Down Petticoat Lane in Penola

1 Comment read Travel
A lavender farm on Petticoat Lane in Penola, South Australia Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Penola (South Australia), 02.08.2010 (The Hindu Businessline): Nestling amidst pine forests, farms and vineyards in South Australia is the town of Penola known for its Petticoat Lane. Unlike London’s famous markets, this Petticoat Lane is known for its historic stone and timber cottages and the women who resided there.It is said that at one time there were so many petticoats hung on the clothesline that the street came to be aptly called `Petticoat Lane’.

The frills and fragrance associated with the name are evident in the many businesses run by women in the lane today.

The gateway to the Lane is the 1867 schoolhouse of Mary MacKillop, who co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart with Father Tenison Woods in the 1860’s. In recent times, Penola has gained international recognition as the workplace and one-time home of Mother Mary MacKillop, beatified by the Pope in January 1995 and nominated as Australia’s first saint.

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A woman with drive – from typewriters to trucking

0 Comments read Business and Trade, Gender
Heather Jones

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.07.2010 (The Sydney Morning Herald): When Heather Jones decided to launch a solely female owned and operated multi-truck company in the resource-rich rugged landscape of Western Australia, few thought she would survive in what is predominantly a male business.

But six years on, her aptly named Success Transport company has become a profitable enterprise.

Jones was working as a secretary for a mining company, when a call went out for Haulpak drivers. Having grown around motorbikes and cars, she promptly exchanged her typewriter with a seat behind the wheel and progressed to driving long-haul trucks.

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Banking on a career in cupcakes

0 Comments read Business and Trade
Ghazaleh Lyari Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 01.07.2010 (The Sydney Morning Herald): A former Wall Street investment banker who gave up the big bucks for a career in cupcakes has proven she still has a head for numbers, this week opening her third store.

Ghazaleh Lyari worked as a banker with start-up technology companies during the dot.com boom and bust, helping at least one 10-person operation transform itself into a 5000-strong company.

Working for blue-chip companies in the US and Australia for 16 years, she handled multibillion-dollar deals and regularly put in hours that would make most minds boggle.

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