CHARLOTTE BRENNAN
The Rainbow Warriors Women in Business (RWWIB) group will launch their new self-titled magazine as well as announce their Media Star 2019 winner at an event in Coolangatta this Saturday night.
The new magazine, Rainbow Warriors Women in Business, is a free publication that includes tips and inspiring stories for local businesswomen, which will be distributed in the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers area.
The group’s Media Star winner is chosen through a competition run by RWWIB and is a businesswoman or business that has shown great success over the past year.
Organisers estimate that up to 100 businesswomen from a range of different business background will attend the event, which is at Twin Towns Services Club.
Founder and Creative Director of Rainbow Warriors Women in Business, Mem Hockley, said the organisation was started to develop a supportive, non-competitive community of women in business in the Gold Coast, Tweed, and Byron Shire area.
Ms Hockley, who has a background as a chef, as well as in business and in media, said she wanted to use her success to help other women and girls.
“The main reason I created Rainbow Warriors was because one day I was facilitating a women in business event and noticed that the competition in the room was fierce,” she said.
“It saddened me on such a deep level that I became very passionate to create a change; I advised these women that the only way to grow was to work together.”
RWWIB is a media-based organisation that assists other female-led businesses by helping them with branding and marketing.
The company produce videos to showcase businesses, provide professional headshots, help produce marketing campaigns, and run events for local women in business.
“Rainbow Warriors holds events to give women the opportunities to not only showcase their businesses, but to be speakers, network, build together, support each other, develop friendships, collaborate and grow together and resulting in a greater community,” Ms Hockley said.
The upcoming Media Star 2019 event was inspired after RWWIB assisted a local business into achieving national success in 2018.
“Last year Jordana Edwards from Clean Tea experienced such an incredible media journey and so much success with us, that this year we ran a competition to choose the next Media Star 2019.”
“This winner [who is revealed on the night] receives a branded website and photography portfolio and a video production to launch their business,” Ms Hockley said.
Ms Hockley said RWWIB’s magazine was a compilation of stories collected from local inspiring women on their business journeys.
“From some women not even having a business name, to women who are expanding their small businesses to larger premises, to women who are growing on an international level [and] exporting their products across the world, we decided to put together all of these stories into the Rainbow Warriors Women in Business magazine,” Ms Hockley said.
Saturday’s Rainbow Warriors Women in Business event will include live music, key speakers, dinner, drinks, media opportunities and lucky door prizes.
Speakers at the event include local businesswomen Mem Hockley, Jordana Edwards from Clean Tea, Mandy Siegel from Speaking with Confidence and Voice Wisdom Circles, Krishla McNabb from Rainbow Warriors, Aysha Sun from Brandit Creative Agency, and Milina Opsenica from June + June Brand Photography.
CEO and founder of Speaking with Confidence and Voice Wisdom Circles, Mandy Siegel, said she started her business to help women to learn to speak with confidence and empowerment.
Ms Siegel said her own confidence grew when she used to perform cabaret in a “drag king” persona.
“I left my corporate job as my business grew and, using all my life’s experiences from the stage, public speaking training and NLP [Neuro-Linguistic Programming] coaching techniques, I created Speaking with Confidence and Voice Wisdom Circle courses, workshops and retreats,” she said.
Ms Siegel described NLP as an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy involving hypnotherapy and other methods.
“My favourite thing in the world is to facilitate intimate women’s groups and do speaking events; the connection and transformational experience for us all is what inspires me,” she said.
Ms Siegel said she met Ms Hockley through a RWWIB networking event in Byron Bay, and had since been invited as a guest speaker to a few of her events, including Media Star.
“It’s so important for women in business to have networking events like this to go to, because we can often work alone in our businesses and it can feel isolating at times,” she said.
“Sometimes you can feel unsure or unmotivated and making deeper connections with others is so uplifting and supportive.”