A Darwin dressmaker financed her way into business by buying clothing worn by former US first lady Jackie Kennedy-Onassis on eBay and selling it on to make a profit.
It is just one of the incredible stories behind 16 finalists in the running for four awards at the Northern Territory's annual Business Women's Award in Darwin.
We met three impressive women, all with very different stories.
Raw Cloth — Rhonda Dunne
Dressmaker Rhonda Dunne said her clothing and fabric business began as a hobby run out of her garage.
"Some days it was chaos," she said.
"We went to Parap markets just before Christmas 17 years ago and we sold out of everything so we really started to panic and think 'can we do more than this'?"
Building the business from the ground up, Raw Cloth has earned a cult following for its carefully crafted classic designs made with one-of-a-kind cotton prints.
Ms Dunne's foray into buying and selling one-off Jackie Kennedy-Onassis originals was her ticket into the market.
"Starting my own business here was a challenge. I borrowed $5,000 and haven't had to borrow since," Ms Dunne said.
Ms Dunne and her business partner sew all the dresses in a tiny workroom in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff, which doubles as a shop front.
They combine Finnish designer fabric intended for homewares and Indigenous prints from across the Territory in their collections.
Born to Win Consulting — Mahongo Fumbelo
Also in the running for an entrepreneur award is Darwin consultant Mahongo Fumbelo who started her business with just $100 in her bank account.
While working as a recruiter, Ms Mahongo grew tired of finding staff for clients only to see the employee leave.
To combat this, she identified a gap in the market to help employers retain employees.
"I used to get very frustrated with the fact that people would work so hard to get a job but then not stay in the job," she said.
After being knocked back for a promotion and quitting her job at the recruitment firm, her coaching and training business Born to Win Consulting was born.
But starting the business from scratch two years ago was not easy.
"People warned me: 'this is very risky - you can't start a training, coaching and speaking business in Darwin we don't have the population. Most people aren't going to pay for something like that'. But I said: that's alright I love taking risks!"
"I was really scared, back then I wasn't doing well financially, I had less than $100 in my bank account".
NPY Women's Council — Andrea Mason
Andrea Mason, the chief executive of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjajara Yankunytjajara Women's Council, said working for a non-profit was uniquely satisfying and her work changed from day to day.
"I might be on the phone advocating or lobbying for an area of concern for Women's Council, I might be developing a new business relationship ... I could be speaking to an individual member about her concerns, her worries," she said.
"My day is very busy, very varied, but I really enjoy that variety."
One of the biggest challenges is constantly working to secure funding for projects and to keep the organisation afloat.
"Every dollar that we spend in the organisation and through the organisation is all about improving the lives of our members and their families and the communities where they live," she said.
Ms Mason said women brought something different to the table when it came to executive management.
"We are very strongly driven by success for our organisation but also very much by doing that through developing and maintaining strong relationships — with our staff and the people we work with."
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