Ami debriefs after winning 'Sunshine Coast Sustainable Business Woman of the Year!'

I’m still pinching myself to be honest. It is such a privilege and honour to be recognised as The Sunshine Coast Business Women's Network, 2021 Sunshine Coast Sustainable Business Woman of the Year. My personal mission when starting Pleasant State in 2020 was to demonstrate that doing good is good for business through role modelling how to build a business that balances people, planet and profit. I have by no means achieved this alone. It's taken an army of P.S. revolutionaries. Thank you to the P.S. team and to you, yes you! For supporting our mission. Keep on being a superstar. I’ve shared my speech with you below and I believe Sian took a sneaky video that you can watch on our socials, which I refuse to watch haha. Be warned it’s a bit of a tear jerker apparently ;-)

THE speech, 23 September 2021:

"Right now, I could not feel more different to how I felt on 17 February last year. 

It's the day I incorporated Pleasant State while crying in a bath, drinking wine from the minibar. 

So why was I in a bath crying and starting a company? Great question!

I'd just come home from a fancy event in Sydney. I'd been participating in a program fast-tracking women onto ASX 100 boards.

That night, the Chairman of one of Australia's largest companies told us that he and the Board had no idea they'd been underpaying thousands of staff hundreds of millions of dollars. He wanted a pat on the back because he'd taken a 20% pay cut in response. 

I looked around the room hoping the other women who were CEOs/CFOs of some of Australia's biggest companies would call B.S. but they didn't. 

At that moment I decided I was DONE with big corporate. I was over their pursuit of profits at the cost of employees, customers, suppliers and the environment.

I was no longer going to wait for them to make the change I so desperately wanted to see in the world.

So when I got back to my hotel room I had a good cry, ran a bath and sat there pondering what I was going to do about the state of things.

That's when I said to myself if not me, then who? If not now, then when? And that ladies and gentlemen is the moment I founded Pleasant State.

A business on a mission to demonstrate that doing good is good for business. It's the only way business should be done.

Thank you so much to everyone who has so willingly supported our mission in particular Sian my incredible co-founder, Karl my house husband and our amazing P.S. support crew.

I am so honoured and proud to receive this award. It is a testament to the fact that so many of you also believe in doing good in business. Thank you!"