Annette Densham and Lauren Clemett of The Audacious Agency (TAA) scored a significant victory at the 19th Stevie Awards for Women in Business this month. At a gala event in Las Vegas, they were awarded the top Grand Stevie® trophy, beating out runner-up IBM by 50 points. This win gave them their fifth Grand Stevie® dating back to 2018.

By besting a multinational corporation, The Audacious Agency has demonstrated its effectiveness in helping women entrepreneurs get the recognition they deserve. The team helped over 20 Australian women win in over 40 categories in this year’s awards program, with an impressive haul of seven gold trophies, 11 silver and 23 bronze.

We chatted to Annette about the Audacious Agency’s amazing success and why she loves operating a business on the Gold Coast.

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
Moving to the Gold Coast in 2018 was a long term dream for my family. My eldest song had finished high school and we were looking for a more inclusive and supportive school for my youngest son who is neurodivergent. We found one at Coombabah and it was the best decision ever.  Gold Coast is stuck with us now. There is nothing I love more than driving along the Broadwater – seeing the blue water and the sun dancing on it reminds me of what a magnificent place the Gold Coast is.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
What’s not to love? I live in a place people flocked to for holidays and it is my home. I love the beaches, mixing it up with the holiday goers – enjoying their joy in being in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The entertainment – a night at the Pink Flamingo, a lazy lunch at Cafe Catalina and being able to walk on the beach with sand between my toes. My favourite thing is plunging into the ocean – at any beach – with the sun on my skin and the sound of the water crashing onto the beach.

Tell us a little bit about yourself
I originally hail from Tasmania. We moved to Brisbane in 1977 and I still remember that first winter – in shorts and t-shirts, playing in the backyard til Mum called us in.  My greatest love is writing and sharing other people’s stories and that is the reason I wanted to be a journalist. The best job for asking people questions and finding out about them, all under the guise of my job.  But that didn’t work out, so I took my skills and talents to corporate comms – I still got to write and tell stories.  I have since used my skills to write a few books, and my memoir How To Eat A Shit Sandwich and Keep Smiling came out last year – 100,000 words all about me! I am mum to two young men and wife to my wonderful hubby Earl, for almost 30 years. If I am not writing about others, I have my nose in a book. As a voracious reader, I plough through books like a chocolate addict does a box of choccies. Because I love to make people laugh, I also dabble in stand up comedy and have participated in RAW Comedy a few times – I have never won, but the thrill of taking the ordinary and making something funny out of it gives me a buzz.

Tell us about your business, the Audacious Agency.
The Audacious Agency are profile building and awards specialists, helping entrepreneurs and business owners who are sick of being the world’s best-kept secret. We help them boldly and audaciously stand out from the competition, charge what they are worth, and be sought-after credible leaders.

We bring together publicity and branding expertise to help clients enter, win and leverage awards with a strategy and media coverage that increases brand recognition and makes them Googlicious.

The result is that our clients’ brands dominate online search within their industry and across the globe organically, because we understand that people want the story, they want to connect with the person behind the business. We not only do the work, but also empower the people we work with to cast aside that pesky Australian profile killing condition called tall poppy syndrome. By taking people back to why they started their business and reminding them that the people with whom they have to build a relationship are their prospective audience, we weave compelling stories and relatable content to elevate their authority to deliver a steady stream of ideal prospects and referrals. We help people understand how and why people buy… and it is all about the tell, not the sell.

And the best part is that instead of being overwhelmed and lost, our clients invest time, money and effort into what matters, and have the confidence to be a stand out success. Building on robust strategies, we blend into a beautiful tapestry of awards, articles, social media, publicity and deep understanding of personal branding that builds know, like and trust.

Our offerings are an alchemy of skills and industry experience spanning back to the 80s. With decades in journalism, PR, advertising and branding, we are more than a PR agency. We are master weavers of stories filled with heart, purpose, and know how to connect with an audience.

You recently won a top Grand Stevie® at the International Stevie® Awards for Women in Business in Las Vegas. Congratulations! Can you tell us a bit about the Stevie’s?
The Stevie Awards are considered to be the ‘Oscars of business awards’ internationally. they have been running for over 20 years and shine the light on the sucecsses, triumphs and wins of people in business.  To win the Grand Stevie for Women in Business for the 5th time in a row is a huge hat tip to the work we do – helping others embrace their wins, celebrate their wins and use the process to show others how good they are. You cannot win a Grand Stevie without helping others win – while we won the top prize, it means we helped many other businesses win as well.

The Stevie Awards were created in 2002 to honour and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organisations and working professionals worldwide. There are eight Stevie Awards programs, each with its own focus.

