Mums running successful businesses on the Sunshine Coast | List
From small start-ups to international sensations, the Sunshine Coast is full of women juggling mum-life and running successful businesses. See how they do it.
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Running a business can be tricky at the best of times, but coupled with raising children it can be challenging to say the least.
The Sunshine Coast is home to an inspiring list of hardworking mums who are also juggling successful businesses.
From popular cafe owners to clothing designers and entrepreneurs, find out how these supermums manage it all below.
Sara Richardson – Leakster
Leakster has developed an innovative cloud based remote water pipeline leak detection and location technology; helping utilities globally reduce water waste and understand the condition of their underground water pipes.
Caloundra Chamber of Commerce member and chief executive Sara Richardson said their sensors are attached into large utility scale water pipes.
“Through a combination of advanced signal processing and machine learning, we provide the utility with on demand, and previously unobtainable information about the condition of their underground water pipes, including but not limited to early identification and GPS location of pipeline leaks,” Ms Richardson said.
Ms Richardson said she started the business when she was pregnant for the first time.
“Despite having more flexibility, it is very challenging yet rewarding,” she said.
“We have overcome many challenges in the business, and the advice I would give to mums in business is to be resilient, something most mums are good at.
“I love that I get to surround myself with like-minded people, employees, investors, and mentors and customers that are supportive of both the business and my personal development.”
Susan Toft – The Laundry Lady
The Laundry Lady is a mobile laundry service with a team of more than 100 Australia-wide that recently won the Sunshine Coast Business Award for Trades and Services.
Founder and chief executive of The Laundry Lady and Caloundra Chamber of Commerce member Susan Toft said her company picks up washing or ironing and brings it back the next day.
“We service a broad range of customers from beauty salons, medical clinics, airbnbs, through to residential and NDIS customers,” Ms Toft said.
Ms Toft said she measured success within her business around her children.
“Having a week off every school holidays with my kids is what success looks like to me and I encourage all of my team to make sure they prioritise those same values,” she said.
“Many of our contractors are mums who need flexible work to balance around their kids, it’s something we are really passionate about in our business.
“That was the main reason why I started it, to have flexibility around my kids, so it’s great to be able to bring that same opportunity to other people.”
Ms Loft said her advice to mothers starting their own business would be to set boundaries between work and family.
“It might be something simple like eating dinner together every night, switching off phones for family time on a Sunday, or planning time off in holidays,” she said.
Heidi Walker – Walker Seafoods
Caloundra Chamber of Commerce member Heidi Walker started Walker Seafoods back in 2001 with her husband and now has five boats based in Mooloolaba and 50 staff members.
“We’re Australia’s largest wild caught tuna and sword company and we export to the US and Japan and supply a lot of Australia’s top restaurants,” Mrs Walker said.
“We started with no experience in the fishing industry, it was a good learning curve.”
Mrs Walker said she had two girls aged seven and nine years.
“It is challenging and getting outside help is always good, we utilise after school care and babysitters and family because we work a lot,” she said.
“They ask a lot of questions which I think is great for them to understand the business and what it is all about but it can be challenging managing your time.”
Kate Ogg – Oggy E-Scooters
Kate Ogg runs Oggy E-Scooters along with her husband David, offering a sustainable form of transport from Noosa to Caloundra on quality rideshare scooters.
“We don’t operate at night, our riders can’t park their scooters at random places but must return them to a parking hub, and we have a minimum age of 21 to be the app account holder,” Mrs Ogg said.
“My role in the business covers everything from business development to scooter maintenance and everything in between.”
The Caloundra Chamber of Commerce member told the Sunshine Coast Daily juggling work and family commitments was “extremely difficult” at times.
“With a large part of our clientele stemming from tourism, school holidays and weekends are our busy periods,” she said.
“This obviously makes it very difficult to enjoy quality time with our four children, so we steal moments whenever we can to get into a holiday vibe, even if it’s an unexpected beach run after school or fish and chips at The Boat Shed after swim training.
“This would be my tip to other mums in business, don’t hang out for the perfect holiday, grab the good times when you can.”
Mrs Ogg said she loved that her children are learning what good work ethic looks like.
“I’d like to think that when they see what we do they realise that they can make any dream a reality if they work hard,” she said.
Vanessa O’Neill – Dough Ho
A successful doughnut shop owner and mum is opening her second store on the Mooloolaba Esplanade to satisfy customers’ hunger for her sweet treats.
Vanessa O’Neill opened The White Oak cafe in Buderim three years ago before rebranding with a “fresh vibe” and new name of Dough Ho in March 2020.
The Buderim Dough Ho store sells out of their decadent doughnuts almost every day, with between 600-1200 doughnuts gobbled up daily.
Ms O’Neill told the Sunshine Coast Daily she was “so grateful” for the success of her flagship store and how supportive her regular customers had been.
“I am overwhelmed day in day out of how supportive the Buderim and Sunshine Coast community is,” she said.
Courtney Blake – Husk and Will
Courtney Blake had always wanted to open her own baby business and on September 27, 2022, she finally threw open the doors of Husk and Will on Bulcock St.
Ms Blake said she was thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response from her opening day and shared how the shop space had a special place in her heart.
“My great grandparents had this store as Shannon’s Shoes for over 30 years so I remember running around this store as a kid,” Ms Blake told the Sunshine Coast Daily.
After giving birth to her 11-month old boy Banx, Ms Blake said she struggled to find sufficient baby supplies in Caloundra and saw a gap in the market.
“Every time I wanted something I would have to drive half an hour to get it, Kawana is the next stop for essentials and clothing besides Kmart,” she said.
