Ladies doing it for themselves in business
Women in a man’s world
Olivia Maragna, founder and general manager of Aspire Retire Financial Services, is a woman working in a very male-dominated industry. Last year, her Queensland-based business won the Telstra Business Award in the MYOB-sponsored small business category. It was her second major award, having been named 2008 Pricewaterhouse Coopers Queensland Young Business Woman of the Year in 2008.
Her greatest achievement though, is being the youngest person to achieve Self Managed Super Fund Adviser certification alongside her Chartered Accountant and Certified Financial Planner status.
Aspire Retire is experiencing huge growth under Olivia’s management, primarily attributed to the key point of difference which has always been to provide more than just financial planning. “We constantly strive to educate our clients, nurture their understanding of money and investments, and grow their financial awareness,” she says.
Australian designer Jodie Fried is another former Telstra Business Award winner and founder of Bholu, a successful home interiors website. Bholu is a fair trade and climate neutral company which recently won the NSW Sensis Social Responsibility Award. She is supporting the launch of a new free book for SMEs from Sensis this month. The book shows SMEs how they can act sustainably and still maximise profits.