IN WOMEN BUSINESS

On Thursday 23 March we held the fourth Women in Business event in the Performing Arts Centre. We were very lucky to hear from Dio alumnae Hilary West-Reeve, Olivia Bollen and Julia Matthews, as well as Tania Bui. They each discussed their experience in business and shared some advice for entrepreneurship and business management. The point of this event is to really connect students with the belief that ‘they can do it too’. By seeing people who have been in their shoes before – taking risks, following their passion and finding success (in whatever form that may take), they are able to see that starting and operating a business is real and achievable for them too.

Hilary West-Reeve (Peer Year 1993) is the Executive Director, Chief Sustainability Officer and External Communications Manager at Phoenix Metalman Recycling (www. phoenixmetal.co.nz). She discussed the importance of ‘legacy’ in business decision making and developed the idea that what we do now has impact far into the future.

Olivia Bollen (Peer Year 2013) is the Co-founder of Taken Care Of (www. takencareof.co.nz). She spoke of the importance of nurturing connections and deepening relationships throughout supply and distribution. Olivia spoke with honesty about making decisions that would have a lasting impact on her business.

Julia Matthews (Peer Year 2004) is the founder and CEO of Two Islands (www. twoislandsco.com). She talked about how the pathway through business is not always a straight line and that learning from the things you do is important for growth and success.

Tania Bui has had a varied and successful career through business and marketing and is now the Head of Marketing at Craigs Investment Partners (www.craigsip.com). She discussed the importance of being yourself, sharing your passion and supporting women along the way. The messages from each speaker so closely aligned, and it was wonderful to hear about their challenges and paths to success.

The event is also established as an opportunity for students in our Year 13 Business and Young Enterprise programme, who are establishing their own company this year, to showcase their products and validate their ideas to those who attended this speaker event. It is an important stage in their business journey to discuss their products within a market setting and take away some learnings to either pivot or persist with their business ideas. It also gives them an opportunity to get out of the classroom to see where their product and brand sits, and to talk with their potential customers. With 23 Young Enterprise businesses operating at Diocesan in 2023, the programme is continuing to provide support and success for our female entrepreneurs of tomorrow.