Although many would argue that there is still a long way to go before we see true equality for women, it does pay to look back at what some trailblazing women have done. It makes us realise how far we have come and what amazing strength they had and sacrifice these women made. For women in business, this ‘trailblazing’ has given modern women much more scope and freedom to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

Edith Cowan is one such woman, a face you would be familiar with on our $50 note. She was a politician and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament. But more importantly for the general female population, she was instrumental in gaining voting rights for women. She was a staunch advocate for children’s rights, campaigning for the establishment of children’s courts, as well as many other political achievements. I am certain that she would have had many detractors and that every career move she made was met with opposition, but she pressed forward regardless.

Maude Bonney is someone you may not have heard of. She was an aviator in the 1930’s, who learned to fly secretly (but had a husband who championed her by buying her a plane when he found out!). What is awesome about Maude is that she didn’t try to change other people’s perceptions first before she sought to pursue her dream. She just found ways to do without everyone knowing and then went on to set many aviation records, including the first person to fly from Australia to South Africa in 1937.

A more recent trailblazer is Quentin Bryce, who became Australia’s first female Governor-General. She originally studied Arts & Law and became the first female member of the law faculty at the University of Queensland. She has been involved in, and founded, a number of women’s advocacy groups and seems to have done all this with grace and quiet determination.

So if there are days where you feel like you are breaking new ground and getting there slowly, think back on these women who have gone before us. We have a rich legacy of trailblazing women in Australia who can encourage us to keep going.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

This week I read about a very inspirational woman. Her name is Barbara Knickerbocker-Beskind and she is 91 years old. Her life story is amazing (please Google and read more about her!) which has led her to working in her ‘dream job’ as an advisor for a design firm, where she helps them to design products and services for the elderly and vision impaired.

When you read Barbara’s life story, you will notice that she has never stopped learning. She has said that ‘I tried to retire five times’ and eventually went back to school to train as an artist (which has helped now in drawing her inventions). She has never been willing to accept a traditional notion of work, and found ways to keep learning and doing what she loved to do (which has always centred around problem-solving and inventing).

I loved reading about Barbara’s confidence in herself and her abilities. When she saw a story on TV about the design firm that she has now worked at for the past two years, she didn’t just ponder how nice it would be to work there. She said “I have a unique kind of life experience and designing skills - I could be of value to their firm”. What an amazing attitude at age 89! Even her inability to use computers (because she has macular degeneration) didn’t deter her – she simply sent them a typed letter in the mail and told them what she could do for them.

Barbara has always had a willingness to make things happen, without the need for perfection or a ‘glamourous’ end product. If you read articles about her, you will likely see examples of some very simple solutions that she has devised (for friends and her workplace) that most of us would never have conceived because we are searching for the ‘perfect’ solution.

Barbara’s tenacity and quiet confidence has been the key to the satisfaction she has gained in her life. It has resulted in not only her own happiness, but has enabled her to bring comfort and assistance to those around her. What a legacy!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

It has been a while since I’ve presented some favourite inspirational quotes for women in business. And because I’ve had a challenging week, it seems like an appropriate time!

The first quote (from Barbara Corcoran, real estate magnate) is a bit of a kick up the pants: “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.". How many times have you heard business people blame their circumstances and bemoan loudly all the things that have gone wrong? I wonder if we spent less time dwelling on those events and just got on with it, we might be more successful?

Arianna Huffington (founder of The Huffington Post) expands that thought with this quote: “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes - understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”. When I look back on my ten years in business, I can certainly agree with Arianna! In hindsight, I can see how my failures fed, greatly influenced and lead to success. Without those experiences, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

As business women, we take on various leadership roles, and this quote from Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) embodies the ‘bigger picture’ of leadership and success: ”Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”

Sometimes though, I think women in business spend too much time comparing themselves to others, particularly in relation to ‘success’. Anne Sweeney (Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks) says “Define success in your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.”. This means that one women’s success is not necessarily your definition of success. When striving for ‘success’ make sure that it you are striving for something that you want, rather than what you think success is ‘supposed’ to look like.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

It has been a while since I’ve listed some of my favourite quotes from inspiring women but I think it is important to look to those who have ‘gone before us’ so that we can be inspired and learn from their experiences, mistakes and successes.