Husk and Will stocks everything baby and toddler related, including educational toys, tableware, books, gifts, newborn essentials, keepsakes, teddies and lots of clothing ranging up to size four.
The store has also been kitted out with a play area for the little ones and a feeding area for the mums.
Ms Blake said she was excited to see her ideas come to life and looked forward to growing as a business.
Kristy Knox – Sippy Social, Local Social
Kristy Knox is taking the Sunshine Coast hospitality industry by storm, opening a third cafe marking her second business to be launched in just a matter of months.
Alongside her partner Jake Jodvalkis, Ms Knox opened their third vibrant cafe, Sippy Social in July, serving up coffee, smoothies, and ready-to-go healthy meals.
Ms Knox said they dived into a third venture when an opportunity arose to take over from an existing cafe, Miss May, rebrand it, and add key items such as healthy juices, smoothies, and pre-made meals.
“We’ve just gone for it,” she said.
The business-minded couple opened their first cafe – their “original baby” – Local Social Cafe in Forest Glen in 2018 before copy and pasting the cafe at The Wharf Mooloolaba in January.
Michelle Payne – Sunny Days Society
Fed up with being unable to find suitable clothing for her 10-year-old daughter, Michelle Payne hit the sewing machine to make fun, tasteful pieces for her girl transitioning between children’s and adult clothing.
“When girls get to nine or 10, they want to wear older girls’ clothes, but they’re not really appropriate,” she said.
Her handmade items received praise from other mums, leading her to launch a youth clothing label in March.
Mrs Payne is now the founder of Sunny Days Society in Noosa, which is addressing a gap in the tween market, ages eight to 16, by selling fun, appropriate and comfortable clothes, such as tops, shorts and skirts.
Mrs Payne, who sells online and at two markets on the Sunshine Coast, said sales have gone “really well” as there was a “big demand” for this niche, saying in-person customers frequently complimented the idea.
“I’m definitely not the only mum thinking like that,” she said.
Hien Phan – Vietnomnom
What started as a hobby has turned into a thriving business with a Sunshine Coast mum and her sister opening their first Vietnomnom takeaway food store.
Hien and Hoai Phan opened their first store at Nambour this month after Vietnomnom grew too popular to operate from a food truck.
Hien, 31, said she started the business less than two years ago because she “wanted a hobby” while her two children went to school.
The business with everything from rice paper rolls to banh mi and pho gained a loyal following at markets from Noosa to Caloundra with rolls being the hot menu items.
Samantha Harrison – SH Hair Extensions
A 26-year-old Sunshine Coast single mum has turned her passion for hair into a booming online business turning over almost a million dollars a year.
Samantha Harrison’s SH Hair Extensions in Coolum was started 10 years ago under former name In Your Dreams Hair Extensions with only a single chair in front of the TV in her living room for a workspace.
Fast forward a decade and her venture into the online e-learning space has paid dividends, filling a gap in digital business education in the beauty industry, as well as drastically increased in-person appointments.
Ms Harrison said her decision to branch into online education and later in-person workshops was prompted by a need to diversify her business following the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020.
“I wanted to create something nobody else had, I didn’t want to just teach people how to create hair extensions, I wanted to teach people how to create a profitable, home-based hair extension salon, so I put everything that I do out there into a course.”
Prudence Henschke
A family lawyer and mum-of-two who wants to help people have more “amicable” splits is now running a flourishing divorce coaching business since moving to the Sunshine Coast.
Prudence Henschke, a family lawyer for nearly 20 years, sold her Melbourne law business upon moving north in 2021 and now focuses solely on her divorce coaching.
She said she wanted to help people in a more “holistic way” so they had a “better and not bitter” break-up, especially when there were children involved.
“I feel if I can support them that has an impact on the whole family and children are the ones who can get caught in the middle of these conflicts,” Ms Henschke said.
Ashley Reynolds – Salty Shreds
A clothing designer and mum-of-three Ashley Reynolds started her Sunshine Coast clothing business, Salty Shreds, in 2018 when her firstborn was six months old.
She said it was a brand created from a love of surfing and skateboarding, started while she was on maternity leave because she was determined not to work for someone else.
All her designs were hand-drawn to ensure they were one-of-a-kind and her lifestyle and parenting style were part of her brand.
Janneke Williamson – The Mumsie
A mother-of-two has grown her business from operating in her basement to having a retail store in Noosa Junction and a warehouse.
A “light bulb moment” during a frantic morning drop-off led to Noosa mum Janneke Williamson starting an innovative business that now has a loyal following.
Since launching The Mumsie in 2018, mother-of-two Janneke Williamson’s innovative idea has grown into an international business.
The Mumsie is the ultimate outfit for parents that incorporates a baby carrier into comfortable overalls allowing for easy hands-free moments with children.
Ms Williamson said the idea was born out of need.
“I had a three-month-old girl, and I was at kindy drop off for my son, who was four and … I was juggling lunch boxes, school bags, hats, shoes, handbag, phone, dummy, sanity while fumbling with a baby carrier,” she said.
Ellie Degraeve – Go For Zero
Within three years a Sunshine Coast mum has gone from storing products in her garage to making a seven-figure revenue with her popular eco start-up business.
Go For Zero was founded by Ellie Degraeve in 2018 from her bedroom after she learnt about the harsh chemicals commonly used in skin care products following the birth of her youngest daughter.
The mother of two was stunned by the lack of information about the ingredients used in everyday items and the knowledge gap among many on how to live more sustainably.
This led her to establish the business as a pop-up in Caloundra where she sold outsourced environmentally friendly items stored in her garage.
Now her successful business is based out of a 320sq m Kunda Park warehouse and has a following of more than 37,000 on Instagram.
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