promises to be as rewarding as past events. If you’d like to keep up with what’s happening in the Yarra Ranges Business Network you can find us on

women at work

Earlier today I attended the Eastern Women's Business Forum, the second in a series of three forums across Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah. The Forum is an opportunity to hear other women speak about their journey whilst sharing your own. Through networking women discover new techniques to apply to their own businesses and at the same time get valuable mentoring support from other business women.

Pictured left to right: Donna Donavan - Economic Development, Shire of Yarra Ranges, Trudy Lynam - Floriculture, Dee Lynam - Floriculture, Samantha Dunn - Councillor, Shire of Yarra Ranges, Rebecca McKenzie - Director Corporate Services, Shire of Yarra Ranges, Joanne Tate - Yarra Valley Winery Tours and Janine McClelland - The Remedy Group.

Today’s speakers were a wonderful group of women, all giving frank accounts of their journeys, the pitfalls, the highpoints and the lessons learnt.

Janine McClelland of The Remedy Group, was a relative newcomer to small business and gave a very frank account of the journey that lead her to homeopathy. Her start was difficult, her knowledge of small business limited and her future was looking grim, but she had a complete turnaround. The positive energy she invested into her vision for her business was inspiring and she is now reaping the benefits of that positive outlook.

Dee and Trudy Lynam of Floriculture spoke about how a random decision (influenced by a dog!) saw them end up in the cut flower and foliage industry. Hearing how their business had grown, their commitment to delivering a quality local product and their continual expansion of the business into new marketplaces was terrific. The use of the internet was one of the key tools in their success and expansion and they utilise many technologies across their business very well.

Dee Lynam went on to speak about her membership of the Wandin CWA and the core of CWA was about addressing social issues and their impact on women and children. She spoke of her recent work assisting bushfire victims with both material and emotional support. She went on to speak equally as passionately about her membership of Winhort, a group set up in 2002 aimed at encouraging rural women to become more involved in horticultural issues.

Her commitment to her volunteer work was outstanding and she is a fine role model for all women.

Joanne Tate of Yarra Valley Winery Tours spoke about her journey from learning about small business at Healesville's Living and Learning Centre through to taking courses in Box Hill about tourism, an industry she was very interested in developing locally. Her passion found her filling a gap, in what was a very thin tourism market 17 years ago. Her advice was very practical, don't overcapitalise, the web is very important (Joanne spends more on web development than advertising in print media) and never stop learning. Her enthusiasm for what she does was catching and she is a great motivator.

It was a wonderful morning, MC'd by the Shire's new director of Corporate Services, Rebecca McKenzie who did a great job. The value of networking can never be understated and at today's forum the women took full advantage of the learning opportunities, business tips and support proffered.