A former "trolley dolly" who created a job allowing her to shop fulltime, told other Nelson women to get over the biggest challenge they faced in business – themselves.

Nelson entrepreneur Kate Coote, of PA Plus, was one of several successful women at a Nelson forum for women in business, called Rise 2012 (Realising Innovation Success and Enterprise), at the Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco Resort yesterday. Rise founder and organiser Kate Webb, formerly of Nelson's Her Business Network, said the forum was held to encourage women to collaborate and network. About 70 women attended. Next week Rise will travel to other South Island venues.

"In smaller provinces like Marlborough and Nelson it can be very insular and we need to collaborate," Ms Webb said. "I think our biggest limitation is ourselves and our own voice. We have some shining examples of people taking responsibility to step outside their business and work on it, rather than in it," she said.

Mrs Coote, a British expatriate who worked as an airline cabin crew member, said she was a shining example of that.

Her personal assistance-consultancy business started as an online retail website. As for many women, her personal doubts were the business' biggest hurdle, she said. "After I left the airline I doubted I had any skills. I was a complete technophobe. I was that bad ... but I could shop and I like customer service."

The website offered retail products, later moving into consultancy in social media, customer service, design and marketing, she said. Eventually she was forced to drop the retail arm to work fulltime on the consulting and PA side of the business.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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