More than just a business success

Dear ,

I'm just following-up on my last email about our next McIlwraith Lecture (if you missed the email you can read it by clicking here).

The human mind is always looking for patterns, and sometimes we mistake these patterns, which are mostly just coincidence, for some sort of fate.

There's a few patterns in the White's business story that intersect with my life. All quite random, but they made me reflect on what life was like back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. So while not fate, they had a purpose - they helped me to write this email.

Terry White opened his first pharmacy in 1958, the year I was born, Rhonda opened hers the year my family returned to Australia - 1964. And Rhonda graduated in 1979 from Queensland Uni for the second time, when she made a career change to psychology, the same year I graduated for the first time.

Women who got married and had children in the 50s and 60s generally had to quit their jobs - it was a requirement of their employers, even if that employer was the government. I remembered that my mother was forced to.when she married dad. Society had strong expectations of a woman's place.

But here is Rhonda starting-up her own business. It might seem commonplace today when we have awards and organisations that celebrate and encourage women entrepreneurs, but not back then. And while there were plenty of women my age and a little older at university by the late 70s, I remember a small number of mature-age women in my classes, retraining and getting back into the workforce after an enforced retreat to raise kids. (One of those was Lorraine Martin, but that is another story).

The McIlwraith Lecture isn't about business success, though our lecturers have often been business people. And saying it is about entrepreneurialism is a truncation. One of the things that truncates is that each of our lecturers has in their own way transcended normal expectations. They've taken on the status quo and won.

So the story of Terry White Chemists and Rhonda's role in it isn't just about business, it's also about the journey towards female equality and taking on the established order.

The lecture will be held on Wednesday September 14, 7:00 for 7:30 at the Greek Club. to book click here.

This is our major fundraiser for the year, so if you support the work that we do, please think about organising a table of your friends and colleagues.

Each year, the McIlwraith Lecture honours someone who is making a practical and entrepreneurial contribution to Queensland by asking them to share their experiences and philosophy. It is named after Sir Thomas McIlwraith, an entrepreneurial colonial premier of Queensland and one of the fathers of Federation. He also took on the status quo.

Look forward to seeing you in three weeks. Don't leave it too long to book.

Regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR