Wagga’s top business women including Naomi McMullen, Stephanie Day and Jan Roberts

There are plenty of amazing businesswomen in Wagga. Now we can reveal who they are and why they are making waves in their industries.

Wagga's top business woman revealed. Picture: supplied

From dominating the food and dining to scene, to creating new dating platforms, Wagga is full of inspiring women.

To celebrate their achievements, The Wagga News has compiled a list of the city’s top women in business.

MACKENNA POWELL

Mackenna Powell. Picture – supplied.

It would be hard to believe if you haven’t heard the name Mackenna Powell around town.

Born and bred in the Riverina and a woman of many talents, Mackenna has cemented her foot in the Wagga business community.

Day to day Mackenna works at WFI, an Australian-owned and operated insurance company which specialises in true blue face-to-face customer service.

With a large proportion of her clients farmers, Mackenna is out on the road every day meeting locals in their homes and businesses.

Her passion for rural communities went a step further last year with her face plastered on signs across Wagga as she put her hand up to run for the member for the Nationals Party in the last state election.

“Growing up on a farm, I wanted to make sure the real life regional community member was being represented,” Mackenna said.

I wanted to make sure improvements were being made at a grassroots level,” she said.

But her work in the Wagga community doesn’t stop there as she is the Vice chair of the Wagga Business Chamber, a friend of the Women’s Health Centre, a member and past president of Wagga Women in Business, and a devoted committee member to Riverina Bluebell – a service which promotes mental health and encourages locals to seek help.

“I just feel it’s important to be involved with your community,” Mackenna said.

“My personal motto is that, if you can and are able to you should,” she said.

Mackenna also co-founded Wagga’s newest dating platform Coincidentally and recently began her own Millinery business.

Having looked inside her closet during a COVID-19 clean she found her beloved racing headwear looking sad in the corner, unlikely to be ever worn again.

But Mackenna couldn‘t bear the thought of beautiful pieces continuing to collect dust and decided to start a business which sustainably rents out used, like new, millinery headpieces.

Oh and did we mention Mackenna is also mum of two?

SERENA HARDWICK

Serena Hardwick. Picture – Thomas Scott Griffith.

Her friends said she could turn anything into a business idea and that’s exactly what Serena Hardwick, 33, has done.

The idea for Coincidentally, Wagga’s newest dating platform, began over a wine and chat with her girlfriends and now draws sell out crowds.

Being a single mum of two children and a heavy force in the Wagga business world, Serena didn't want to get caught up in the world of online dating.

She also wanted what many singles people would prefer – a safe environment surrounded by good food and friends.

So, Serena put her desires into action and began a business on just that – meeting people in a safe environment surrounded by good food and wine.

It was just a few months ago when the first group date night kicked off at the Roundabout Restaurant to a sell out crowd.

“Its not all just about finding a new partner, it’s also about meeting new people and having a good time while eating great food,” Serena said.

“Its about bringing back that lost art form of meaningful face-to-face connection and conversation,” she said.

But Coincidentally, is just a side hustle for Serena, as her days are spent informing, advocating, educating and creating a support network for businesses in Wagga in her newly appointed role as the manger of the Wagga Business Chamber.

Having spent 14 years working in strategic planning for local government, Serena thought it was time for a change and found this role to be the perfect opportunity to put her passion for business and regional communities to good use.

On top of all this Serena is a mother of two and also owns a catering business called Knead Culture – a delicious business which aims to line local stomachs with mouth-watering carb loaded treats.

NAOMI McMULLEN

Naomi McMullen. Picture – Melissa Platt Photography.

In the past six years Naomi McMullen has given the Wagga food and event scene the update it greatly needed and deserved.

Rolling down the highway from Sydney with her husband, the duo in 2014 decided to move to Wagga to start their business now known as Borambola Wines.

Naomi was handed the role as Chief Marketing Officer and Events Planner – a crucial job in the start up of any business.

