6th February, 2020
What do you get when you combine a bunch of business-focused, wine-loving females with a formidable lineup of keynote speakers sharing their stories of business success? The answer is an unforgettable event that delivered business inspo by the bucketload.
We’re talking about #BitchCon, the empowering one-day conference held by Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine (LMBDW) – a dynamic community of over 120,000 women who’ve started or are planning to start their own business – in collaboration with their major partner (or ‘work wife’) MYOB.
While there was no shortage of soul-stirring soundbites and Insta-worthy sayings, we’ve pulled together our five fave quotes from the fierce females who spoke at #BitchCon.
So grab a glass of wine and get ready to be inspired.
One day, Jodie Fox was heading up a hugely successful online shoe business. The next, she was grappling with the painful reality of a collapsing empire.
It was an emotional rollercoaster that had us all reaching for the tissues, but the key to Jodie’s story was her motivating message about finding a way through the inevitable dark days of running a business.
Despite the difficult circumstances, Jodie stayed true to her values, continuing to support her employees and remaining transparent at all times.
She also refused to let the challenges get the better of her; rather than wallowing in self-pity, Jodie wrote a book to share her experience with other business owners.
Her journey is an inspiring reminder that while every business will face setbacks, the power remains with you and your commitment to keep moving forward.
Whatever business you embark on, the chances are there’ll be someone who doubts your ability to pull it off.
But when you’re setting out to disrupt an industry, you’ve got an entire sector rallying against you. So how did Jacinta McDonnell – one half of the duo responsible for bringing Anytime Fitness to our Aussie shores – deal with the deafening chorus of “you’ll never make it”?
Well, it took resilience, courage, and an unwavering sense of self-belief. In her powerful speech, Jacinta urged us to walk our own path regardless of what others are saying – and to never let the fact that things might not work out stop us from giving it our best shot. It was fierce female attitude at its finest – and it got us all fired up.
Ziplining to a beach on Richard Branson’s Necker Island sounds pretty idyllic. Unfortunately for small business guru Nancy Youseff, a crippling fear of heights turned this dream moment into a nightmare (albeit one with an epic view).
But this anecdote was about more than just raising a giggle at the image of Nancy shoving her impractical maxi dress into her harness – it served to remind us not to let our fears hold us back, both in business and in life.
Nancy turned the “I can’t do this” mindset ingrained in her from childhood into a positive can-do attitude that led to epic business success.
Her advice for budding entrepreneurs? Face your fear and take the leap – but don’t stay put where you land. Keep on jumping and pushing the boundaries, regardless of the fact you might fail. Because some days you just have to hitch up your maxi and take that jump.
At the age of 28, Mia Plecic is already a serial entrepreneur with six businesses under her belt (the first of which she launched at just 22 and reached $30k daily revenue in the first six months).
Clearly, this savvy startup queen isn’t one to waste time – and when it comes to business advice, Mia gets straight to the point: don’t sit around complaining about a problem – get busy finding a solution, then take it to market quick-smart.
From juice bars to teeth-whitening, problem-solving pro Mia has a track record of successfully identifying gaps in the market and creating everyday products or services that fill that niche.
Her straight-shooting story demonstrated the importance of believing in your ideas and taking a proactive approach to turn them into reality.
One of the Queen Bs behind LMBDW (she started the group alongside Gen George five years ago), Jane Lu founded the wildly popular clothing website Showpo in 2010, from her parents’ garage.
But her journey from struggling accountant to eCommerce leader certainly wasn’t smooth sailing – in fact, it’s the numerous failures along the way to which Jane credits her successes.
As she explained, not only is failure normal, it can be positive – it all comes down to your mindset and finding ways to turn your flaws into strengths.
Jane’s lack of fashion experience resulted in smarter product decisions based on numbers rather than personal taste, while not being able to afford traditional marketing channels led to Showpo becoming a social media star in the early days of Facebook and Insta.
It turns out failure can be fabulous!
So there you have it – five fabulous females and their butt-kicking business advice.
If you’re a female business owner (or are dreaming of becoming one), and are partial to a glass of wine or two, do yourself a favour and join the all-round awesome LMBDW group. Cheers to that, ladies!