INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S

This month for International Women’s Day (8th March), four of AWPMA’s board members, Tara, Kuy Sophi and Sarah, attended Showcase SA’s “Women in Wine” luncheon held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide.

The board joined a table of 10 women, sponsored by Allstate Pest Control, to share their challenges and triumphs working as female business owners, technicians, managers, and administrators in the Pest Management industry. Amongst the ladies in attendance, we had representation from six different SA pest control businesses, and three generations in pest control, and the friendships made reiterated that despite living in an age where social media and web meetings provide more opportunities to connect than ever, there really is no comparison for meeting peers and supporting each other in person.

It was inspiring to hear Bec Hardy (Bec Hardy Wines) and Corrina Wright (Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards) speak on gender parity and equity for women in the wine industry.

Corrina Wright is the owner and winemaker of Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards family business in McLaren Vale, the sixth generation to farm the same land. Corinna was awarded the 2019 ASVO Winemaker of the Year and won the 2021 Family Business Australia Leading Women in Family Business award.

Bec is a 6th generation member of and the first female vigneron from one of Australia’s oldest wine families, the Hardys. After establishing Bec Hardy Wines in 2015 and acquiring the Peratinga wine brand from her father’s business in 2020, she’s now making her own way in the Australian wine world with a modern twist on 170 years of winemaking heritage.

Together Bec and Corrina discussed their roles in creating positive change and what brought them to this point in their careers and encouraged other women to be courageous in coming forward in their respective industries. There were so many ah-ha moments taken from Bec and Corrina’s words, ranging from juggling work and home duties, family, and the mental