But one, she has more than succeeded in.

She began the hefty process by propping up a tent filled with wine at market stalls across the Riverina to get the Borambola name on the lips of locals.

A year later she took the brand awareness that one step further and created an event that more than a few locals look forward to – The Cork and Fork Festival.

“We wanted to use the newly renovated space down at the river known as Wagga Beach,” Naomi said.

“We wanted to create a relaxing space where locals could go on a Friday night and catch up with friends and family.

“When we launched our aim was to get around 500 people … but instead we had nearly 4000 people come,” she said with a laugh.

So as Naomi does, she stepped up to the challenge and streamlined the monthly event to cater for thousands of people.

She used local musicians, food vendors and different locations across Wagga.

Naomi then took the event further down the road and gave Albury locals a taste of what the Cork and Fork Festival was all about.

Meanwhile, she was also hard at work establishing the Cellar Door at Borambola Wines to not only cater for wine lovers but real lovers as she developed a romantic space for people to host their weddings.

More recently, the winery has also been transformed into a space for people to come and watch movies under the stars while sipping a wine or two.

Although the thick smoke haze from the summer bush fires ruined this year’s crop and visitor numbers drastically reduced due to COVID-19, Naomi has still been hard at work.

She recently, enrolled herself in a yoga course with long term plans to host yoga and wine retreats under the vines at Borambola.

“What we have found a big change, since moving from Sydney to Wagga is the way the local community is supported,” Naomi said.

“There‘s a great network of people and a number of places to go and get extra help if you need it.

“But also, I find it rewarding that I know the people who make my food, who make my clothes and where the products I use are coming from,” she said.

JAN ROBERTS

Jan Roberts. Photo supplied.

Without the vital work of Jan Roberts, 70, over the past 50 years this list may have never been able to be created.

Hailing from Sydney, Jan arrived in Wagga in the 1970s with a mission to create equality among women and to this day is still a feminist force not to be reckoned with.

Jan grabbed hold of the changing times of the 1970s for women and brought what at the time were radical concepts like birth control to the conservative country town of Wagga.

Jan, who was a schoolteacher at the time, shook the town to its core with a range of movements and events which demanded change.

One of the many things Jan and her feminist friends fought hard for was a community health centre dedicated to women.

After a number of years of stomping and shouting for the centre, the Wagga community conceded that it was a good idea … but there was no funding to create such a thing.

It was then and there, Jan quit her job and dedicated her time to raising the funds needed to build a women‘s health centre.

And after years of hard work in 1979, the doors of the Wagga Womens Health Centre opened and continue to stay open to this very day.

“Every woman who came to the centre and still comes to the centre has different issues,” Jan said.

“In the first six years when I was working there, it was about learning on your feet, training, working hard and above all being passionate about equality.

“But the premises of the centre has and always will be that women are equal and should be treated with respect and be supported in their journey,” she said.

Having been a pillar at the centre over the past 40 years Jan is disappointed when she hears women facing the same issues she has so long fought for.

“From the very beginning violence against women has been an issue, sexual assault as well, and they continue to be a constant issue in our society,” Jan said.

“I suppose from time to time the focus at the centre has changed as the trends change but a number of issues still remain.

“I also think a number of young women are faced with hardship in their decisions about pleasing other people rather themselves and the added pressures young women continue to face from social media and society to look and behave a certain way,” she said.

Jan said although the world has opened up for women there was still a long way to go both locally and globally.

JENNIFER GALLOWAY

Jennifer Galloway. Picture – supplied.

No one could be more fitting to feature in this article than the woman who is the president of the Wagga Women in Business group.

Having sat on the board of WWIB for a number of years, Jennifer Galloway, 47, was tapped on the shoulder and encouraged to put her hand up for president earlier this year.

“It‘s a real privilege to head a group that empowers women, that educates women and fosters women’s confidence,” Jennifer said.

WWIB was established in 2004 and aims to support businesswomen through a range of social group workshops.

