Sara Mitchell is a woman on a mission. And that mission gained momentum when she was recognised as the national Women’s Business Society’s ‘woman of the month’.
The Point Cook resident is the founder of BizBuddyHub, a community initiative that gets small businesses across Wyndham working together within their own postcode.
“It’s nice to get acknowledgement, but it isn’t about me,” she said. “It’s about what we’re trying to achieve.
“When I came to Point Cook 10 years ago there were about 11,000 people living here. Now we have a population of 46,000.
“I was naive when I moved here and I thought things would pop up around me. Ten years later, I stopped and thought, what’s going on? … it never happened.”
After a brush with breast cancer, Ms Mitchell, busy raising a family and doing the corporate commute, found herself reflecting on what Point Cook had become.
She began to get involved in the community, removing graffiti and campaigning for a new pirate ship playground after the original was destroyed in an arson attack.
“I learned that we have a fantastic community and instead of whingeing about roads and trains we can make a difference,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said the main breadwinners in young families could spend between two and four hours a day getting to and from work, while the second person could be working from home in a freelance capacity.
“I thought, what if corporate communities, instead of sticking their butts on seats in the city, created a fit working environment for them here in Wyndham,” she said.
After launching late last year, BizBuddyHub has a membership base of 40 micro-businesses and hopes to set up shop at the vacant TAFE space on Hoppers Lane.
