Irish Australian Business Awards Peoples Choice 2018

Micro-X is an Adelaide based x-ray technology company, pioneering a new era in x-ray imaging. The company was established in 2012 to bring the benefits of electronically controlled, carbon nanotube field emission technology to the x-ray space in both medical and security/defence applications. The company designs, develops and manufactures a range of ultra-lightweight, mobile x-ray imaging systems that change the way that x-ray devices can be used in these areas. The resulting products are competitive in both usability and in price, meaning the technology is user friendly and accessible to a broad range of markets.

Micro-X’s first product is a mobile medical x-ray machine, manufactured for the Global market leader in the mobile medical x-ray space, Carestream Health Inc, under a world-wide OEM agreement. The unit is light-weight and addresses a huge workflow challenge in mobile radiology. Existing technology is large and cumbersome, causing radiographers injury and discomfort and presenting risk to patients with IV lines in crowded hospital ICUs. The company’s second medical product, currently in its final stage of development, is a mobile unit designed for deployed military hospitals, providing a replacement for current x-ray capability which relies on deployed veterinary equipment, due to weight and manoeuvrability restrictions that preclude the use of existing heavy, motorised equipment.
 

In the security space Micro-X is developing a Mobile backscatter imaging device for the standoff detection of explosives in suspicious bags or packages. This product enables remote threat detection via mounting on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Robot and removes the need for a bomb technician to risk their own safety and approach a suspected threat to position an imaging plate and x-ray source.

Beyond these projects, Micro-X’s engineering team is conducting early feasibility investigation into a number of new product opportunities in response to identified market gaps and challenges, as well as a number of solicitations. Initial concepts were outlined at the annual Bioshares Biotechnology Summit in New Zealand recently, including portable 3-D brain-imaging for early stroke diagnosis in ambulances, 3-D breast imaging system for breast screening without painful breast compression, and bedside CT imaging for use in ICU environments where patients cannot be safely transported to a conventional CT facility. The objective of these feasibility assessments is to enable the best product investment and corresponding return to be prioritised for resource allocation.

I am a Senior Business Development Manager for Grays Online and I have lived in Brisbane for almost seven years.
I visited this beautiful country in 2011 to visit and quickly recognised the immense opportunities available for hard working and committed individuals. I was raised in a very modest household in rural Ireland where traditional family values are commonplace. My Dad and brothers are hardworking boilermakers and my Mums role is to maintain the household. Whilst I have a great deal of respect for these traditional values I was determined to make my own way in my new homeland.

In 2015 I was appointed at Grays Online in the role of Business Development Manager in the construction machinery auction business. I was the first female Business Development Manager for the company as typically these and other senior management roles are held by male staff. 
 

My main activities have involved but are not limited to:

• Researching business opportunities and viable income streams- This has involved building a solid customer base in QLD for the industrial division. Dedicating time to building strong client relationships which result in repeat business. This may involve organising auction events or appraising and purchasing equipment to sell.
• Valuation of Assets- As part of my career progression I undertook the plant and machinery course offered by the Australian Auctioneers and Valuers Association. I am now a certified Plant and Machinery Valuer.
• Negotiating with stakeholders- This involves negotiating with sellers of equipment and buyers of equipment and often conflict resolution between various parties.
• Diversifying the business- This involves thinking “outside the box” and recognising new business opportunities. A good example is in recent months I have organised the sale of a Quarry Lease through our online platform, this is a first for Grays Online and hopefully will lead to more opportunities in the future.
• Simulcast Auctions- Developing, testing and reintroducing simulcast auctions into the Grays Online offering being instrumental to the success of our first simulcast auction in March 2018.
• Traditional Auctions- Organising and developing processes to re-introduce Traditional style auctions co-ordinating and ensuring success of 2 major industrial auctions in the last 3 years.
• Marketing- Working closely with both sellers and buyers to ensure our marketing strategy is in line with our competitors. Following trends and ensuring we are ahead of our competitors.
• Mentoring- Assisting junior sales staff with valuations of equipment and sales strategies.
• Logistics- Overseeing logistical challenges associated with selling large assets in remote locations.