“One of the many things I adore about WWIB is the fact that it has that great dynamic of women who run their own business and women who work in business,” Jennifer said.

Jennifer, who has lived in Wagga for 11 years is one of the members who work in business.

She is a senior communications manager for AgriFutures – a role which is a far stretch away from some of her original jobs for big-brand makeup and alcohol companies like Estee Lauder.

“I recently transferred over to this role with AgriFutures, having worked in digital marketing space at Charles Sturt University for over a decade,” Jennifer said.

“I live on a farm and my husband is from Wagga, so taking on this role was the perfect opportunity to really develop a deep understanding of an industry where I will most likely live and work in for the rest of my life,” she said.

Jennifer also has another full time job, one which many say is the hardest job of all – a Mum of three young children.

STEPHANIE DAY

Stephanie Day. Picture Nicole Anderson Photography.

At the age of 40 and with no real experience, Stephanie Day took the plunge and opened her own business

Nine years later, Paper Pear is a household name, not only in the Riverina but across Australia.

Paper Pear is located in Gurwood St Wagga Wagga and is both a gallery for Australian Art and Handmade gifts.

With a background in Graphic Design, Stephanie began Paper Pear in 2011, selling her own paintings and handmade cards and hosting children’s art workshops in the holidays and after school.

“In the beginning I wasn’t sure how it would go or if it would last” Stephanie said.

But like many successful businesses Stephanie’s vision transformed over time and she now represents over 50 artists and is a big supporter of Australian handmade.

Stephanie acknowledges the huge part social media has played in the growth of her business over the past nine years and spends hours every day engaging with buyers and artists.

“I have customers who buy from Instagram regularly and many visitors have found me online and made the trip to Wagga Wagga to visit the gallery” she said.

“I trawl the internet, Instagram, magazines and travel miles to source the artworks.

In 2018, Stephanie pulled together a show and popped up in the NSW town of Orange.

It was a great success and has become an annual drawcard for locals and visitors, more recently she held a Sydney showing at a gallery in Balmain and was overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response by her followers.

“I really do put my heart and soul into Paper Pear’ Stephanie said.

“I like to say I’m just winging it but people do remind me that the work I put in is what makes it a success,” she said.

Paper Pear is a happy and inspiring space, packed with art and gifts to suit all budgets and tastes and Stephanie likes to make it a very personal shopping experience.

“Whenever I can, I love to hand deliver pieces to my customers,” Stephanie said.

“I call myself the Art Gypsy because I love getting out on the road meeting the artists and the people who buy the works,” she said.

DANIELLE WAIT

Danielle Wait – Picture supplied.

Danielle Wait in one word is unstoppable.

With a background in recruitment and human resources, Danielle saw a gap in the Wagga market and decided to open a business which helps support other businesses.

Known as Flywheel Consulting, the agency aims to be the one stop shop for businesses human resource needs.

“Being based in a regional area is no barrier to having a rewarding and fulfilling career,” Danielle said.

“My business has benefited from the networks that I have built in the business community through my involvement with the Wagga Business Chamber, Women in Business and other networking and support organisations,” she said.

Danielle is also a business partner at Wagga’s Charles Sturt Suites and Apartments and the Roundabout Restaurant.

She is responsible for strategic planning, reviewing the companies financial performance, setting budgets and providing guidance to her team in relation to all operational matters.

Danielle is currently working closely with the team to rebrand the business in 2021 and transform it into a boutique hotel and dining venue.

In her spare time, Danielle is devoted to a number of groups including the Wagga Business Chamber board, she is the chair of Business Australia – Riverina-Murray HR Networking for Knowledge, the director of the Riverina Conservatorium of Music, a committee member for the Riverina Conservatorium of Music building project, an Airport Advisory committee member and has recently joined as a councillor for the Business Australia Regional Advisory Board.

On top of that, Danielle is also completing her Bachelor of Laws degree.