I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose lands we meet, and pay my respects to all First Nations people present. I recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business owners working in franchising, such as Noonuccal woman Karen Seage, the owner of Snap Underwood, a successful Queensland printing and design business.
Thank you to Jay Westbury and the Franchise Council of Australia for inviting me to open this inaugural CEO Roundtable. I appreciate the Council’s engagement with the government’s reform work, including on retail leasing.
Let me start with a story.
In 1888, a former domestic servant opened a hair salon in Rochester, New York. Her name was Martha Matilda Harper. She had been sent into service at 7, and had spent much of her life looking after other people’s households. Now she was putting her savings, all $360 of them, into a business of her own.
Harper had an unusually persuasive advertisement for her services. Her own hair reached the floor. Customers considering her haircare methods could inspect the evidence before making an appointment.
