EMMA Isaacs knows women. Even as we arrive at a cafe for our interview, she can’t help but strike up an animated conversation with a young mother seated at a nearby table.

It’s that natural ability to reach women of all ages that led the Sydney entrepreneur to the job as CEO of Business Chicks, an online business that launched in Canberra four months ago, after its establishment in Sydney in 2006.

With more than 26,000 members around Australia, Business Chicks hosts an online community, publishes a quarterly magazine, “Latte”, and runs event programs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide as well as Canberra.

The events include breakfasts, “lunch and learns”, thought-leadership workshops and professional networking nights, all with the ideal that “great stuff happens” when women in business stop competing and come together to uplift and inspire each other.

Business Chicks plans to run more than 10 events each year in Canberra, with its recent launch attracting more than 300 people to see high-profile speaker Ita Buttrose.

“So far, in Canberra, we’ve been really well received,” Emma said.

“We actually launched here because we got so many phone calls saying ‘please come to Canberra we want a concept like this and we’re really keen to have you here.’

“We’re the largest network for women in Australia now, which is exciting.”

Events in other States have seen the likes of Dannii Minogue, Richard Branson and Napoleon Perdis speak to the masses about the world of business.

And Emma says it’s not just “chicks” who show up at the events.

“There’s quite a few men who come along to the events, too. The speakers we get are relevant to anyone,” she said.

Around 65 per cent of its audience is “corporate, and the rest are business owners”, according to Emma.

She believes the business is successful because “women in business want to be inspired”.

“We want to meet incredible people. In order to grow in your career you need mentors, and in order to grow a business you’ve got to have access to role models,” she says.

“We aim to create the right conditions where women can flourish in whatever role they choose – as a businesswoman, friend, partner, mother.”

One of the biggest issues facing women in business today is juggling responsibilities and having the confidence to take risks, she says.

“Many women are trying to juggle a successful career with motherhood,” she says.

“I think there’s also challenges for women with building networks, getting people around who are going to help you in your career.

“Perhaps the biggest challenge is ourselves and the confidence we have, and our willingness to take risks and to put yourself out there.”

She says Business Chicks is “absolutely feminist” in its approach, but that the word “feminist” is misunderstood.

“More and more women are finding out what it means to be feminist, and it’s not about slapping men – it’s about how do we come into our own power and give ourselves a fair go,” she says.

“It’s about how we make sure the playing field is level so that we can all work together.”

Visit www.businesschicks.com.au for more information on upcoming events.