Brisbane mum a finalist in AusMumpreneur awards
Melissa Pierre, of CaRelief, is a finalist in Emerging AusMumpreneur Of The Year Qld/NT; People's Choice, Making a Difference (Local Community) Queensland, and Multicultural Business Excellence
The AusMumpreneur Awards, presented by The Women’s Business School, celebrate and recognise Australian mums in business who achieve outstanding success in areas of business excellence, product development, customer service and digital innovation. The awards are designed to recognise the growing number of women who successfully balance motherhood and business in a way that suits their life and family.
Mel, pictured with her family, said: “My mother was diagnosed with dementia about 4 years ago as I was having my second baby and just made redundant. I became her full-time carer at the same time. We were introduced to NDIS due to mum being only 62 but we found the process extremely frustrating and disappointing. We didn’t get funding for any of the medical expenses mum needed. But she did get a small amount for socialising.
"I found the introduction to NDIS and the struggles in the application process to be stressful and overwhelming. I learned so much in that 1st year that I decided to combine my new found knowledge and my sales and management background to become a Support Co-coordinator.
"I wasn't good at school but I found studying NDIS and NDIS property, really interesting and it challenged me to be better. Once I educated myself I resubmitted my mums’ plan to NDIS.
"The result was that her quality of life in less than a year was significantly changed for the better, and she is relaxed and not so stressed and frustrated. She went from being covered for just socialising to all her medical and respite services covered which equalled to 3 times more funding then first applied!
"My passion is to help more people like my mum under NDIS. I have since started a small business which has now turned into a small team of about 12 - 15 workers which includes Support Co-coordinator, Support Workers, Nurse, and more.
"We now look after over 45 participants and have helped obtain millions of much needed funding and support for them. CaRelief Pty Ltd is a nationally registered NDIS provider. This has been done in less than 2 years.
“I’m there for my girls and my mum. I can work around them and also help those in need in between. I just want to help even if it's one person at a time."
The winners of the AusMumpreneur Awards will be announced at the AusMumpreneur Awards Gala Dinner in September.
Voting is still open for Melissa Pierre and CaRelief to be recognised as one of Australia’s most outstanding mums in business. You can vote for her here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/
