Wendy Mulholland
With the 11th annual Women in Print series wrapping up recently, major sponsor Kwik Kopy has made a commitment to increase the participation of women to at least 50 percent by 2020.
Print was once a traditionally male-orientated industry, but the industry has made excellent in-roads in recent years. At Kwik Kopy currently, 42 percent of all locations have a female owner or operator, with the company well on its way to achieving gender parity within the next three years. Only 33 percent of business owners and operators Australia wide are women, putting Kwik Kopy ahead of the curve.
David Bell, CEO at Kwik Kopy says that Kwik Kopy is keen to attract more women to the business to highlight how diverse and dynamic it really is. “From head office to all our centres we are keen to support and see more women enter our industry,” he said.
One of the new female entrants into the Kwik Kopy franchise network is Wendy Mulholland, who heads up an all-female centre in Tuggerah. She believes running a Kwik Kopy centre is an attractive proposition for women who are looking to run their own business while gaining flexibility.
“I’ve been with Kwik Kopy since April this year. I purchased the centre as an established business and was previously working as a contract software trainer while raising my two children. They are now both at school, so I thought it was time to find a new challenge. It had to be local, somewhat flexible, and something I would enjoy!”, says Mulholland.
“I know we definitely have clients who want to work with us because we are all women. It’s a great space for women to be involved. It provides a nice mix of creative, hands on and customer service responsibilities,” says Mulholland.
“Since I’ve started we have had some really great results which I think comes down to not only our attention to detail, but our attentiveness and the care we show every one of our clients as well. People seem genuinely impressed that we are all girls – it’s a bit of a running joke with some that call us “chicks in print” though I’m not sure I’m a fan of that!” adds Mulholland.
In total there are 93 Kwik Kopy centres across Australia of which 10 are run purely by women. As a major sponsor of Women In Print, Kwik Kopy wants to provide a network for women to expand their knowledge and create a supportive environment.
