Women in Business morning tea to return in 2023

After a successful year of events, the Women in Business Series morning tea will continue in 2023. The events are a partnership between Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce and Queenstown Airport, who wanted to support women in business, once a month. Each event has a female speaker who talks about their experience in business and the challenges they’ve overcome.
The events are open to anyone and serve as a space for people to be themselves and to come together, share experiences, and network with others in the region. They aim to give confidence to those in business and facilitate real genuine conversations.
“The important element for us is making sure that it’s a really safe and comfortable space – and I know that sounds like a bit of a cliché – for women to come together and ask their questions and see role models. Also to recognise that imposter syndrome is a real thing and that maybe they shouldn’t feel it anymore because they’re probably doing a kick-ass job themselves as well, by hearing others stories,” says Queenstown Airport’s Sara Irvine.
Angela Spackman, Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce Chair, adds; “That’s what some speakers have done, they’ve talked about their private life as much as their professional life and how they all interact, because we know that they all interact but in a lot of places we pretend they don’t. It’s been really nice having people presenting real things that have happened in their lives and about their impacts.”
The last event for the year took place on 11 November and hosted Willow Rolton, Chair of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Queenstown Lakes and apprentice carpenter with Naylor Love.
She has worked in construction for the past three years and originally joined NAWIC as she saw that there was a lack of women within the construction industry, so wanted to support others already in construction and encourage women to join. She got involved with the morning tea hoping to share a different perspective.
“I think it’s important to share the stories of women in construction and also minorities in construction. I think it’s critical to get out there and share our voice and just let people know that it’s a viable career option for everyone – it’s a great industry to be in.
“I’ve been with Naylor Love for close to four years and it’s been an incredible journey. I’ve loved every minute of it and I’ve got quite a few qualifications under them now. I started off doing gate person jobs and logistics, I worked my way up to crane crew where I got my crane operating and dogman tickets, and I’ve now just finished the first year of my carpentry apprenticeship. Throughout my time at Naylor Love I’ve seen a massive lack of people speaking out for the woman, people speaking out for minorities, and people talking about mental health and all that sort of stigma we have in this industry. I’ve gotten behind the advocacy of trying to speak up about these things and encouraging others to speak up,” says Willow.
The first Women in Business Series event took place in November of 2021 and featured Wānaka-based Anne Urlwin, who shared her reflections on governing during a pandemic. Since then, the event has welcomed a variety of speakers including Tori Keating from xtravel discussing the challenges they faced during Covid, and how they turned their travel agency into a repatriation agency, and Amy MacCormack, an ‘event guru’ with over 20 years’ experience that joined IRONMAN OCEANIA as the Regional Director of NZ, who discussed her journey, and juggling motherhood and leadership.
While the events highlight the achievements and stories of women, the events aren’t exclusive and men are more than welcome to come along. Sara and Angela believe it’s important to have a range of voices, professions, and ages at the events to talk about their experiences. The events have been well received by the community.
“We’ve had a really positive reception, which has been nice. So, we’re continuing for again for another year – it was a no-brainer to continue to do it because people are giving us positive feedback, and we’re enjoying partnering with the Chamber,” says Sara.
Sara and Angela are always on the lookout for women to be a part of the series – not just ‘traditional’ business women, too, but any women in any industry. In addition to the morning teas, they will be introducing one lunch per year as a longer-form version of the talks, allowing more time for discussions and questions. You can stay up-to-date with upcoming Women in Business morning teas or put forward suggestions through the chamber at queenstownchamber.org.nz