The 2016 St George Banking Group Ausmumpreneur Conference & Awards was absolutely amazing. There were so many highlights and everything was so well managed by everyone involved in making the weekend memorable for the 250 attendees.

With so many finalists over all of the categories there are more non-winners than winners and I know that it can be disappointing to come home without a trophy when you have given so much of yourself, your business and invested financially in attending. It is all about the winners now, which of course is well deserved, but if you hoped to win, your ego can be hurting a little right now.

I understand this because although I was a winner this year, I wasn’t last year and I want you to know that it is OK because finalists can be winners too.

I had my best year in business to date in 2015/2016 because of the buzz I created and maintained all year. Let me share my story in hope of inspiring you to embrace your finalist status to reach higher and maybe even win next year.

2015 was my first year attending the Ausmumpreneur Awards. If I am being honest, I had not heard of the awards at all until something caught my eye one day and I entered. I wasn’t one for the people’s choice voting as I didn’t have thousands and thousands of followers so I had my hopes pinned on the Business Excellence category. To my delight I was placed as a finalist. However there was a stumbling block – it was going to cost a lot. I decided to apply for the scholarship and said to myself that if I got it I would go.  I had recently had a baby so she would have to come with me. I had also never left my kids for long but something inside me wouldn’t let it go and so I spoke with my partner and decided to go. I was awarded a scholarship and it took a lot of the pressure off attending.

It was an amazing weekend and I learned so much from all of the inspiring women I connected with and I made some amazing friends there. The awards night came and I sat there hoping and praying that I would go home with something but I didn’t. I remember my heart sinking and an unworthy feeling shadowing over me. I was so happy for my new found friends who won awards but I also felt crap too. However, I was also now armed with the knowledge and determination to make my business good enough.

I opened my heart to new possibilities and oh my goodness, they came fast and steady!

I decided that to upgrade my business I had to be braver and invest in myself. Others were reaching out and believing in me and so I chose to follow through. In doing so I received more in return than I would ever have gained winging it on my own.

The Ausmumpreneur Network and all of the opportunities which Peace and Katy offer are genuine opportunities that will help you grow. They have amazing contacts and a genuine heart that wants all mums in business to prosper.

This year, I was fortunate enough to take on the role of Ausmumpreneur publishing expert. This opportunity placed me in a position of national recognition where amazing things began to happen.

I also looked at my business more like a business, not like a heart-centred hobby that it had become. I became braver. When time and circumstance align, magic happens and so having become more open to this I moved forward into 2016 and incredible things did happen.

• A book I had been trying to put together received submissions from authors I could never have dreamed of writing for me.
• I went to Ireland to meet with the Earl of a castle about a potential writer’s retreat.
• I went into talks with The London Book Fair about a partnership.

All the above are huge opportunities and every one of them has been fruitful. I have positioned myself in a place that prospers, one where I have gained respect in the literary community and where the value of my business has grown substantially.

What have I invested to make this happen? Time!

The reason I wanted to write this article is to reach out to everyone who is a finalist in their category to tell you about my story. I didn’t win last year and yet it was the best year ever for my business. My advice to you is to have a winner’s mindset because being a finalist in the Ausmumpreneur awards is a huge achievement. It is up to you what you choose to do with it. I chose to apply what I learned at the 2015 conference and I turned my business into a winning business in 2016. With this in mind, I believe you can do it too.

To your future success.

Karen. x

About our Ausmumpreneur Expert :

Karen is founder of Serenity Press, a boutique publishing press based in Perth, WA that services clients with their established global distribution link. She is passionate that a publishing experience should be a positive one and likes to manage things at a personal level with her amazing team. 2015 was a big year for Serenity Press and 2016 is going to be amazing. Karen would love for you to join Serenity Press on their journey as they grow from strength to strength bringing amazing books to the world. Everyone has a story within themselves that deserves to be told.