Lana Revill, Susan Petitt, Jane Cay among south coast’s most inspiring businesswomen
From the world of fashion to teaching and helping community in times of need, we reveal the south coast women leading their fields in the business world.
The South Coast News
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South coast business women are innovating at a time when the business world is thinking outside the box.
They’ve survived the summer bushfire crisis and the loss of a crucial tourist season and the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but south coast business women are staying positive for the year ahead.
To celebrate their achievements, The South Coast News has compiled a list some of the region’s top women in business.
LANA REVILL
Bermagui’s Lana Revill says she relishes being a young businesswoman on the south coast of NSW.
“I live in an area where a lot of business owners are young females, or young couples. We have really moved away from old school business logic where everyone is out for themselves and only see the people around them as competition,” she said.
Revill runs Boho Republic, an ethical lifestyle boutique she started as a pop-up store in 2016 in the former office space of a real estate agency.
“Our community is really supportive of one another and we each compliment each other. It‘s community over competition. We’re in it together. We want our whole town to prosper for everyone’s gain, not just our own,” she said.
“I still have a lot of people that are shocked when they ask who the owner of this store is and I reply ‘I am’.
“They seem to clutch their pearls and throw around sayings like ‘oh but you are so young’. It‘s really quite funny. I am in awe of what we are all achieving here as young business people. It’s really nice to be a part of it.”
Ms Ludlow said there was no amazing backstory to her business. She was working in hospitality in the quiet seaside town. Slim on options she had to create her own future.
“It just got to the point where I decided right, if I’m going to stay in this amazing piece of paradise, I’m going to have to create my own work because I cannot work one more summer in hospitality. So I decided to turn my interest in fashion, styling and photography into a career,” she said.
“I opened a very small store with a close friend who is no longer in this business, but is a fellow female business women building an empire as a restaurateur.
“After five years I have expanded into a larger, brighter space. I’m really enjoying myself and it still doesn’t feel like work so I’d say that’s a win.”
She said her focus on sustainability, which is now a big consumer draw card, has helped her grow.
“I’ve always made the extra effort to source lesser-known brands where I order at least six months in advance, and everything is made to order, not made in bulk,” she said.
“In the future I hope to promote this awareness more and more and shine a light on the flaws within the fashion industry, but also the positives and where we can make changes. Maybe I’ll even have a little ethical clothing label of my own one day.”
SIAN LUDLOW
Stella Studioz director Sian Ludlow is a vocal and performance coach making waves on the south coast.
Ms Ludlow has worked as a professional vocalist for over 17 years, and started the business in 2014 to pursue a career in teaching.
The business took out the award for best education service at last year’s Illawarra and South Coast Local Business Awards.
The award came just two years after being named the region’s Young Entrepreneur of The Year for 2017. A part of the well-known duo Stella Girlz,
Ms Ludlow’s business has grown in just a few years, and she is now highly sought-after along the south coast.
JANE CAY
As CEO and founder of Birdsnest, Jane Cay runs one of the most successful retail businesses in the country.
Started in 2004 as High Country Outfitters, a small clothing store on the main street of Cooma, she has turned it into a $30 million a year empire.
A commerce graduate, Cay, who was born in Cooma, left her e-business consultant role with IBM when she fell in love with a farmer and moved to southern NSW.
The business won Best Online Customer Service Award in 2015 and 2016 at the Online Retail Industry Awards, due to her innovation in the online world and focus on customer service.
Birdsnest is within the top 40 most-visited apparel sites in Australia, with more than 90 per cent of sales coming from online.
SUSAN PETTITT
Susan Pettitt grew up in the small bushfire-devastated town of Quaama before forging a career as a goal shooter with the Australian Diamonds netball team, the Sydney Sandpipers and the Sydney Swifts before ending her career at the fledgling Western Sydney Giants.
After picking up the game at the age of eight, she went on to take up a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport before playing at the top level for 12 years.
The 36-year-old, who retired from international competition in 2018, now runs SP Netball coaching clinics across the state where she has trained over 30,000 children.
She also runs Three Flamingos Espresso in Albion Park and Three Flamingos Bistro at Warilla.
KIRSTY FURBANK
Kirsty Furbank grew up on the south coast and starting surfing at just 11 years old.
She has spent the last six years sharing her passion for surfing and the ocean as a surf instructor around Australia, and has joined forces with Californian surfer Nolan Mahoney in starting the successful Camel Rock Surf School.
“We founded Camel Rock Surf School as we have passion and patience for people wanting to try something new or are looking to gain ocean confidence,” she said.
The school has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months, with students from local schools taking part in the classes, along with locals and visiting tourists keen to learn a new skill.
KAY SAARINEN
Wyndham’s Kay Saarinen has claimed a number of awards since her family business Saarinen Organics topped the inaugural Bega Valley Innovation Hub run by the University of Wollongong.
She specialises in pimple, mature and tight itchy skin solutions made from local certified organic growers.
This week she was named one of Business Australia’s Top 10 Business Champions.
Ms Saarinen said the key to her business’s survival has been networking, having “awesome staff” and to “not be afraid to ask for help when it is being offered”.
“I think women in business on the south coast are doing great things,” she said.
“It’s a really good time for us. There doesn’t seem to be the same restrictions for women as there used to be.
“I really think without our customers we wouldn’t be here. Locals here are buying local products and supporting us.”
She recently donated her products to the Victorian government’s Hotels for Heroes frontline worker accommodation program, helping those taking the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JESSICA HANNAN
Last year, Moruya’s Jessica Hannan from Coast and Country Occupational Therapy was named the NSW State Young Entrepreneur of the year for 2020.
Ms Hannan was the winner of the Eurobodalla Business Awards as Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award in the lead up to securing a place in the Far South Coast awards.
She enjoys working with teachers, preschool teachers, service providers and families to ensure the best therapeutic outcomes are achieved for her clients.
ESPETH FINNEY
Shoalhaven Family Law’s Espeth Finney was named Young Entrepreneur of the year at the 2019 Shoalhaven Business Awards for her dedication to helping her region.
Ms Finney is current secretary of the Shoalhaven and District Law Society, on the board of Bendigo Bank Nowra, involved in the Shoalhaven Young Professional Representative of the Shoalhaven Professional Business Association and on the Shoalhaven Business Chamber Women in Business Committee.
She has a focus on helping the community and is passionate about minimising the effect of separation on children by reducing conflict in family law matters and focusing on amicable solutions.
KIM McARTHUR
Shoalhaven entrepreneur Kim McArthur won this year’s Retail Business Award for NSW and ACT at the 2020 AusMumpreneur awards.
Ms McArthur also came third for Emerging AusMumpreneur of the Year.
She started the business in 2018 after her own bad experience dealing with bridal shops.
Women in Business South Coast secretary Megan Garrett said the bushfires and COVID-19 have affected almost every business owner in the Batemans Bay region, but many remain positive for the future.
“We’ve been struggling,” she said.
“There’s a lot of jobs around, but it’s hard to find staff.
“I think people are optimistic, but we are getting to the anniversary of the bushfires, and people are worried about the summer ahead.”
She said many business owners are looking to pivot and move into different sectors to survive.
“I find especially in hospitality it is happening in case COVID comes back, and everybody has to be adaptable now,” she said.
“Business women have a lot of determination and they are building good relationships with their customers.
“If you support them, they support you.”
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