Article written and published by Beauty NZ Magazine.
Wairoa’s Amber Forrest is proving something of a trailblazer for Māori women in the beauty industry, achieving a trifecta of awards and helping raise the profile of her industry along the way. The businesswomen and beauty therapist was recently awarded the MWDI Māori Businesswomen’s Award for the Ikaroa region, and the national recognition is the third national award the innovative entrepreneur has picked up over the past year.
The Beauty Antix owner has been showered with top national beauty awards over her 27 years in the industry. The pinnacle was last year when Beauty Antix took out the national title of New Zealand Beauty Clinic of the Year, followed by being named supreme winner of the NZI Rural Women NZ Business Awards.
Amber describes the MWDI Māori Businesswomen’s Award for Ikaroa region as very close to her heart.
“I am Māori, our staff are Māori, and our community is Māori. When I received the award, I dedicated it to the diversity of our Wairoa people, because without our community I wouldn’t be a winner. This is about celebrating wāhine toa throughout our rohe.”
Māori Women’s Development Inc is a unique and Indigenous organisation which supports Māori women in business with the Māori Businesswomen’s Awards celebrating and showcasing the very best wāhine businesswomen and their pakihi (business) to Aotearoa, the Asia-Pacific region and other global markets and Indigenous economies.
This year’s event received more than 70 entries, across eight regional and business excellence categories.
Amber feels privileged that through her recent awards she has been acknowledged by her industry as New Zealand Beauty Clinic of the Year, as a rural provider through the NZI Rural Women NZ Business Awards and now as a recognised award-winning Māori businesswomen.
Amber applied to the awards last year and was shortlisted as a finalist for the Ikaroa region, which stretches from Wellington to the East Cape, as well as making it as a finalist in the Employment and Growth and the People and Capability categories.
“There were some amazing contenders, and because of the high calibre of the other finalists I really was surprised to win.”
Living in a small town does not stop Amber and her team of India Manukau, Ashlea Mudd, Natayla Rore and Liberty Wyllie, from delivering top-level service.
Beauty Antix, which Amber launched nearly 10 years ago, is immersed in the diversity of its clientele and community. It provides a wide range of expert and professional treatments.
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