Mornington Peninsula’s top 8 most inspiring business women revealed
The Mornington Peninsula is brimming with women making their mark in business. Here’s a list of some of the region’s most inspirational female small business owners.
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From a marriage celebrant credited with putting the peninsula on the events map to a hairdresser who opened her first salon at 20, the region is packed with inspiring examples of female small business owners.
See who made our top 8.
Pauline Woolley, marriage celebrant, event planner
Every time Pauline Woolley sees a bride walk down the aisle towards her she tears up.
“I am an emotional person and there’s nothing like the joy you get from uniting two people,” Ms Woolley said.
The Fingal woman has been a marriage celebrant for about eight years after “retiring” to the
Mornington Peninsula from Manchester, England 13 years ago.
“10 minutes into my first walk down Main St, Mornington I knew I had made the right move to the other side of the world,” Ms Woolley said.
“The is such a wonderful place to live. It’s a little bubble of magic.”
2020 has been a tough year for Ms Woolley and her colleagues in the wedding industry.
“In 2019 I conducted 47 weddings. This year so far, three,” she said.
She has also had to postpone two wedding expos booked at the Mornington racecourse due to COVID-19.
“Expos are about connecting people with businesses and you can’t do that properly with social distancing,” she said.
“Hopefully our April 18, 2021 expo will be clear to go ahead without any restrictions along with our October 31.2021 event.”
Ms Woolley was one of the regions most nominated business women.
She was recognised for her professionalism, industry knowledge, energy and supporting other Mornington Peninsula businesses.
“Her generosity in offering and finding work for other businesses and collaborating with them, for the benefit of the Peninsula, is unprecedented,” Gillian Holden posted on the Mornington Peninsula Leader Facebook page.
Kate Austin, Pinchapoo Charity
Kate Austin wasn’t sure how her quirky charity Pinchapoo, which encourages people to “pinch” toiletries from hotels, would fare when COVID-19 hit.
“We have been very lucky to have generous suppliers who have send their products straight to us instead of to accommodation providers,” Ms Austin said.
“Sukin donated $9 million worth of products which also allowed us to create pamper packs for frontline health workers.
“It felt pretty special to be able to do that.”
Ms Austin said when Stage 4 restrictions closed her distribution and storage factory Pinchapoo volunteers turned their lounge rooms into mini warehouses to ensure the charity would keep operating.
“So far this year we’ve donated 150,000 hygiene produced to Victorians in need,” she said.
Ms Austin said hygiene poverty was a serious problem with one in six Australians families forced to make the heart breaking choice between putting food or hygiene products in the shopping trolley each week.
It’s an issue Ms Austin experienced first hand when she left at home at just 15 years old in a bid to escape domestic violence.
“One of the few things I grabbed in that desperate moment was my toothbrush,” she said.
In the confusing days after her initial flight Ms Austin said the only thing that made sense was the “overwhelming urge for a hot shower, some deodorant and some makeup to feel human again”.
“In the years that followed I often wondered how many others had been in the same situation and what I could do to help,” she said.
A “lighting bolt” moment in the shower while washing her hair with a mini shampoo she had picked up while on a recent weekend away provided the answer.
“I thought what if I got a few friends to collect their toiletries while travelling and we donated them to someone who supports victims of family violence and homelessness?
“So I told a few friends, their friends told their friends and Facebook helped us tell loads more.”
Pinchapoo is now the biggest national NFP supplier of personal hygiene products to those in need.
Hayley Harvey, Wickety Wax
Hayley Harvey started making candles after work in her garage to wind down after a busy day of book keeping.
The hobby proved so successful the Mornington business woman is about to graduate from the market circuit and open her own Wickety Wax shop selling her candles, bath bombs, melts and diffusers.
“I’m excited and nervous but it’s time to take it to the next level,” Ms Harvey said.
“But I also feel a bit guilty because I know so many people have lost businesses and houses because of coronavirus.”
While others have struggled during lockdown Ms Harvey said her business had flourished.
“I did a cheeky ‘F*** You Corona’ range and was inundated. I had to close my Facebook orders so I could catch up!”
In a bid to help other businesses Ms Harvey has been adding free goodie bags with samples from other Mornington and Mt Martha makers to her online orders.
“It’s a way to share what they are doing.”
She credited business mentor Jaki Wilkinson with giving her the courage to open a bricks and mortar outlet for Wickety Wax.
“Jaki has been so supportive and encouraging. She has been buying my personalised candles wholesale for her salon (Hair Envy) for about 12 months.
“She’s an example of what the business community is like here. We lift each other up.”
Wickety Wax
Opening soon, rear of 138 Main St, Mornington (next to Salon Envy, The Big Chair and The Grand Hotel)
Kate Walker, Kate Walker Design
Kate Walker was “chuffed” to be named as one of the Mornington Peninsula’s most inspiring business woman and credits her success to an “amazing team”.
“I started the business seven years ago as a single mum and most of my team are also working mums,” Ms Walker said.
She said in return for flexible hours and work life balance her staff rewarded her with “remarkable loyalty”.
“The right work culture is everything to me. It’s something that can’t be taught; it’s in your DNA,” Ms Walker said.
“Most of my staff don’t hold the same title as they did when they started. They have all grown into their roles.”
