MIA Freedman, Michelle Bridges, Janine Allis, Maggie Beer, Collette Dinnigan and now Canberra’s Laurie McDonald has joined the ranks of some of Australia’s prominent and inspiring business owners with her surprise induction into the national Businesswoman’s Hall of Fame.

“I had heard of the Hall of Fame, as there are some seriously amazing businesswomen on that list,” says the founder of Canberra Furnished Accommodation.

“When they called to tell me I was being inducted, I thought, are you sure it’s me? Is there another Laurie McDonald with a business, maybe?”

HerBusiness (formerly the Australian Businesswomen’s Network) has been recognising and profiling leading female entrepreneurs through the Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame for 18 years, with more than 200 women honoured in that time.

CEO Suzi Dafnis says they all serve as an inspiration to women in business everywhere, through sharing their success, insights and wisdom.

“It was so lovely because HerBusiness don’t tell you anything about it – they just investigate you through the community, and I don’t know what anyone said about me!” says Laurie.

“But it feels like a true honour because I didn’t apply for this; it was a total surprise.”

Laurie says she started her business in 2003 to make some extra cash while on maternity leave with her first child Connor.

Starting out with just her credit card and an investment property, she now has around 50 properties on the books and provides fully furnished corporate and holiday accommodation for long or short stays in Canberra.

Laurie says her Aboriginal background is entrenched in the business too, as an extension of herself.

“I’m an Aboriginal woman with a business but it’s not an Aboriginal business, although the culture is at the heart of how I run the business, because it’s just who I am,” she says.

“We’re a microbusiness with only six staff, so they feel like family to me and we share our personal values of honesty, loyalty, authenticity and the Japanese practice of Kaizen, or continual improvement.

“We always have each other’s back, we know the essentials of each other’s jobs so that if one of us gets sick no one has to come back to a lot of stress.”

Laurie says her great grandparents Ferdy and Ivy Bell lived at the Hollywood Mission in Yass, and her grandmother was born there.

“My Aboriginal background is just who I am, it’s my culture and it’s ingrained in who I am and what I do,” she says.

“For my family, it’s about telling stories and drinking tea together. I always say to my kids, give me a topic and I’ll tell you a story!

“It’s also a culture of respect, of listening to your elders.

“There’s a confidence and cheekiness too, which is great, and I encourage my staff to have that and to call me out when necessary – I don’t want to be surrounded with people who just say yes to me because I’m the boss. It’s dangerous.”

Laurie says she has worked and worked at the business and always done the best she could.

“I just seem to have to keep going, I never feel that I’m successful enough, I just have to work at it,” she says.

“Not everyone’s definition of success is a billion dollar company, and for me freedom is success.

“It’s a lot of work, but I can cope with that as long as I’m able to manage it myself in a way that I think is right, and balance it with time for my family.

“I want to be working smart, not hard, I don’t like repetition and I recognise that I can’t do it all.”

“In terms of business success, I’m a believer in using the best systems possible, and in empowering the staff to use their own common sense and judgement,” she says.

“I also have an old-fashioned approach to financial management, with good collection systems in place and paying on time.

“I also like to celebrate and share mistakes – they’re valuable learning experiences that can’t be bought through traditional education.”