Each month, we'll showcase three women - many of them will have featured in the book Women’s Business, Women’s Wealth. We can let you know when the profiles featured on the site change. For a regular hit of inspiration, click here to subscribe to our newsletter. Click here for the archive of women featured.

Gai Waterhouse was discouraged by her famous racehorse trainer father TJ Smith from following his path, but she emulated his tenacity and ultimately his success.

Patricia Kailis has found that clarity in planning and management are critical in running a successful family business and keeping relationships on an even keel.

Gabrielle Molnar was inspired by her mother's battle with Parkinson's to overcome ingrained doubts about the importance of money to become a Telstra Young Businesswoman of the Year.
 

Gai Waterhouse

Gai Waterhouse is an inspiring example of a woman who was determined to smash the gender barriers that kept her from realising her dream. She pursued her passion to become a horse trainer despite initial discouragement from both her family and the horse racing industry. In the early 1980s Gai returned to Australia from overseas, where she had been a professional actor, and began working part time for her father, the famous horse trainer TJ Smith. For ten years she managed his publicity and promotions.

My father couldn’t believe that I would want to be a horse trainer, even though he was quite happy with me working with him in the business. When I suggested to him after ten years that I might take out a licence he said,‘Why do you want to do that? You’re my right-hand girl and you’re doing a good job doing what you’re doing with PR and promotions.’ But I wanted to take on the mantle of being a horse trainer.

I think he felt it was too difficult for a woman - you’re talking back in the beginning of the ’90s, ten years ago. He was scared that I would find it financially very difficult, finding the clients, being able to go out and buy the horses and find the people to invest in them.

Obtaining a horse training licence was also a battle for Gai.

My husband [bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse] had been warned off the racetracks [after the Fine Cotton scandal]. Because I was married to him I think the Australian Jockey Club felt I might somehow be affected - or infected - by my husband, and so they denied me the right to have a licence. I took them to court over it and after two and a half years we won the case against the AJC. An Act was made called the Waterhouse Act that allows women to stand in their own right and not be judged as ‘spouses of’.

Gai got her licence in 1992 and has gone from strength to strength ever since. In 2000 she was named NSW State Businesswoman of the Year in the annual Telstra Awards and in 2001 she made racing history by winning the trifecta in the Golden Slipper - the first time it had ever been done. Gai’s business now employs more than 100 staff.

I had to work very hard. Success doesn’t happen overnight.You’ve just got to do it in stages.

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Patricia Kailis, of MG Kailis Group in WA, warns:

One of the problems with family business is that the company takes on an identity, almost a life of its own. There were times when I was really quite resentful: the company this, the company that! I’ve thought, if only we could have had more family time together ...

Patricia explains how her family business developed more formal business structures and allowed for succession planning as the company developed. The business grew from lobstering in the early days to encompass prawning, pearling in Broome, tuna farming in South Australia and marine engineering.

It was planned that the boys would take over the business from their father, and this happened: George was MD for eight years and now he’s a Professor of Business and Alex has taken over. When my husband, Michael, passed away, I inherited the ultimate responsibility as the sole remaining governing director. The MD reports to me informally once a week. The two girls are shareholders, too, so there’s five of us. We have a very formal board structure with external directors as well as family members of the board and until recently we had an independent Chair. We have shareholder meetings at which the MD and Chair report to shareholders. That means that although the girls aren’t involved in running the business, they know exactly what’s going on.

This kind of clarity in planning and management means there is less likelihood of major family issues arising at critical junctures for the business. Ensuring you plan carefully for the business of life, as well as the life of business, puts you in a much better position to get the best of both worlds. Schedule the time to do it in the next three months, step by step - no excuses!

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Gabrielle Molnar is a great example of someone who grew up hearing ‘Money is the root of all evil’ and ‘Money doesn’t buy you happiness’, but consciously re-programmed herself. ‘Money equals freedom and choice’ is her mantra now. Gaby has built a substantial share and investment property portfolio and become a coach on the international financial mastery courses run by US motivational guru Anthony Robbins.

I can’t pretend re-programming myself about my attitudes to money was easy. All my positive childhood role models - including Cinderella! - seemed to be poor.When my mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease I suddenly had a real reason to change that programming. I wanted to be able to provide whatever treatment she might need.

Gaby worked in a commission-based role in recruitment and started to earn very good bonuses.

I wanted the money, but subconsciously I was being held back by my beliefs about it - ‘Money doesn’t buy you happiness’ kept popping into my head. I got very anxious and kept thinking it was all going to disappear. Then I realised that I was running my life with other people’s beliefs and it was up to me whether I wanted to let that continue. I thought hard about how I’d got over other things I’d found challenging in my life and decided I needed to study and find good role models.

Gaby sought out two senior women mentors she worked with who invested in shares and property and they helped her along the way. She built up an emergency contingency fund as a first step.

I asked them so many questions. To develop an abundance mentality, the advice they gave me about my first bonus was to spend it all! With my second they recommended I buy blue chip shares so I would begin to be engaged, learning by doing. Suddenly I was an investor.

Next Gaby decided she wanted to learn about money and how it worked more formally, so she enrolled in a Securities Institute course and step by step built up her knowledge.

No matter how much money you have, it’s your beliefs and attitudes that make you feel rich. The more money I make, the more good I can do. I now have no negative associations about money - it’s about creating abundance in every area of your life. Let’s hope more women become proud of the fact they are wealth creators!

Draw a line in the sand and start afresh. Do not berate yourself for what you haven’t done, or for investment mistakes you have made in the past. Most of us are extremely talented at this kind of self-chastisement and it is a waste of time and energy. You cannot change the past, so while you can learn from experience - and that can be invaluable - it is critical you move on and begin to plan your financial future from today.You can re-program yourself, just as Gaby did.

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