Dungog trio win Australian Women’s Small Business Champion award

A LITTLE belief that two Dungog sisters and their mum could make something work, even when they didn’t quite know how, led them on a nine-year journey that culminated recently on the stage of the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney.

Dungog’s Hidden Valley Clothing received the 2026 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion award for Specialised Retail Small Business during a recent gala celebration.

“We went to the big smoke in our gowns and sparkles thinking we were simply going for the experience,” Brianna Lawrence said.

“We came home as Australian Women’s Small Business Champions.

“And perhaps the biggest lesson of all is that sometimes you really should just say:

“Why not?”

The rollercoaster ride started back in 2017 when Brianna was 28 weeks pregnant, her sister Keisha Phillips was at university studying podiatry, and their mum Maree Garland was working full-time.

“We didn’t really know exactly what we were doing, or how we were going to make it all work,” Bree said.

“But we knew we could. We knew we wanted to create something together, and we were willing to have a go.”

The ensuing nine years involved massive decisions, huge risks, long days, plenty of laughs, plenty of tears, and more hours than they would like to admit.

Then, one day, the trio saw information about  the Australian Women’s Small Business Awards, and decided to give it a go.

“Why not?” Bree said.

“We wanted to see what the awards were all about, what the process looked like and, if nothing else, have the experience of putting Hidden Valley Clothing forward.”

While the entry took a solid two days to compile, it ended up being a great opportunity to reflect upon the journey and what the family had achieved.

“If anything, the process became a beautiful opportunity to stop.” Bree said.

“You don’t often get the chance to sit down and look back at where you started. The application made us do exactly that.

“It reminded us that success isn’t always one huge moment. Sometimes it’s simply opening the doors again the next morning. It’s persevering.It’s staying in your own lane.It’s believing in what you’re building, even on the days when nobody else can see it yet.”

Bree said that after the entry in the Australian Women’s Small Business Awards was sent off, that was that.

“We genuinely thought that was probably the end of it,” she said.

“Until one night, I was sitting on the lounge late, waiting for an email to come through — work-related, of course — when an email appeared on my watch.

“It started with: ‘Congratulations…’.”

Bree immediately called her mum, who declared that the email was a scam. The trio decided to keep quiet about the news … until the information pack arrived in the mail and confirmed authenticity of the email.

“With more than 3,500 entries across Australia, simply becoming a finalist was an achievement we were incredibly proud of,” Bree said.

“We started making plans for the awards night, but even then, our expectations were pretty simple.

“We thought we would make the trip to the big smoke, put on our gowns and sparkles, enjoy a night out, fill a room with incredible businesses and incredible people, and be proud attendees.

“We were going for the experience.”

Somewhere amid the excitement and the anticipation of the trip, there was, however, a tiny spark of hope.

“I had confidence in us,” Bree said.

“I’ve always believed that if you believe in something strongly enough, sometimes it can come true.

“But there is a big difference between hoping something might happen and actually believing you’re going to win a national award.”

Bree said, that in true ‘Mum’ fashion, Maree had totally convinced Keisha that they were not a chance against the line-up of prestigious fellow finalists.

“Then our category was announced,” Bree said. “And suddenly, everything changed. The name Hidden Valley Clothing was announced.”

The three Dungog women gasped. There were tears, there was an impromptu and heartfelt acceptance speech, there were phone calls, and there was celebration.

But, for the trio, it was never about an award.

“We built it because we saw an opportunity in our community,” Bree said. “We built it because we wanted to create something together; we built it because we believed Dungog deserved businesses that were proud to be here; and we built it while raising families, managing other responsibilities, navigating quiet days and challenging seasons, learning as we went and making plenty of mistakes along the way.”

Bree, Keisha and Maree thanked everyone who had been part of their support team and client base throughout the store’s existence.

“A huge thank you to our families for standing behind us through every late night, every crazy idea and every challenge,” Bree wrote on the shop’s Facebook page..

“To our amazing customers — thank you for walking through our doors, shopping with us, recommending us, cheering us on and believing in our little business. You have become such a huge part of our story.’

And the staff, past and present, were thanked for all their hard work throughout the years.

“And then there’s Deb and all of our staff, past and present,” Bree wrote.

“You have been such an important part of Hidden Valley Clothing. You’ve stood beside us through busy days, crazy days, changes, challenges, laughs and everything in between. You’ve looked after our customers, shared the workload, supported our ideas and helped make the shop what it is today.

“We genuinely couldn’t have done this without you. This award belongs to you too.”

Bree reflected on the trials and tribulations of small business.

“One of the biggest decisions we’ve made over the past nine years has been continuing to reinvest in the business rather than taking a wage ourselves,” she said.

“None of us owners have taken a wage from Hidden Valley Clothing over those nine years.

“We’ve built it, grown it, reinvested in it and kept pushing forward.”