Visibility Is Power And Regional Women Are Using It

WITH a background in psychology and marketing, Rebecca Ragheb joined GAWK in 2023 to represent the company across Ballarat and regional Victoria.

While her title is Sales Executive, the role she performs goes well beyond sales. It’s about building confidence, challenging assumptions, and helping local businesses understand the commercial power of being seen.

Outdoor advertising works because it taps into fundamental human behaviour. Rebecca often explains concepts like priming and the mere exposure effect in practical terms: when people repeatedly see a brand, familiarity builds and familiarity builds trust.

For many regional operators, that shift in understanding transforms advertising from a cost into long-term leverage.

As a Ballarat local, Rebecca is deeply invested in the businesses she works with. She doesn’t see clients as accounts; she sees them as operators with ambition.

Her approach is relationship-driven, identifying businesses ready for growth and helping them step into outdoor advertising often for the first time.

That hasn’t always been easy. When Rebecca first entered the market, ingrained spending habits were one of the biggest barriers. Many businesses continued investing in familiar media channels, even when results had plateaued, simply because it felt safe.

There was also a common misconception that billboards weren’t accessible to local businesses. GAWK’s regional rate structure challenged that thinking, making large-scale visibility achievable for operators outside metro markets.

Education became a key part of her role. Over time, conversations shifted. Outdoor is now increasingly factored into marketing budgets across the region, supported by measurable outcomes and growing confidence in the medium.

Rebecca has worked with some of Ballarat’s iconic organisations including City of Ballarat, Haymes Paints, Sovereign Hill, Smith & Sons, Ferndale Foods and Ballarat Insurance Brokers, helping increase awareness, enquiry and visitation through consistent local and regional presence.

In a traditionally male-dominated sales environment, Rebecca holds her own, regularly ranking among top performers. But her success isn’t defined by competition; it’s defined by contribution. She represents a generation of women in business who are commercially sharp, community-minded, and unapologetic about taking space.

International Women’s Day is about recognising impact. In regional communities, that impact often looks practical: keeping spend local, backing ambitious operators, and strengthening the economic fabric of the places we live.

Visibility isn’t vanity. It’s power. And when regional women help businesses step into that visibility, the entire community grows with them.