What a fantastic day it was for our first lunchtime event.  Perfect weather, delicious food, amazing speakers and we didn’t even have to get up at the crack of dawn!

Well done to the Women of Influence Committee, ladies you are all so dedicated, passionate, organised and fun to work with.  Including of course our RACV team – the best venue on the Gold Coast delivered every fine detail from attentive staff, flawless AV and incredible food right down to the little Belgian chocolate gifts for each guest.

We were treated to a truly inspirational presentation from Julie McKay; I for one had Goosebumps when she shared her stories in an eloquent but incredibly approachable style for such an accomplished young lady.  We were delighted to have her proud Mum, Sue McKay in the audience to share Julie’s experiences and ability to change the way people and organisation approach gender equality and diversity in business.  I do hope each person was able to take away a few of her suggestions of how to make a difference – remember:

• Diversity leads to better outcomes
• Consider candidates for potential and fit, not just “merit”
• Teach our children to share all duties in the home equally, not according to gender
• Take a proactive approach to mentoring by introducing your “Mentee” to the right people in your organisation and encourage them to move forward

This was a perfect event to help launch ANZ women’s Initiative, Julie drew on some of the statistics presented in the #equalfuture campaign and encouraged everyone to Tweet and share in the theme of supporting one another to work towards gender equality.

Audi Centre Gold Coast put on a fitting display of covetable cars and one guest was the lucky winner of a weekend drive in the Audi TT Roadster!

We managed to raise $1,500 through raffle ticket sales and donations for Julie’s truly worthwhile charity UN Women and share a true sense of community with Julie and her Mum.

Thank you to all who attended and supported this event!

FEEDBACK FROM OUR ATTENDEES:

“..very well organised!”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the event being my first. It was a great way to network and meet other business women on the Gold Coast. However most importantly, the most influential part for me was Julie McKay the guest speaker”

“always excellent!”

“Best speaker I’ve heard in years.”

“The speaker was mesmerizing, informative and engaging.”