Gippsland women gain inspiration at Warragul event

Gippsland women were inspired to challenge the boundaries at an International Women’s Day event in Warragul last week.

Almost 500 people supported the event that was a celebration of women’s achievements and a platform for women to tell their inspiring stories.

Women in Gippsland and Baw Baw Shire partnered to stage the event held at the West Gippsland Arts Centre.

The diverse range of speakers explored this year’s International Women’s Day theme - Choose to Challenge.

Guest speaker Sarah Davidson, a lawyer turned entrepreneur, podcaster and author, was adopted from a South Korean orphanage by a Warragul couple where she spent the first two years of her life.

Seven years study led Sarah to an international law firm where she worked as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer.

A trip to Rwanda for her partner’s work awakened Sarah to her life.  “I went there expecting I would be so grateful for everything I have.”

But, she said, she encountered “unburdened happiness,” watching the pure happiness of a child playing with a leaf for hours.

It was on an international working trip that Sarah discovered the health and wellbeing benefits of matcha green tea powder.

Converted, she returned to Australia and with her partner began a small on-the-side business Matcha Maiden – law through the day, packing matcha powder into plastic bags at night.

Sarah traded the corporate world for a passion that was knocking on her door – and being an entrepreneur ticked another box.

She is now considered a leading businesswoman with Matcha Maiden and the Matcha Mylkbar café.

“Life is continually slipping out of the comfort zone to your next chapter,” she said.