We could not be more proud to announce that Jo Schneider has been named as the SA Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year!
Jo was awarded her honour at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre amongst outstanding company, a reward for her entrepreneurial vision and drive.
Congratulations to Jo!
“Jo Schneider, a serial young entrepreneur and the Director of DVE Business Solutions and Animal Therapeutics Online has been announced as the 2014 South Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year.
After starting her first business ‘Jo’s Toffees’ at the age of 11, Jo founded her first company Animal Therapeutics Online in 2008 after finding a lack in holistic therapies for her injured horse.
Stepping down from her Senior Manufacturing Engineer role at GM Holden, Schneider used her voluntary redundancy package as a capital investment to start Animal Therapeutics Online, providing holistic therapies and performance products from the German Activo Med range to the professional equestrian and racing communities in Australia and New Zealand. While still building Animal Therapeutics Online, Schneider moved onto her next entrepreneurial endeavor DVE Business Solutions driving positive change through a holistic approach looking at process, people, structure and technology. Having grown both businesses significantly over the last 12 months, the Telstra Awards judges praised Ms Schneider’s clarity of vision and strategy, continuous improvement focus, her understanding of financial and business drivers and the importance of systemising activities to ensure sustainability.
Kate McKenzie, Telstra Chief Operations Officer and Telstra Business Women’s Awards Ambassador said, “As I reflect on the achievements of the amazing women that have won these Awards over the past 20 years, I am confident that the 2014 South Australian winners will continue to inspire the next generation. They embody what it means to be a Telstra Business Woman’s Award winner -‐ courageous, confident and innovative.”
For Jo Schneider it was a welcomed surprise, “It is truly a great honour to be recognised in this way and be amongst such incredibly talented and accomplished women.” Gaining inspiration and her passion for business from the other entrepreneurial women in her life, her mother and grandmother, Jo knew she wanted to make her own mark in business. “My mum raised me as a single mother, she made decisions to ensure that we had a good life. This included leaving employment to start her own businesses to afford her the flexibility to be there as I grew. She never let risk get in the way of trying new things and she never let circumstance stop progress or having fun. As a result I had a fun, educational youth filled with love, family and broad experiences. In my family being a woman never seemed to be a consideration in any decision. At school I was good at maths and science. And when I said, “I think I’ll be a Mechanical Engineer” they said, “Yeah, you’d be good at that”. So I did. When in 2008 I thought I’d take a voluntary redundancy package from Holden to start my own business they said, “Yeah, you’d be good at that”. So I did. With those attitudes around me, it never occurred to me to not give things a go -‐ for any reason – let alone gender. I underestimated how this allowed me to carve my path, but I have come to appreciate this more and more.”
Media Contact
To organise an interview with Jo Schneider please contact:
Amanda Jesnoewski
Publicist
M: 0433 502 114
E: amanda@velocitymedia.com.au
