Ladro, MARS Gallery, Dilly Daly, Soak Bar, Alison’s Handmade Bread boast best businesswomen
You’ve been eating their food, admiring their art and enjoying their pampering, but do you know who runs these Stonnington success stories?
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These successful businesswomen are behind some of the top go-to destinations in Stonnington.
And they have taken on the coronavirus outbreak with inventive business models and turned their passions into popular and successful cafes, salons and art galleries.
Here’s a list of six of the best businesswomen kicking goals in the area.
ALISON BAKER
While other retailers have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, Alison Baker claims the pandemic saved her business.
Ms Baker, a former Qantas reservations worker, developed a passion for making bread at home and took the plunge by opening her Izett St corner shop nine years ago.
“I’d been working in Qantas for 10 years, and it was a secure job, but I just started making bread at home and ended up being addicted to it,” she said.
“I discovered these rye and sunflower loaf recipes, and I thought if I don’t make this, no one will enjoy it.”
Ms Baker almost closed down earlier this year after it took a hit with construction of the contentious $68 million Prahran Square.
But during Melbourne’s lockdown, her takeaway coffee sales boomed and she decided to renew her lease.
With more residents working from home and popping out to stretch their legs, Ms Baker’s sales soared by 38 per cent.
She also started selling essentials such as milk and eggs, and introduced picnic boxes as restrictions eased, which also became a hit.
“I’d always planned to do hampers and picnic boxes so lockdown provided the nudge I needed to do it,” she said.
“I was so lucky with the lockdown as my business is really just a small shop selling staples,” she said.
Ms Baker said staying small, having attention to detail and not splashing big bucks on a fancy shop fit-out had been the keys to her success.
“Success to me is not financial, it’s longevity, and ducking and weaving with everything that comes out of left field,” she said.
Alison’s Corner Shop and Bread, 180 Commercial Rd (enter from Izett St), Prahran.
MELISSA GLENTIS
Hospitality is in Melissa Glentis’ blood.
She started helping her parents in a restaurant and service station when she was eight years old, and has been in the industry for almost three decades.
Ms Glentis has been involved in five cafes throughout the city, including her Dilly Daly cafe in South Yarra.
When the coronavirus outbreak hit, she pivoted to start a coffee roastery, Daly St roasters, based inside the cafe.
The business turned a profit in her first month and her blends are now available at venues in Melbourne’s east and online.
“’I’ve worked for a big coffee roastery and it was always on the agenda,” she said.
“It (coronavirus) made me want to just grow more, so I thought, stuff it, lets do it now.”
The roastery wasn’t just the only big idea to emerge during the outbreak, with Ms Glentis now busier than ever with other ventures.
She’s continuing her night-time trade serving Korean fried chicken and souvlakis at the cafe, as well as her Dilly Daly at Home grazing boxes.
The cafe is also set to collaborate with a new inner-city venue over summer, and she’s looking for a second location somewhere in Stonnington.
Ms Glentis urged aspiring business owners to think big and to plan for the long haul.
“If you have a dream, you need to go for it, but have your goals and plans written down and stick to them,” she said.
“There’s no such thing as overnight success, it takes time.”
Dilly Dally Cafe, 6c Daly St, South Yarra.
CARLIE LANSDOWN
Carlie Lansdown has mixed beauty with booze to give women the ultimate pampering experience.
A native Queenslander, Ms Lansdown introduced her concept in Brisbane and ran a salon for five years before moving to Melbourne and opening Soak Bar and Beauty in South Yarra.
She said the concept allowed women with busy lives to enjoy the things they love and combine catch-ups with their friends.
“Women are so busy these days, we need to mush things together,” she said.
“So this lets them get their nails done, catch up with their friends and have a drink at the same time.
“I always wanted to created an environment where women feel exceptional about themselves.”
Mr Lansdown kept her loyal customers entertained while the salon was closed due to coronavirus restrictions with trivia nights, a podcast, and online cocktail making classes by her barman.
