Female entrepreneurs are flying under the radar

Only six companies founded by women made it into BRW’s Fastest Growing Companies list for 2009. One of the reasons women are so under-represented is that fewer women enter the prestigious business awards. As a group, women tend to downplay their achievements and are reluctant to step forward and claim the credit when they do perform well. But is it just a lack of confidence, or are female entrepreneurs flying under the radar of the business community and the press?

According to this year’s youngest and highest ranking female entrepreneur in BRW’s Fast 100, Roberta Faddoul (pictured), female entrepreneurs are achieving much more than we realise, it’s just that many women are accumulating their successes under the radar. Read the story »

Consumers being duped by cholesterol claims

With cholesterol levels in adults remaining alarmingly high, dietitians are urging all Australians to base their food choices on the facts, rather than the claims made by food manufacturers. Many foods claim they are good for cholesterol, but often fail to give consumers the whole story about their actual effect.

Fifty percent of adult Australians are affected by high cholesterol levels (above 5.5mmol/L), a figure that has largely remained unchanged since 1980¹. Accurate information about the most effective foods to manage cholesterol is important if we are to improve this statistic. Read the story »

Do Masculine Women Earn More Money?

Research out of Germany suggests that women who adopt a ‘masculine approach’ in the workplace earn up to $83,000 more in their working lives than ‘nicer’ female colleagues. The study, Does it Pay to be Nice, showed ‘Alpha females’ earned 4 per cent more than their ‘passive’ co-workers, while ‘neurotic’ women earned 3 per cent less.

While the research by German academic Guido Heineck of the Employment Research Centre in Nuremberg, found that personality traits were as important as intelligence in determining a woman’s salary, it also showed men’s earning potential was barely affected by personality issues. Read the story »

Monica Trapaga returns with some home cooking

You might remember her from Better Homes & Gardens and almost everyone remembers Monica Trápaga from her years on ABC’s Playschool. In the five years since she last appeared on Australian television, Monica Trápaga has been busy raising kids, recording Jazz CD’s and writing a cookbook, inspired by her daughter Lil.

When Lil, now aged 24, announced she was leaving home, Monica Trápaga did what a lot of mother’s do, she presented her first born with a cookbook. When I left home twenty years ago my mother gave me The Commonsense Cookery Book. These days mums have a virtual smorgasbord of cookbooks to choose from, but Monica Trápaga wanted to give her daughter something more personal, Read the story »

Rebecca Gibney and cast give stellar performances in The Map Reader

In her first leading role in a feature film, Rebecca Gibney from Channel 7’s Packed to the Rafters, gives an outstanding performance in The Map Reader – a haunting coming of age film, written and directed by Harold Brodie.

Released to DVD in Australia by Arkles Entertainment on November 25, The Map Reader follows 16 year-old Michael, a lonely teen who leads a reclusive life with his mother Amelia , whose guilt about raising Michael alone threatens to drive him away. As Michael struggles to deal with his Mother’s alcoholism, he seeks solace in reading maps and forms unexpected friendships with his secretive classmate Alison, and a young blind woman named Mary. Read the story »