This quote from Mary Anne Radmacher (Author) is so important, especially for those of us who sit more on the introvert end of the personality spectrum and may feel that we have to be ‘loud’ about what we do: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”. Persistence and determination are vital to achieving any success in your business.

Gail Blanke, President and CEO, of a company called Lifedesigns, said “Walt Disney told his crew to ‘build the castle first’ when constructing Disney World, knowing that vision would continue to serve as motivation throughout the project. Oftentimes when people fail to achieve what they want in life, it’s because their vision isn’t strong enough.”. I think many of us struggle with this! We have a vague idea of what we want to achieve, but without a strong vision, we are unlikely to achieve it.

As most of us are no doubt aware, any success in business does not get handed to us on a silver platter! Madam C.J. Walker (America's first female entrepreneur millionaire), put it like this: “There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.”

And a classic quote from Roseanne Barr (actress) sums up the attitude I think we all have to take in our businesses: “The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.”.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

I had intended to choose just one inspirational woman to write about this week, but the following two women were inseparable in my mind, and just happen to both be part of the film industry and share the same (spelt differently) name.

Katharine Hepburn has always been a favourite actress of mine, both for the characters she played on screen (which were usually strong-willed women) and for her off screen actions. She would often wear masculine style clothes, such as trousers which at the time were considered taboo. One of Hepburn’s quotes I love is: "If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun."

Another more current inspirational woman is American film Director, Kathryn Bigelow. She is the first woman to win an Academy Award for a war film (The Hurt Locker). She has been quoted as saying: "If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies."

The common theme for these two women is that they haven’t let other people’s expectations or gender stereotypes dictate how they should behave. It is obvious that they have both done what they naturally wanted to do, and thankfully (for filmgoers!) they didn’t succumb to pressure to conform.

Our business journey can often feel like this. It takes a particular personality type to want to run a business, and equal parts tenacity and skill to make it successful! You will no doubt come across naysayers (if you haven’t already) or people who think that what you are attempting to achieve in business is not what women ‘should’ do. My tip is simple: ignore them. And continue to ignore them as you listen to your gut instinct. As Ms Hepburn advises, you’re likely to miss all the fun if you don’t!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Last week marked a sad occasion: the passing of the legendary Maya Angelou, American author and poet. She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. Maya was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

I have always found Maya Angelou inspiring (and have quoted her a few times in this column!) because she consistently broke conventions and worked hard to rise beyond her difficult childhood and early adulthood. She became recognised and highly respected as a spokesperson for blacks and women, and provided the world with many profound and inspirational quotes.

So my tribute to Maya Angelou is to list some of her most inspiring quotes – enjoy!

• I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
• Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
• One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
• I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.
• I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Ita Buttrose is a bit of a hero of mine. She’s tenacious, successful and a woman who seems to ‘know herself’ well. Watching a re-run of the ABC TV show Australian Story recently, Ita talked about being a tough boss and what that means. For Ita it means she ‘won’t suffer fools lightly’ and wants her staff to ‘give her the absolute best they can’. She stated that “being tough doesn’t make you mean” and “doesn’t make you a difficult person to work for. It just means that within your makeup there is a certain resilience”. How fantastic is that? Ita is a great example of someone who knows how to ‘be tough’ but hasn’t lost the ability to care or ‘be nice’. It seems that many women in business struggle with that tension. They think they need to be one or the other, without understanding that to be an effective manager of people, both are required. This is not to say that men don’t struggle with similar tensions related to gender expectations (for example, not wanting to be seen as too ‘soft’). But for entrepreneurial women, there does seem to be mixed messages about what it takes to be successful. What expectations do you encounter as a female boss? Do you let those expectations shape how you operate your business and relate to staff and customers? If other people have an opinion about how women should ‘be’, you need to ignore those assumptions. It’s vital to learn to deal effectively with people (and by that I mean women often do have to learn to be ‘tougher’) but it’s also important not to be swayed by how others think you should behave.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender