A small business owner who operates out of her rural home has been recognised nationally.
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Sarah Walkerden of Berringa, 35 minutes from Ballarat, was named the gold winner in two different categories of the Roar Awards 2021.
She took out the best blogger/writer/author and service business of the year awards from a high calibre of nominations and finalists from across Australia.
Mrs Walkerden operates The Rural Copywriter, a digital marketing messaging and strategy business from her farm home. She helps rural and regional businesses gain customers and boost their online rankings.
The mother-of-two school aged children said was delighted to win two categories.
"As a finalist across four categories, watching the awards ceremony on Zoom was a lot of fun but I really wasn't expecting to win anything.
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," Mrs Walkerden said.
"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.
"I was up against a large family law firm (who won silver) and a mortgage broker (bronze). I've always figured I was 'small fry' out here, writing away for clients on my farm, so it's fantastic to be recognised in this way among much bigger city-based businesses.
"It just goes to show that you should never underestimate the impact you're having as a small business owner, no matter where you might be located."
Mrs Walkerden hopes her recent awards success, including winning silver in the AusMumpreneur Awards 2021 within the B2B business category, will inspire other rural and regional small business owners.
"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.
Mrs Walkerden encouraged other regional small business owners to never give up.
"Keep on trying, take it step by step, surround yourself with supportive mentors and like-minded business communities and believe in your own abilities. Seek out opportunities such as awards, and put yourself forward for them when they arise. Success comes to those who back themselves and who never give up," she said.
The Roar Awards are run by Roar Success, a platform designed to bring business owners together and help them to grow. The awards were held at an online event where talented business owners from all over the country gathered to support and encourage each other.
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