Being Your Own Boss in North Lakes

A successful Be Your Own Boss Marketplace Preparation Workshop was recently hosted at the Carers Queensland’s NDIS Local Area Coordination Partner in the Community North Lakes office.

The Be Your Own Boss program is an initiative of Carers Queensland, where people with disability are empowered, educated and supported over a six-month period to create or grow their own microbusiness. The program culminates in a Marketplace event where program participants host a stall to sell their products or services to the public.

The Marketplace Preparation Workshop supports participants to prepare for the marketplace providing the opportunity to practise skills such as speaking to the public about their products, designing a display stall, taking payments and recording sales.

Two years ago, Libby from the Sunshine Coast started her own microbusiness selling unique pillar candles, wax melts, candle accessories and a new LED range. From her love of candle making, Libby founded Naenia Creations.

“I wanted to bring my unique style of candles to everyone so they, too, can enjoy my creations. I love expressing myself through my art, whether it be candles, painting or creating jewellery,” Libby said.

“I have a few disabilities that make it hard to keep the normal nine to five type job. But with my assistance dog Willow by my side, nothing can hold me back,” Libby said.

Through the help of the Be Your Own Boss program, Libby developed her social media profile and sells her products online. As her online presence grows, Libby has goals to expand further and, one day, open a boutique shop.

“The whole program has helped me to improve and understand my business and grow my sales. I am very grateful for the help and support of Be Your Own Boss,” Libby said.

Along with Libby, the Marketplace Preparation Workshop showcased the gifts and talents of several other people with disability, including Stephanie who creates resin art and photography.

“I make the artwork on the top of food serving boards, usually ocean style, but I do others, as you can see, the black with all the glitter, it shines like the rainbow in artificial light or sunlight,” Stephanie said.

As the founder of her new business, Stephanie Rose Artistry, Stephanie benefitted from each Be Your Own Boss Business Mentor by learning about when to pay tax, tips for social media accounts, insurances, and ways to organise and keep track of what is selling.

“The peer mentor was also very helpful as he invited me to his market and I sold my very first products,” Stephanie said.

In addition to her resin artwork, Stephanie is also developing her landscape photography skills and intends to sell her photographs at future local markets and online.

“I do landscape photography. All my waterfall pictures are taken deep in the rainforest. I go for hikes to get them; some hikes are up to 10 or 20km long. My landscape images are not limited to just waterfalls but also the milky way, sunrise and sunset images from a variety of locations,” Stephanie said.

“In the future, I would like to see my artwork, both resin serving boards and photography, out in the community and across Australia for people to enjoy in their homes, offices or restaurants.” Stephanie said.

Attending the Be Your Own Boss Program also helped Stephanie improve her sales and research of other markets in the region. She has plans to have a website and sell all her products online.

“I don't think I had any idea of how to sell my art before I started the Be Your Own Boss program. Before I began, I wasn't selling any products. Now I’m looking at other markets, not so much to be at, but to see what other people are doing, what prices they're selling them (items) for. The program definitely helped,” Stephanie said.

In addition to the artists selling their work at the Marketplace Preparation Workshop, two business owners were promoting service products which provide support and advocacy for people with psychosocial and neurological disability.

After being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), 25-year-old Natascha from Brisbane decided to start her own FND consultation business to build understanding and strengthen the connections for people needing guidance and support.

“The reason I started the consulting business is I've had FND for over twelve years. It took me twelve years to get diagnosed. It's a long journey. It can be quite scary at times because you don't know what you have,” Natascha said.

The Be Your Own Boss program and Marketplace Preparation Workshop helped Natascha make new connections to service providers and participants to help promote her business.

“People with FND and their carers often need a lot of support with how to manage the day-to-day problems. And that's where I would come in. I can have a chat with them, consult with them on how to implement strategies to help manage those symptoms and help connect them up to resources,” Natascha said.

“So what the Be Your Own Boss program helped with was they gave me the confidence to actually get things really moving forward. It's given me access to all the different realms of business. So every session I go to, I'm like, okay, that's a great thing to think about. How do I incorporate that into my business?” Natascha said.

“Having guest speakers (Business Mentors) most weeks has allowed me to establish meaningful connections with them. One of them has become my business mentor which is accelerating my business even further,” Natascha said.

From a young age, 51-year-old Nadine from Brisbane has navigated chronic illness, physical disability and mental illness. At the age of 47 she decided to hang up her coat as a successful business consultant and focus on her life-long dream of using her experiences to help others facing similar challenges.

“I know first-hand how hard it is to get access to quality, affordable, user friendly, and non-confronting tools. Traditional therapy isn't for everyone. My business comprises of positive psychology, narrative therapy, strengths-based therapy, and behavioural-based therapies, that anyone of any age can tap into anytime, anywhere.” Nadine said.

“Not many people know about this type of self-help because it has only been designed in the last ten years, however I have been using most of the principles since an early age. When I found these resources, it changed my life for the better, gave me more confidence to be me. It's therapy, but more like self-help, self-discovery that everyone can benefit from to live a better life,” Nadine said.

Through the various workshops explored in the Be Your Own Boss program, Nadine felt encouraged and supported into making her lifelong dream become a reality.

“Having the positivity around it and also no one judging you … just having people saying yes to it rather than judging you for it. That’s great,” Nadine said.

The Marketplace Preparation Workshop was a valuable learning experience for all involved.

For more information, or to express your interest in the 2024 Be Your Own Boss program, complete the form at https://carersqld.com.au/ndis/be-your-own-boss/, contact us on cq.communityandmainstream@ndis.gov.au or phone 1300 999 636.