SCBWN Outstanding Business Woman of the Year Winner Agnes Pennay Joins Us!

Oh, thank you so, so much.

It's, you know, I'm still basking in the glow of it.

I guess what I love seeing most was, you know, just seeing my team out there get really excited and celebrate it together.

And also, you know, as a parent myself, I love seeing my parents seeing their 50 year old child win something.

So that was a bit of a kick for me, too, frankly.

Oh, they were wonderful, and particularly when they stood up and bowed down to the crowd as well.

It was a really beautiful moment.

Oh, I know.

That was so funny.

They were

so cute.

Agnes, can you tell us a little bit about your story? For people who were there on the night, I mean, you made a wonderful speech.

The thing I loved the most about what you said was it doesn't have to necessarily be your dream.

It can become your dream because this was never the plan for you, working in a butcher, basically.

Yeah, so I grew up in Korea and the U.S., and I started my career as a consultant, and I worked out of New York and Singapore, and that's where I met Martin.

And so, you know, it's a bit of a journey getting here, but ultimately, Martin wanted to... start a meat business.

And so when we got to the coast, we bought that butchery.

And yes, as you said, it was, and as I said in my speech, it wasn't my dream, it was his dream, but we committed together and I thought, oh, you know, I haven't done paid work in 10 years also.

We were raising kids and I focused on that because he had a very successful long career in banking and we moved countries every two years.

And I had my own doubts, but we got there in the end and you don't have to start with your dream.

You just have to, just one foot in front of the other and you can find fulfillment that way too.

I love that because not everybody gets to be, you know, the Hollywood star or the star sports person or whatever.

Sometimes you've just got to go and make something work for you and your family to keep a roof over your head.

Yes, exactly.

And I think that's how it started.