Alana Beattie

Alana Beattie
2015 Coast Woman in Business of the Year

I was born in NZ and moved to California for my final 5 years of high school before relocating to Australia in 1990. Following a successful career as a Pharmacy Assistant, a Retail Category Manager at Pfizer Australia, and Woolworths National Account Manager and Category Sales Development Manager for Nestle I bought a Subway franchise before purchasing Coffee Roasters Australia in 2009. I knew from working at Nestle that the coffee market was highly profitable and showing strong growth which was set to continue. Coffee Roasters Australia presented an excellent opportunity to get into the coffee market and was a great platform to start from. We had already done the hard slog running a seven day a week retail franchise so we knew for our next move we wanted something that would allow us more control and greater work life balance. The coffee industry was a natural choice as we felt it was only going to continue to grow and is fairly robust to economic downturns. We saw the potential in Coffee Roasters Australia both as a brand and also as a platform that could foster our creative sides. We have evolved the business from a wholesale distributor into now designing and manufacturing equipment and technology for the coffee industry. We are one of the only companies in Australia doing this.

How have you enjoyed the awards journey?

The awards journey has been one of the most amazing experiences of my personal and professional career. It gave me the opportunity to take time out to reflect on my corporate and business development throughout the years. My experience from initial submission right through to the judging panel was handled very professionally by the awards team. The excitement of not knowing whether you were a finalist or winner made the experience even more enjoyable and rewarding. After receiving my award I was overwhelmed by the recognition from people both involved in the awards and also from others within the business and wider community. I am looking forward to the year ahead and all the opportunities winning this award have brought me and my business. I am honoured to be part of these outstanding alumni of women in business.

Would you recommend others to nominate?

I highly recommend others to nominate either someone they know or don’t be afraid to nominate yourself. I nominated myself and am so glad that I did. This is a wonderful platform to showcase women in business and our accomplishments. With over half the population being women we are a fundamental part of the business community in this country and play a huge roll in its financial growth and success.

Why do you think you were chosen as the winner?

I believe I was chosen as the winner of this award because I was able to successfully communicate during the application process my passion for business and my challenges and learnings throughout my business life. All through my career I have continually strived to build on my successes. I believe in building a strong vision for the future is critical and feel that the initiatives developed for our current businesses created interest and recognition through the award process. I have an enormous passion that drives me and feel I portrayed this passion. I look forward to sharing my journey with other women and will always strive to inspire women of all walks of life.