The event began in the foyer of the Performing Arts Centre where girls from Dio and boys from Dilworth shared the products that they have developed as part of participation in business studies and the YES (Young Enterprise Scheme).  The range of healthy juices, makeup and ideas for managing fresh air to hair were all exceptional.  It was great to see a UV hair product to prevent scalp exposure to sunburn – the innovation, ideas and creativity was fantastic.

Three of our senior business studies students introduced our guests and shared their experiences of what they are learning. Year 13 students –  Boh Curran, Mia Montgomery and Honor Small were brilliant hosts for the evening.

Kylie Matthews, a Diocesan Alumna, was our first speaker delivering a deeply empowering speech about her journey through the development of two businesses.  She firstly developed environmentally friendly packaging for baby food after noticing that existing brands were delivering huge levels of plastic to landfill.  She then went on to develop AWWA – a business developing sustainable period products to ensure positive experiences for young women.  This project won multiple awards and saved landfill from an estimated  55 million unsustainable period products.   Kylie’s messages were very impactful commenting that there is a huge opportunity in business developments that focus being of benefit to the people and the planet.  She said  that eradicating poverty by making products easily and freely available contributed to the success of her company that had been on-sold to a Canadian company.  Kylie highlighted that business should be a force for good, and that people needed to think outside the square through a commitment to creativity and pushing boundaries.

Erin Coldham was a Diocesan Alumna from Year 7 1n 1996.  After working her way through a range of companies, as an EA to executive members of COLENSO – she discovered her highly attuned ability to multi task and organise functions, travel and events.  She began her own company Jetblack who provide bespoke experiences and travel concierge services for private people and corporates. Their aim is to curate the best experiences and unforgettable memories.   Erin’s messages centred around her finding that the harder she worked, the luckier she got.  She encouraged girls to find their strengths and interests as these were important to enjoy what you are doing, and provide the motivation to work your way through the lemons – the tough times.  She emphasised the importance of being nice and being consistently focused on building excellent relationships.

Amy Wilkinson is also a proud Diocesan Alumna and on an impressive sports woman during her time at school.  She won a sport scholarship to a US university but learned a lot about what not to do in leadership with one particular coach.  She changed codes and university enjoying a brilliant experience as part of a high achieving athletics squad who worked hard for each other.  She learned that leadership is about empowering others to achieve common goals and those experiences enabled her to become a New Zealand manager for large health company Johnson and Johnson.  Amy shared that in her Diocesan Biology class she learned that the human genome had just been discovered and this interest in sport and health enabled her to combine her two passions.  Her values of care, purpose and people enabled her to fully engage in her role, while staying true to herself.  Amy encouraged girls to embrace opportunities with optimism and to always bring your best self every day.

The evening was a great success.  Special thanks to David Holmes (TIC Business) who leads our Enterprise and Entrepreneurial programme.  He provides much inspiration and commitment to bring an essential part of learning to Dio.  Our young women have the opportunity to learn about investing, share markets, financial planning and wealth management as part of real life experiences and case studies.  They will be the change that will enhance the lives of many – they will continue to be at the forefront of future business development.