National recognition for businesswoman

BERRINGA’S Sarah Walkerden has won two gold medals in the 2021 Roar Awards which celebrate and encourage Australian businesses.

As The Rural Copywriter, she topped the best blogger, writer, author, and Service Business of the Year categories, and was nominated in four sections.

“Watching the awards ceremony on Zoom was a lot of fun, but I really wasn’t expecting to win anything,” Ms Walkerden said.

“I was certainly excited when I was announced as a gold winner in the first category, but just about leapt off my chair when the second gold award was announced.

“Winning the best blogger, writer, author category was fantastic recognition for me as a writer, however, I was incredibly humbled to take out the Service Business of the Year category for providing exceptional service.”

Also within the Service Business of the Year category were a large family law firm and a mortgage broker.

Ms Walkerden said no rural small business owner should “underestimate the impact” they can make, wherever their operations are centred.

She hopes her recent success might inspire similar enterprising people in regional Victoria to be innovative and perseverant in their service provision, and enter awards processes.

“The past two years have been hard on small business owners and it’s easy to get to discouraged, no matter what stage of business you’re at.

“If you can persist and push on through the challenges, it can be such a rewarding journey to build something significant from scratch,” she said.

“Surround yourself with supportive mentors and like-minded business communities, and believe in your own abilities.”