What makes running a business on the Gold Coast so great?
The Gold Coast is such a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation – there are so many outstanding businesses that operate from the Gold Coast.  This pushes me to do my best, to seek out others to inspire and encourage me. There is something about living in a place surrounded by so much natural beauty and people seeking opportunity that is motivating. Plus, there are so many great networking groups where you can go, make friends, learn, grow, and be encouraged to be and do more.  The Gold Coast isn’t a massive metropolis, and that’s what I love – it is big enough to provide opportunity, but not big enough that you get lost in it.

Being an entrepreneur, what are the biggest challenges you have faced?
Life’s challenges! Let me count them. I need more than one hand.

I’m going to pick three; these three are challenges that could have broken me.

1. I grew up in poverty. My dad left when I was 3. He left us with nothing. My Mum did everything she could, she put food on the table. Yet, I remember, as a kid thinking how skinny she was. As an adult, as a mum, I know she was going without food so we wouldn’t. Even though we didn’t have much, Mum always infused me with the belief that I could do anything. I used my childhood to make better choices as an adult. I wrote a book about it last year, and I am still in awe of how ‘normal’ I am.
2. Chronic disease – being sick ALL THE TIME is tiring and draining. I have not one but three chronic illnesses. They’ve been my constant companions and made being in business hard. You can’t see them. They’re invisible. I’ve overcome them by living as much as my life as healthily as possible – right foods, exercise, and most importantly, a bloody good attitude.
3. A son with autism. When you have a baby, you don’t envisage a life of torment for them. You want them to shine bright. My Qwyn has had to deal with more than most people do in a lifetime. For over 9 years, all while running my business, I have had to battle the school system, multiple suspensions, ‘flexible’ days, bullying, loneliness, and his pain of being so misunderstood. Sometimes, it made running a business is hard – managing a screaming child while having meetings is not a good look. But we got through it – through persistence, asking for help and being transparent about the journey.

What does a typical day look like for you?
Seeing the sunrise, over the lake where I live always reminds me of what a divine place I live. Starting the day with gratitude sets me up for a cracker day. I am at my computer by 8am most mornings, ready to talk to people who want to find a way to stand out and not be the world’s best-kept secret.  I work hard and often long hours because what I do is not a job; as naff as it sounds, it is my calling.  My days are mostly spent talking to people and with my fingers tapping the keyboard, and writing stories about those willing to share their stories with me. During summer, I throw into the mix outrigging with the Gold Coast Outrigging Club, afternoons at Shearwater Park, lying under a tree, reading a book on my Kindle, catching up with friends and sitting on my back verandah listening to the cicadas, watching the kangaroos and loving the great Aussie bush.

Tell us the best piece of advice someone has ever given you and why you consider it the best?
Whether people love me or hate me, it has nothing to do with me. I can’t control how people feel about me. All I can do is show as the best I can be, treat others with respect and dignity and live true to myself.  This advice helped me overcome being a people pleaser – here I was putting myself out for people who had already made their mind up about me. I can’t control how people feel. When I accepted that, life became so much better, because the only person I can please is myself. We cannot control how others think and feel – they will do that anyway based on their life experiences, beliefs and attitudes. Sometimes people do not like you and you’ve done nothing to them, except remind them of someone else. That is out of your control. When you let that go, it is freeing.

What are you looking forward to the most in the next 12 months?
The Audacious Agency launched in February 2020 …and we all know what happened in March 2020. It seemed our business was doomed from the start. But we got into solution mode, adapted and changed so we remained relevant, even when people were cutting marketing costs.  Three years later, we have helped so many others succeed and shine … and grown our business to the point were we employ three other people. So next year is going to be a ripper. We have streamlined our offerings to focus on being the BEST awards writing agency in Australia, focusing on strategy and pathways for people to make the most of their wins – 80% of people never tell anyone they’ve won anything and we want to be the people that empower them to own their wins.  We are working on an awards app so people can create their own awards calendars and take advantage of what is on offer for businesses.  We will take more women with us to the US for the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, having finessed our packages so entering awards is not just a one off thing and then do nothing with it. I am also writing a sequel to my memoir and writing a fictional book about a journalist who stumbles on a secret plan to overthrown the NZ government – she flees to outback Queensland, falls in love and has many crazy adventures – it’ll be a comedy mystery – a little like the style of one of my fav authors, Marian Keyes.

What are your Gold Coast favourites…
Café/Coffee spot: Cafe 7 at Paradise Point
Restaurant: Cafe Catalina
Bar or place for a drink: My front balcony, drinking good Aussie wines, overlooking the lake
Beach: Shearwater Park if I just want to soak up the sun and read, or Main Beach for a dip in the ocean

How do you each choose to spend your days off?
With my husband Earl at the beach in my beach beanbag, reading, swimming and snoozing under a tree.  If it is gloomy, snuggled up on the coach watching movies.