How did your company Avana evolve?

When I came back to Australia in 2008, I was trying to figure out what was next. I felt I’d reached a ceiling in my business understanding. On the recommendation of a few of my mentors, I decided to go and study an MBA at INSEAD Business School in France. It was the greatest thing I could ever have done.

I took the shell of a business plan I had written for a training company through the whole year of my MBA, using the DNA of EcoTraining but with the idea to expand it into a bigger business. In 2010 we rebranded the company Avana, still keeping the corporate identity of green and sustainable, just rebranded into a fully- fledged training business.

The transition happened gradually. We started with a lot of eco-tourism and guide-training programs in lodges . Eventually we began to land bigger contracts so we started adding the training programs that our clients were asking for. We grew into the bigger world of hospitality and retail. That’s when the business took on a life of its own.

I thought education would be the way I could make the biggest difference in the wild and really enjoyed my time running a bigger business, however I did find the corporate world challenging and learnt so much from that journey. Avana became part of the Vocation Group IPO which unfortunately ended unhappily for everyone involved and left me very disappointed.

It was hard to let the training business go, however it allowed me to refocus my energy back to the true mission.