Ms Walker has a background in the tile industry and Kate Walker Design is now recognised across Australia as expert in hard surfaces.
The team works with interior designers, developers, architects and homeowners and has a global network of manufacturers, importers, agents and local wholesalers.
“I took risks at the start; spending money I didn’t have on marketing and PR; taking interstate jobs and working with new suppliers,” Ms Walker said.
“But it’s paid off. We’ve never been busier.”
Kate Walker Design
7/34-38 Lochiel Ave, Mount Martha
Melissa Niblock-Bell, Mayko Hair, LoCou Haircare
When she left school at the end of Year 10 to pursue a career in hair, Melissa Niblock-Bell had “no fear”
“I opened my first salon Mayko Hair at 20 years old and my second at 22 years old,” she said.
“Nothing was going to stop me.”
That determination has been a hallmark of her 17 year career and has seen Ms Niblock-Bell become a Master Colourist and a finalist in the 2016 Telstra Business Women’s Awards in the a category that recognised the country’s most brilliant women in business, under the age of 30.
“I set goals every year. I want to keep growing and achieving so I’m always looking at training and education opportunities for myself and my staff.”
Most recently she launched her own range of vegan, cruelty free and eco-friendly hair care products.
Ms Niblock-Bell created the range after realising she didn’t know enough about what went into the hair products she was using every day in the salon.
The LoCou range is available online and in selected salons and Ms Niblock-Bell is planning a new signature shampoo to add to the collection early next year.
She said none of her achievements would have been possible without the support of the Mornington Peninsula business community.
“I have mentors, other business women, who I turn to for advice and to bounce ideas off,” she said.
“We’re really lucky to have such a supportive and connected community of business women in this region.”
Mayko Hair
Shop 3/70 Mountain View Rd, Mount Eliza
Lisa Roberts, Roberts and Green Real Estate
A childhood spent bouncing around women’s shelters taught Lisa Roberts the value of home and ultimately inspired her career choice as real estate agent.
“I don’t think of my work as selling property,” she said.
“To me it’s about helping people find a home.”
For the past three years – 2012,2018 and 2019, Ms Roberts has been named top agent for Hastings and Crib Point by RateMyAgent based on client recommendations and overall sales.
Ms Roberts said the result was achieved by hard work, fairness, honesty and tolerance.
She also refuse to accept that Hastings did not deserve a high end service.
When she started her own agency Roberts and Green – five years ago most agents weren’t using professional photographers for Hastings properties.
“The thinking was it was a lower socio-economic area that wouldn’t support that investment,” she said.
“I went ahead and did it and it worked. Now everyone else does it.”
While Ms Roberts leads the way now, she wasn’t always confident the industry was the right fit.
“It was highly competitive and a space traditionally dominated by men,” she said.
“I almost quit. But then I decided to go our on my own. That meant I could call the shots and it made a big difference.”
Roberts and Green
99 High St, Hastings
Bev Dinsdale, Rosebud Packaging Supplies
When Bev Dinsdale bought Rosebud Packaging Supplies 24 years ago many clients would not accept her as the boss.
“They’d call and ask to speak to the boss and I’d say ‘You are’ and they would tell me to get the real boss, the man,” Ms Dinsdale said.
She wasn’t offended, but she also refused to back down.
“They got used to me in the end,” she said.
Ms Dinsdale said “times had changed” the Mornington Peninsula business community for the better.
“It’s a really supportive and welcoming space now and there are a lot of women in the region doing amazing things in business,” she said.
That support was never more evident than during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
“I used to tell people that I sold boring stuff like toilet paper, but during COVID-19 we were all of a sudden like rock stars,” Ms Dinsdale said.
“The demand for toilet paper and packaging for the hospitality industry went through the roof.
“It was like Christmas every day.”
Ms Dinsdale said the business managed to keep sourcing stock to keep supplying locals and was also able to help out those needing “just a few rolls of loo paper”.
“We’d open boxes usually sold wholesale and give individual rolls to people in need,” she said.
Rosebud Packaging Supplies
1/26 Colchester Rd, Rosebud
Melanie Gard, Peninsula School of Dance
When lockdown closed dance studios across the state Rosebud teacher Melanie Gard refused to stop the music.
The owner of Peninsula School of Dance moved her lessons online giving her young students “much needed normality throughout these crazy COVID-19 times”.
Grateful parents were quick to name her as one of the region’s most inspiring business women.
“I have so much admiration for Mel’s drive where restrictions made these classes almost impossible to continue, she never once failed to deliver,” Lynsey Richmond said.
“This has been a saviour for our children’s mental health to still have this as an option.”
Michelle Oneill said Ms Gard had been an inspiration to all students by teaching them to never give up.
Ms Gard reopened the studio on Monday to restricted numbers and said the main focus was on helping students reconnect and plan for a virtual version of the traditional end of year performances.
“We’ll film something so it can be shown via Zoom so students can still share their performance,” she said.
Ms Gard said the region was recognised for its vibrant and supportive small business community.
“Some of my closest deares friends today are people I met though business networking,” she said.
Ms Gard has long been a community favourite.
In 2014 she was a finalist in the inaugural Ausdance Victorian Community Dance Awards in the category of Favourite Dance Studio Teacher category.
Peninsula School of Dance
1/5 Merino St, Capel Sound