Gawler’s top business women including Karen Yates, Simone Douglas and Gayle Joyce
There are plenty of amazing business women in Gawler, and we’ve compiled the top seven who are making moves in the business world.
Barossa, Clare & Gawler
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Gawler and its surrounds has a strong presence of amazing business women who characterise the city.
Knowing this, we set out to find and speak to just a few of these amazing community leaders who love Gawler and continue to promote it through their business ventures.
This year many of these women experienced various forms of hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but their resilience and ability to adapt is resoundingly impressive.
To celebrate their achievements, we’ve compiled a list of the top business women in the region.
GAYLE JOYCE
Poetic Justice Cafe Gallery
Gayle Joyce is the proud owner of Poetic Justice Cafe Gallery which has been at 3 Walker Place, right near Murray Street, for five years.
She said her favourite part of running the cafe “is bringing something different to Gawler, home cooked cakes and meals as well as bringing the community together.”
“We’ve also been so lucky that we’ve had the community stick by us through COVID, even when we were only able to serve take away” she said.
True to form, the afternoon we sat down to talk with Ms Joyce she was preparing to host an event at the café the following morning supporting women facing domestic violence.
Poetic Justice Café is a family business with Joyce’s eldest son being the executive chef, her youngest a sous chef and her daughters working in the front of house.
As well as running the cafe, Ms Joyce is the chairperson of the Playford Suicide Prevention Network, a committee member of the Playford women’s shed and cooks for people with disabilities most afternoons as part of the NDIS scheme.
Through her business Ms Joyce also hosts book launches, promotes local art and hosts fundraisers for charities, earning the adoration of her community as well as the ‘My Business’ hospitality business of the year 2020.
SIMONE DOUGLAS
The Duke of Brunswick, Social Media AFA, BNI Adelaide North/Galwer
From marketing to hospitality and business networking, there isn’t a lot that Simone Douglas doesn’t do.
Now she hopes to use her expertise to link a range of business owners in the Gawler region.
Ms Douglas plans to open a chapter of business to business networking group BNI Adelaide North in Gawler next year.
She has also helped train those in the Barossa and Gawler on digital media platforms through the Tourism Industry Council of SA.
Ms Douglas, who also owns Adelaide’s Duke of Brunswick Hotel and digital marketing agency Social Media AFA, said her start in the business world began when a social media company she worked for wanted her to become full time.
“I didn’t want to play that game so I begun doing some consulting on the side, then changed that into a full time business, and the rest is history,” said Ms Douglas.
“I worked out a long time ago that my purpose for being was to connect people to people for mutual benefit, that's what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
Ms Douglas has been working with local businesses to establish this Gawler chapter, meaning 30 business owners in our region with different specialties will actively refer work to each other through the new BNI.
“Generally speaking the first year that one of these businesses forms, they usually generate one to two million dollars for the local economy,” said Ms Douglas.
Her own social media business Social Media AFA has been a Telstra business awards finalist three times.
Three years ago, Ms Douglas took over the Duke of Brunswick Hotel and just last year she bought the BNI Adelaide North franchise.
As well as being a fantastic business woman, Ms Simone has also been a strong advocate for her industries, helping organise the hospitality protests against COVID restrictions on 3 December.
DR. BONITA KLINKOSKI
Chiropractor
Dr, Bonita Klinkoski has been a chiropractor in the Barossa and Gawler region for 45 years and is well regarded by members of the community.
Having studied in Melbourne, Dr Klinkoski originally set up her own practice in Tanunda before purchasing a house on Adelaide Road, which had an existing chiropractor practice in it at the time.
She then split her time working between the two locations, eventually marrying and then working from home on Carlton Road for 25 years.
When we spoke to Dr Klinkoski she was preparing her new centralised chiropractor practice on Murray Street, beside the Gawler Flower Gallery.
“I’m seeing a patient today who was a young man the last time I saw him, as is often the case working in the area for so many years” said Dr Klinkoski.
“I always wanted to do something in health care, but I didn’t want to fit the allopathic model, I wanted to look after people practically.”