She also took the time to spruce up the salon and create a new makeup station.
Ms Lansdown has plans to grow the business in Melbourne and possibly expand to other cities on the east coast.
She urges anyone with big ideas to stay focused on bringing them to life.
“Stay in your own lane, don’t focus on anyone else, only on what you want do,” she said.
Soak Bar, 657 Chapel St, South Yarra.
ANDY DINAN
A rolling line of exhibitions promoting emerging artists has helped Andy Dinan’s MARS Gallery remain a community favourite.
Ms Dinan opened her gallery in Port Melbourne 17 years ago, before moving it to a new custom-built home in Windsor with two levels and a rooftop sculpture garden.
It’s hosted more than 2000 exhibitions and showcased the work of more than 300 artists, with a new exhibition every three-to-four weeks.
“I wanted to support and promote Australian artists, and I identified there was a need for someone to actively promote them, particular at the mid-career and emerging end,” Ms Dinan said.
“Giving artists opportunities to be seen and getting them to take commissions is what we’re all about.”
With coronavirus temporarily closing the gallery’s doors, Ms Dinan created a concept of literally bringing art to its fans.
She delivered artworks which people had seen online to their homes in Ubers, and gave them the option of buying them on the spot or sending them back for free.
Ms Dinan also put artwork on the gallery’s windows and started a range of online exhibitions, which she said had been a surprising success.
“I’d never gone so big on online marketing but it opened up a whole new set of clients to me,” she said.
“The minute I stopped thinking of bricks and mortar, it opened up a whole new clientele for me.”
Ms Dinan now plans to keep her online exhibitions going as well as welcoming people back to its James St home.
MARS Gallery, 7 James St, Windsor. Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm.
INGRID LANTRY
A huge focus on sustainability and key partnerships with community charities have been the keys to the success of Ingrid Langtry’s pizza restaurants.
Ms Langtry started Ladro Pizza in Fitzroy 18 years ago, and her Prahran restaurant has been open for a decade.
She said the formula of dishing up pizza with a fine dining focus had proven to be a winner.
“We are really passionate about providing simple things exceptionally well, and we love the idea of providing high quality pizza with good service,” she said.
Ms Langtry said the restaurants’ focus on environmental initiatives had helped them attract and keep the right staff and create a comfortable workplace.
“Practising best practice for the environment means you find staff that have similar values
and it makes for a good atmosphere for staff to work in,” she said.
“Our staff are everything, we don’t have a business without them.”
The restaurant also helps train refugees in front-of-house hospitality through its partnership with Street Smart Australia.
That connection proved vital during Melbourne’s lockdown, with the restaurant asked to help provide 400 meals a night for disadvantaged and struggling people in the northern suburbs.
“It allowed us to utilise what would have been an unutilised kitchen, employ two visa holders full time through the period who didn’t qualify for subsidies, and kept our cash flow going,” she said.
Ladro, 162 Greville St, Prahran and 224 Gertrude St, Fitzroy.
MARCIA GRIFFIN
There’s no doubt Marcia Griffin knows how to build a successful business.
Ms Griffin, a former winner of the Telstra Victorian businesswoman of the year, was at the helm of two successful cosmetics businesses and turned them into household names.
They include Japan-based cosmetics company Pola Cosmetics, which had more than 5000 staff worldwide at its peak, and GriffinandRow, an online chain with natural products based on Indigenous medicinal extracts.
She’s no longer involved in both businesses, but instead provides advice and brings other top business minds together as chair of The CEO Institute.
Ms Griffin said her role with the learning platform and its programs keep her busy among her duties as a Stonnington councillor.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for people from varying small businesses to come together discuss key issues, and use it as an advisory board,” she said.
“Generally in business when someone has had a problem, someone else has had it before them.”
Ms Griffin said her top piece of advice for small business owners was to be agile and focus on the quality of their products and customer care.
“We’re in a global market now, you can order from a shop in New York and have it delivered to you in days.
“Agility is really important, especially how can you service your customers in the most efficient and effective way.”
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