It’s a brave new world for women in Australia. Not only is it possible for women to succeed in business and thrive in the corporate world, it’s a daily occurrence. Women all over the country are rising to the top of the food chain, without hesitation or apology. So, if you’re a woman feeling like it is all a little too much and you’ll never make it where you want to go, sit back and have a read over all the incredible woman across Australia today.

Women in business are rallying together to support each other left, right and centre. With websites like FemBuiz, Women in Business and Business Women Australia (BWA), girl power is definitely making a comeback. The glass ceiling of the business world is being broken, by a steady moving group of intelligent, inspiring women. From freelance writers to small business owners and people selling their products over the internet, women are grouping together to make their collective success both evident and continuous. It is a sight that the original feminist movement would be proud to see and that we should all do our best to contribute to.

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Women like Maile Carnegie are a genuine inspiration to women everywhere. Carnegie was the former Managing Director of Google in Australia. She recently decided to make a career change and headed over to the ANZ Bank. According to an interview, she did with The Australian, Carnegie changed her career for the ever-understandable reason, that she didn’t feel like she was in an innovative enough environment. She was tired of foosball tables and brightly coloured paint in the workplace, being mistaken for innovation. So she made the change to the more structured industry of banking. This is an incredible credit to Ms Carnegie as it displays an important part of being a successful woman. It’s not always about how high you rise in your career, but how happy you feel in the environment you are a part of. While Carnegie was well established at Google she made the mature and tough decision of betting on her happiness. Holding onto a genuine sense of self and modesty, while maintaining a successful career is a credit to anyone who achieves it.

Carolyn Creswell is another example of an inspiring woman who took the chance that was placed in her lap. At the age of eighteen, Creswell offered one thousand dollars to buy the dying business she was working part time at. Twenty years later Creswell has transformed that dying business into Carman’s Fine Foods. It is a well-known muesli bar brand that ships its product to thirty-two countries and is served by numerous airlines. It wasn’t a leisurely ride to success for Creswell, who had issues with joint partnership when she first started out. With a lot of hard work and a little bit of stubborn determination, Carman’s Fine Foods has managed to become one of the most successful business in Australia today. She is a credit to herself, and living proof of the benefits of hard work.

Of course, not all successful women in business have to be at the top of the food chain, so to speak. Sometimes it’s about balancing work and play, in order to enjoy as much of life as you possibly can. This is something that Heather Hodgetts and other women all across Australia understand extremely well.  Hodgetts runs a small furniture restoration business called Vintage to Modern Designs out of her home, in Geelong. Hodgetts may not be the CEO of a large corporation or have hundreds of people in her employ, but she is still a successful business owner. Her commitment to creating beautiful furniture out of something old and broken, and delivering friendly and professional customer service shows women everywhere, that you don’t need to wear a pantsuit to be inspiring. Hodgetts is not the only one, women everywhere are starting up small businesses that allow them to make the money they need to enjoy life to the fullest. Creating a balance between work and play. This allows time for your family and friends and is a milestone that hopefully one day, all women will manage to overcome.

Does it ever get hard? Of course, it does. As much as it would be nice if sexism didn’t exist anymore, it most certainly does. There will always be people who will ask successful women why they aren’t at home with their kids, or how their husband feels about them working so much. The truth of the matter is, that none of those opinions matter. As a person, not as a woman, but as a person, all you need is the support of the people around you. So long as you have their encouragement and respect, you are going to do incredible things in your life. Surrounding yourself with kind and inspiring people will help you speed along the road to success in ways you cannot imagine. So long as you keep in mind, that your life is you own and you are perfectly allowed to live it by your own rules, no one can stop you.

Alicia Sumich – Group Manager; Business Development

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