WALK down Mitchell Street in the CBD and you\u2019d be unlikely to miss Pink Nade, a baby pink painted shop filled with bright and bold earrings and accessories.<\/p>\n
The brand was founded four years ago by Johanna Glennen in the small town of Warracknabeal, about two-and-a-half hours northwest of central Bendigo, so she could make customised earrings for her former clothing store.<\/p>\n
Now her jewellery is carried by 160 stockists around the country, but Bendigo is the business\u2019 only trading location.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people travelling to the store all the time,\u201d Ms Glennen said. \u201cI have people come in and they\u2019ve travelled two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a mother of five, Ms Glennen said she wanted to create a business that supported working parents – something she didn\u2019t experience after the birth of her first child.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t get a job anywhere that was flexible and I felt, being a woman, that I was really disadvantaged,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After completing an accounting degree while her kids were young, Ms Glennen said she felt she\u2019d never be able to progress professionally in the field as she couldn\u2019t put in the hours her male colleagues could and was frowned upon when she needed to take time off to care for her children when they were sick.<\/p>\n
It was an attitude she wanted to change in the walls of her own company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to create a work environment where it was acceptable and flexible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of the women who work for me are mothers and if their kids are sick I\u2019m like \u2018no worries, that\u2019s fine\u2019. I don\u2019t want it to be a big thing where you\u2019re scared to ring your boss to call in sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have created this flexible working environment that suits women and I like to be surrounded by empowered women.\u201d<\/p>\n
With three women employed in the Bendigo store, Ms Glennen said she was keen to see her business grow in the local community.<\/p>\n