I live with my partner David and our two dogs. I love playing Gaelic football and I am heavily involved in one of the five GAA Clubs in Brisbane & this October I will travel to Melbourne to represent QLD in the Australasian State Games. I enjoy keeping fit and healthy. We love exploring Queensland camping when we get the opportunity.  I am confident that I am a worthy candidate for this award as I have a tenacious attitude towards professional success and leadership. I am dedicated to self-educating and learning from experienced business people.  I aspire to be a leader in my industry and I am willing to put in the hard work to gain the knowledge to do so. I want to be an inspiration to other young Irish Australians that there is no limit on where you can take your career.

I launched Kady Creative, a branding agency, two years ago as a sole trader working from my apartment in Sydney. A year in, my business was thriving and after breaking a six figure income, I decided to take things to the next level. Today, I have grown my team and client base dramatically, and run the business from an office in Paddington. Our goal is to help clients confidently launch the business of their dreams by taking care of all the branding and design in a streamlined and most importantly, fun way. Without any start-up savings and very little business experience or network, I am proud to say I have built Kady Creative from the ground up into the thriving company it is today.

Working as art director in a design agency at 26, I learnt quickly that the demanding culture and excessive hours were having a negative impact on my health. I am very passionate about inspiring others to follow their dreams of starting a business, working smarter (not harder), forming genuine connections with their clients and finding ways to turn challenges into opportunities. For myself and my team “everything is figureoutable”.

Starting my business in a saturated market without any marketing budget meant I had to be strategic. I found my niche in the food and wellness space (an area I loved) and started to secure jobs with high profile clients such as JSHealth and the Fit Foodie. Designing their blogs and cookbooks allowed me to raise my profile as well as observe their marketing strategies. With extensive skills in design and photography, I decided to write my own cookbook which put me in front of my ideal clients and became a testament to my work.
 

Teaming up with a former Sunday Independent journalist, Brighid McLaughlin, I co-wrote, designed, styled and photographed Behind the Half Door, a GOURMAND award nominated hardback book. Published in-house it is now distributed across Ireland and Australia in the likes of Easons and Dymocks stores and has also landed us on The Today Show with Daithi and Maura, The Bobby Kerr show on Newstalk, and was featured in the Irish Times, Sunday Independent and Australia’s leading women’s network 9Honey. It was even gifted to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as a wedding present! This book became an exceptional marketing tool to position my business globally.

As a passionate supporter of entrepreneurs, every year Kady Creative do a pro bono branding package for female start-ups. I am also involved in supporting both Australian and Irish charities doing work for worthy causes such as the Light ball and Cara Care.

Moving forward, my vision is to scale Kady Creative with a greater focus on education, rolling out new workshops every year. I am also in talks with a US agent with book rights to expand into the US market.

I would be truly honoured to represent the IACC and Irish Australian women in business and am very humbled to have been nominated for this award.

Since taking over the helm at GHO in Sep 2016 I have worked with my team to completely transform the business. We have shifted from delivering basic services towards a position where we are increasingly originating and crafting platforms for customer experience for and with clients. The key driver of this was the launch of our service, CoLAB™. This has also had a knock-on effect for key service offerings including; Research, Digital design & build and creative content. The result being a 25% increase in revenue year on year.

We have invested and deployed new technologies which fundamentally has changed the way we approach projects and the quality of output we can deliver. We have driven the change from chasing volume to value. These offerings are less labour intensive and far more rewarding from a revenue generating point of view.

We have expanded internationally. Through my connections with the Irish network here in Australia we have also acquired three Irish clients: Kyckr, Kerrygold and Enterprise Ireland. I intend to continue to grow this part of the business and ultimately open an office in Dublin so that we can provide a 24 hour service to our clients both in Australian and Ireland.

We have recruited and retained great employees. Our motto is, "Life’s short. Work with people you like".   We truly live and breathe this philosophy. We promote internally, train and mentor and get people to replace themselves as quickly as possible. The average tenure of an employee here at GHO is seven years.

We have contributed to our industry and community as a whole through running events that encourage participation and connection.