“I take my time with patients, I’m not just interested in their spine but their general health and wellbeing, plus I don’t believe in maintenance care and I don’t think people need to live at the chiropractors.”
Dr Klinkoski said attitudes have changed over the years respecting and understanding the benefits that chiropractors work can provide, and was excited for her old and new clients to enjoy the convenience of her new practice.
ALISON QUINLAN
Techme
Alison Quinlan has been running Techme on Murray Street with her husband Steven for 14 years.
She said they started the business initially as it was her husband's passion to build computers and service them.
“At first I was a mum with young children, but my involvement just grew from there.” said Ms Quinlan.
“We’ve been able to expand our business through mobile phones, security and repairs; we’re always adapting to the needs of the area.”
Ms Quinlan said the business has never left her bored, particularly with the speed of development in the technology industry.
Techme has been servicing businesses for years, keeping Alison ingrained in the community and while she said computers can frustrate people, she said it's a joy to see them comfortable in the end.
KAREN YATES
TCOY Day Spa
Karen Yates started her journey into the beauty business 20 years ago after buying her previous employers beauty business in Jacob Street.
Ms Yates was born and raised in Gawler and has firmly kept her roots connected to the area.
She started her initial business as a beauty therapist herself and initially only had one staff member.
After her period in Jacob Street, the business grew and she moved into Gawler Arcade, renovating an old dental clinic to suit her needs, eventually having 14 staff members and taking on a solely managerial role.
Again it grew from there, and she took on the building beside the space to accommodate the increased demand.
Ms Yates said she loves the business side of the Day Spa and has always had a passion for beauty and making women feel pampered.
Eventually Ms Yates upgraded to the current location at 112 Murray Street where they renovated the space to create a beautiful environment where she says clients “often tell me how comfortable and relaxed they feel coming in.”
In the new year, Ms Yates plans to expand to wellness therapies utilising the upper floor of the building.
“The beauty industry has moved so far forward over the years so I want to move into the wellness side of the industry,” Ms Yates said.
“We closed down for nearly three months due to COVID which has probably slowed those developments down, but I’m excited to offer these new ideas and services next year.”
ERIN & KAREN ROESLER
Thirteen Twenty Two
Thirteen Twenty Two is a mother-daughter business venture between Erin Roesler and her Mother Karen, which only opened on December 7.
Erin Roesler described the business as a boutique gift store with items such as candles, beauty products and other gorgeous gift ideas.
Ms Roesler said that before opening she quit her job and told her Mother that she was happy to put everything into the business with her.
Karen Roessler’s background as a chef with Musque food and wine in the Barossa will mean Thirteen Twenty Two will boast exquisite cheese boards and salads in the new year.
“Everyone has asked about the food, and it's the sort of food Gawler just doesn’t have” Erin said.
Ms Roesler said a major aim of the shop is to support Australian businesses and try not to stock anything made overseas.
“It’s all a big adventure, come on down and say hello,” Ms Roesler said
Thirteen Twenty Two sits on Murray Street and is open extensively before Christmas.
MARIE SAN GABRIEL
Gawler Heritage Cafe
If tenacity and passion are good business traits, we could not leave out Marie San Gabriel from this list.
Ms San Gabriel was recently made aware through the Gawler Rail Station PA that there will be further line disruptions which could see her lose most of the foot traffic to her cafe.
For Ms San Gabriel, who bought the business in April, closures throughout COVID “were a tough period, but now it’s the trains stopping that’s the concern.”
Despite this, she has described running the cafe which sits in the heart of the Gawler Railway Station as her “dream.”
Ms San Gabriel works another job from the hours of three till eleven once she finishes working at her cafe, and said that she hopes the substitute buses for the train service next year will bring in customers.
She moved to Australia from the Philippines in 2006 and proudly sports her traditional Filipino Christmas decorations in store.
“My customers ask about me all of the time, they don’t want me to close,” she said.
Ms San Gabriel home makes all of her cakes and items for sale and enjoys writing personalised messages on each takeaway coffee she sells, to the delight of her regular customers.
“I’d like to thank all of my customers for continuing to support me through this period and I wish them all a merry Christmas and happy New Year.” she said.
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