Moreton mums making waves

Authors, health professionals, photographers and fitness and wellbeing coaches are among the Moreton Bay Region women who have been named as finalists in the 2022 AusMumpreneur Awards. See who they are…

Barbara Armstrong, social entrepreneur

When Barbara Armstrong finished Year 12 without an OP, she never imagined she’d one day earn a graduate certificate from QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies.

But the Mango Hill mum of two has done just that – and more.

The founder of social enterprise Sweet Peanuts is one of more than a dozen Moreton Bay Region women who have been named as finalists in the 2022 AusMumpreneur Awards.

The awards, presented by The Women’s Business School, celebrate Australian mums in business who are achieving outstanding success in areas such as business excellence, product development, customer service and digital innovation.

They recognise the growing number of women who successfully balance motherhood and business in a way that suits their life and family.

Barbara is a finalist in the ‘One to Watch’, ‘The Women’s Business School’ and ‘People’s Choice – Making a Difference (NFP, Charity & Social Enterprise) categories of the awards.

She launched Sweet Peanuts after suffering a miscarriage in 2019 and struggling to find support.

“A lot of doctors and nurses describe it (miscarriage) as a heavy period, which is very, very misleading.

“I was booked in for an early pregnancy assessment, which is only done Monday-Friday.

“But when I had my miscarriage the hospital cancelled the appointment – which would have connected me with bereavement counselling and services – and that happens to a lot of women.

|“Having it dismissed was just the most traumatic thing.”|

After joining a support group, Barbara learnt from other mums that there’s still stigma attached to miscarriage and the grief of many women and their partners is dismissed by family and friends.

“There’s a lot of people who are not very educated about how to communicate with bereaved parents,” she says.

Driving change

Wanting that to change, Barbara began researching how to start a charity to donate care packages to hospitals to ensure mothers who miscarried knew someone was thinking of them and support was available.

A mentor suggested that rather than launching her idea as a charity, Barbara should look at starting a social enterprise to create change – which led to enrolling in a graduate course at QUT.

“Social enterprises are changing society, and educating families and friends of women who have miscarried about how to support them is creating change,” Barbara explains.

“The care packages became that tangible support.”

Each package contains care items such as heat pillows, tea, and bath infusions to nurture and relax parents, as well as a locally crocheted peanut with either a blue bow tie, pink hair bow or a love heart for parents who did not know the gender of their child.

The business is named after Barbara and husband Rob’s first child.

“Peanut was the nickname of the baby we had and Sweet Peanuts honours the experience I had and lost.

|“Peanut inspired me and changed the whole course of my life forever.”|

Barbara’s starting a Masters degree next year and has a full scholarship with the Women’s School of Business Ignite incubator program and its Accelerator program.

As well as being a finalist in the AusmMumpreneur Awards, she’s a finalist in the Young Leader category of the Third Sector Awards, which recognise the best not-for-profit practices in Australia.

Danni Vee, Mind-Body mentor

Speaker, author and mind-body mentor Danni Vee is a finalist in the ‘Coach of the Year’ and ‘Fitness and Nutrition’ categories of the AusMumpreneur Awards, after winning a gold award for Health and Wellbeing last year.

The mum of three launched My Fit Tribe 14 years ago and her speaking brand Danni Vee six years later.

With a studio at Cashmere and outdoor classes at Warner and Eatons Hill, Danni relishes empowering women to make the transition from being body conscious to body confidence.

|“My mission is to eradicate self-loathing in women,” she says.|

“It’s such an honour to be a finalist for Coach of the Year – it’s something I am very passionate about, and fitness and nutrition is the holistic side of my business.”

Empowering women

Since launching both businesses, Danni says she’s grown a loyal community of more than 700 women who want to feel confident and strong.

“AusMumpreneurs is the most amazing network of women,” she says.

“I started just as a $10 bootcamp girl and it’s been 14 years now.

“As I progressed, I discovered that it all started with your mindset.

“With COVID I really had to pivot substantially, especially because at that time the main part of my business was fitness.

“That’s how the holistic thing came into being – I had wanted to do it for years.”

Danni, a former piano teacher, launched My Fit Tribe while pregnant with her first child.

“I love the opportunity to be a role model for health for my children, while showing them that they can achieve anything they put their heart and soul into.

“Moreton Bay is such a wonderful area to grow your business and the support and network is what I love.”