I moved to Australia less than 7 years ago as a newly qualified Chartered Accountant. During that period, I have integrated myself within the Australian community as well as the Irish community in South Australia, recently becoming an Australian citizen.

I spent a year in audit upon arrival to understand the Australian accounting system. Within a year, I realised audit wasn’t for me. I wanted more variety in my role and as I had the opportunity to work in audit, tax & business services while I was training in Ireland, I knew that I wanted to work within a company and add value.

I took the leap and handed in my notice with no job lined up, but I knew I had to follow my heart. It was never going to be an easy task moving from practice to a commercial environment and on top of that I was only in Australia a year which made it more difficult. However, that didn’t deter me, and I temped for a number of months at different companies to build my commercial experience. This stood to me well as one of the companies approached me to be their finance manager giving truth to the point that if you are willing to help out at any level and work hard the right people will see the potential in you.

It was from here that my journey in start-ups began and it has been an exhilarating rollercoaster ever since. Within three years, I assisted in further developing products while maintaining the tight cash position of a start-up, I helped establish companies in the US and Europe and was part of a U$35M capital raise for the company. During that 3-year period I grew from Finance Manager to Financial Controller.

After being made redundant due to my role moving to the US, I decided to challenge myself again and apply for a CFO position in another start-up. Yes, I was asked in the interview was I mad joining another start-up, but the challenges and thrills are contagious. I have now been CFO with Micro X Ltd for two years and I have grown and learned so much in that time. It has given me the opportunity to learn and understand the world of a listed company; appreciate a new technology, as best as an accountant can; work with amazing people and be exposed to situations that I may not have elsewhere at such a rapid pace.

My experience in start-ups has given me the opportunity to experience every aspect of the business, exposed me to the importance of culture and for people to help out wherever it is required, no airs and graces, because we all have the same goal, for the company and new products to succeed and to be a part of something exciting and ground breaking.

In my role as a Senior Client Account Manager at Deloitte, I have made a significant contribution to shaping the overall strategy and vision for my client and have been integral in driving the opportunities for the supporting Client Service Team - including being involved in the demerger of one of the nation’s largest businesses this year.

I have a genuine passion for client relationship management and I’m uncompromising and relentless in my pursuit of quality outcomes for both my internal and external clients. This involves using Deloitte assets to curate the very best client experiences possible.

My passion for client relationship management extends beyond my role at Deloitte - I’m currently a member of the Melbourne arm of the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce’s Horizons Leadership program. My role includes being responsible for shaping the monthly agenda and managing the logistics of the meetings. Recently, I was delighted to have the opportunity to introduce one of assets I use regularly in my role at Deloitte - the concept of ‘Business Chemistry’, a program that draws upon the latest analytics technologies to reveal four scientifically based patterns of behaviour. The system is designed to provide insights about individuals and teams based on observable traits and preferences. My Horizons group embraced the theory and regularly refer to having used the concept within their own organisations. I really enjoy being part of such an inspiring group of individuals, making an impact by drawing on my job to showcase new and interesting insights and contributing to the Irish community spirit that’s fostered with the group.

Finally, developing others professionally is one of my passions. I am a mentor to an individual who sits within my professional services sector’s membership organisation. I love supporting people to get inspired to deliver best practice, and to network and collaborate so that they can make a positive impact on their business and their career.

I am Irish and have been in Australia for 37 years. During that time I have had good jobs/careers. Jumping into real estate 9 years ago was a big leap of faith as it turned out it is my most successful career move and it’s my own business grown from the ground up.

My role is Principal of Harbourline Real Estate. Harbourline started in 2011 and has grown from one property under management to an agency that sold 23 properties in 2017/18 and has 82 properties under management.

Harbourline Real Estate is a multi award winning independent agency specialising in residential sales and property management on the Lower North Shore, voted best outstanding real estate agency on the North Shore in 2016 and again in 2017. We were also honoured to be a finalist in the Real Estate Institute NSW Awards for Real Estate Small Business in 2017. We have won Ratemyagent's Award for the past 3 years.

Now recognised in the industry as one of the premier sales agents in Sydney. I was featured on the front cover of the Real Estate Institutes Journal magazine titled “Know what you stand for”.