News that Australia’s largest community for women in business, Business Chicks, is coming to Canberra has local career women excited.

With an established presence across metro Australia and a growing ACT member base, Business Chicks is launching into the Canberra market with its first breakfast event on Friday 18 May.

And it’s going to be quite a brekkie! Guest speaker Ita Buttrose was twice voted Australia’s most admired woman and has forever changed how women are perceived and valued in the workplace.

I met Emma Isaacs, Business Chicks’s CEO a few weeks ago, when she came to town to raise awareness of the organisation amongst local businesswomen.

She’s an impressive woman. Young (early 30s), vibrant, warm and managing to juggle being Chief Chick with her role as mum to a two little ones: a two year old and seven-month old baby.  I commented that I could hardly string a sentence together seven months after giving birth, and Emma claims she’s in the same boat…if that’s the case, she’ll be a force to reckoned with once Baby Brain passes.

Of course, she’s already proven that. Emma bought Business Chicks five years ago from BoysTown, the organisation responsible for the children’s charity Kids Helpline, and has grown it into a multi million dollar business.

” I can’t take any credit for having the initial concept…I changed it heaps, turning Business Chicks into an online community and growing the other areas of the business – media, publishing, and of course, events. Nowadays, the brekkies that we still run only equate to about 10% of our business activity and revenues.”

The Business Chicks empire is made up of an online community of over 25,000 women, a national events program comprising over 60 events per year, fundraising efforts, Latte magazine, strategic partnerships and other initiatives. It all sounds terribly impressive. But I had two burning questions:

1. Canberra already has a number of established networking organisations, such as Schmooze and a relatively small pool of private sector businesswomen. How is Business Chicks different?

2. We’re a public service town, and – at first impression at least – Business Chicks seems primarily targeted towards entrepreneurs. What can public sector women get out of membership or a Business Chicks event when their career ladder is about merit-based selection rather than who you know?

Emma’s answer was that the organisation is about much more than networking. It’s about sharing ideas, knowledge, experiences and skills and nurturing personal development. Business Chicks believes in empowering women and supporting each other in the various roles we play.

“We’re a national community enriching the lives of women in business. It’s a forum for connecting, learning, discovering, and celebrating successes,” said Emma.