At the IWIB Awards held at the Villa D'Oro function centre on Friday, May 10, there were plenty of entrepreneurs at the event.
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An entrepreneur is a person who organises and manages an enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
Director Glenda Papac of Illawarra Women in Business (IWIB) is one of these people.
Entrepreneurs need to have well-defined goals yet be flexible, instil self-belief, accept failure, have a work/life balance and build their network.
This is where IWIB Awards comes in, rewarding hard work and helping to build networks.
Lauren Buhagiar of Active Property Conveyancing, who won Illawarra Business Woman of the Year at the 2019 IWIB Awards, is a great example of an entrepreneur.
She has grown her business from a one person operation to a team of 10 with her personalised service approach she adopted from the very start and the great relationship she has developed with her team.
Lauren said that working in such a great team environment allowed her to be able to do school drop-offs and pick-ups for her two young children Emily and Liam.
Lauren was also one of only a few women in Australia awarded a prestigious Advanced Leadership Program Scholarship by Women and Leadership Australia.
This was part of a national initiative dedicated to supporting higher representation of female leadership in Australia's workforce and the broader community.
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Another major winner at the recent IWIB Awards, Best New Business, went to Foye Legal, a successful business that is often found in the IWIB Awards finalist and winner lists.
Young Business Woman of the Year was Marie Russo of ZigZag Hub, a co-working space located in the heart of Wollongong.
According to ZigZag Hub, one of the biggest benefits to working in a shared office space is the ability to work and interact with others outside your discipline.
People can help each other problem solve, brainstorm, and connect with other industries.
This is a prestigious award and signals great things to come from such a young entrepreneur.
Best New Business went to Dr Olga Lavalle & Associates, a progressive business that are the first psychologists in the Illawarra to use Virtual Reality Therapy for people suffering from anxiety and phobias.
The practice offers a general psychology service but also encourages people to grow from their adversity.
Congratulations to both the 2019 IWIB Award winners and finalists and hope to see most of you again next year.