2024 National Winners

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: Well again, can I say congratulations to every finalist in the room and to all of our national category winners. We're finally here the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards Business of the Year. It is LSKD.

Footage: Recipients wearing formal attire walks past tables of well-dressed people onto the stage to accept his award. Small fireworks emit from the stage. Recipient poses with the award.

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding. 

Award recipient speaks: Wow! Thank you. Honestly, you know, firstly, thank you to Telstra for such an amazing event. It's pretty surreal to be up here winning such a prestigious award.

You know, this journey started back in 2002 as a high school nickname. I was riding BMX and they said I was a little bit crazy and called me the loose kid. So, you know, I was 13 years old and to see the journey that it's gone through over the last 20 plus years and you know it, it's been a journey.

The brand has actually changed three times. It went from Loose Kid Industries to LK I in 2007. I was a carpenter working full time and racing motocross, wanting to be a professional motocross athlete to 2018, really finding our why and changing it to LSKD.

And we really found ourselves within the functional fitness running community and really wanted to create the best leggings in the world for our community, and do you know? To look back and the struggles that we went through, there were so many times that it was really hard. And to see where we're at today and to be up here right now is just mind blowing.

You know? Yeah. So thank you. And look, there's a couple of other things.

Firstly, I just want to thank my beautiful wife. You know, she puts up with the as you know, as most founders or entrepreneurs know,  it's a little bit crazy in a madhouse at home. And you're on. So it wasn't for her and my two beautiful kids. You know, my son Hendrix and my daughter Freya. You know, this wouldn't be possible, so thank you.

You know, to everyone that has supported this brand over the years, our community, our team you know, our future community. Thank you.

You know, our team all over the world our office and the team in San Diego right now, building the community there. Yeah. Thank you.

So you know, such an amazing award and I Yeah. So grateful. So thank you so much.

Footage: Video transitions to a blue end screen with the words ‘Best of Business Awards’ and the Telstra logo.

Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: The 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards National Accelerating Women Winner is... mumamoo! 

Footage: Recipients wearing formal attire, two in dresses and one in a pantsuit, walk and past tables of well-dressed people and walk and dance onto the stage to accept their award.

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding. 

Award recipient speaks: Thank you so much. Thank you to Telstra, the judges, the incredible Australian businesses nominated tonight, but notably, to all the trailblazing women in the room, especially those in our category.

mumamoo exists in a space where our product cannot be advertised. Gambling? Yes. Alcohol? Yes. But infant formula, AKA the only alternative to breast milk? No.

As mothers, we know firsthand the barriers restricting information creates, and the stigma and shame that go hand in hand when turning off the support tap simply for the way that you feed. Infant formula is a life saving product, and we are incredibly proud to be advocating for the 85% of Australian women that will incorporate it as part of their feeding journey.

Not only are we a fully female founded company and a disruptor in an industry that has remained unchanged for decades, we are in the business of removing guilt. We actively advocate for women because all women are worthy of accessing information and support. We talk about the shame and the stigma associated with formula and the grief around breastfeeding should it end or not go to plan. We are, in summary, a pro breastfeeding infant formula company.

Winning this very important award will help us further advocate for better services for all women. It shouldn't matter what your background, ethnicity or paycheck is.

So thank you to our esteemed judges, alumni and peers. We are truly honoured to take home this award and continue our objective to accelerate women and be the voice of formula feeding families in Australia.

Footage: Video transitions to a blue end screen with the words ‘Best of Business Awards’ and the Telstra logo.

Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: Tonight. The winner is… Evolve Communities.

Footage: Recipients wearing formal attire walk past tables of well-dressed people onto the stage to accept their award. 

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, person screams in excitement, people cheering and applauding. 

Award recipient 1 speaks: [Spoken in Indigenous language] Wow, what an honour and a privilege to be associated with all of you beautiful, talented and creative people. I'd like to thank Telstra for giving us this award because we're about building communities of allies to create a kind of more inclusive Australia. Thank you to our team so much. Without this award, we wouldn't do much.

Award recipient 2 speaks: [Spoken in Indigenous language] To Telstra, judges, alumni for recognising the role that small business plays in building communities across Australia. To our esteemed also state winners, Prue talked about kinship. You are kin, you are family to us. You inspire, you support, and you lift us. And it's only together that we can do this.

For all of you, I'm not indigenous. 90% of our population is, like myself, non-indigenous. Only 3% of First Nations people. So, we ask with our vision. As Aunty Munya said, our vision is thriving communities of allies who value and learn from each other value and learn from First Nations people and wisdom for a kinder and more inclusive Australia.

Who wants to sign up for that? Yeah. [applause] 

And the generosity of First Nations people in welcoming, as Aunty Yvonne did tonight, and she talked about We can do this together. We can do this together. [Spoken in Indigenous language] Go well, and as Aunty Munya would say Aunty Munya, It's all about Namanju. Namanju which is love. Thank you.

Footage: Recipients both hold their hands together to signify a love heart. Video transitions to a blue end screen with the words ‘Best of Business Awards’ and the Telstra logo.

Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: The 2024 Telstra Best of Business Award National Championing Health Award is Earworx.

Footage: Two recipients wearing formal attire, one in a dress and one in a suit, embrace before walking past tables of well-dressed people and onto the stage to accept their award.

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding. Wow! Thank you.

Award recipient 1 speaks: Has anyone here ever had a blocked ear? [laughter] If you have, this is a win for all of you, trust me.  

A big thank you to Telstra for this opportunity and their generosity in running this awards programme, this experience has encouraged all of us to be the best we can be. So thank you.

Well done and thank you to our other state finalists in our category, each and every one of you is doing great things for others, which is really special and is what our category is about.

Thank you to all our wonderful Earworx nurses, our whole head office team and our patients who trust us with their precious ears every day. And a shout out to Kylie Ward, CEO of the College of Nursing, for her ongoing support of us and indeed the nursing profession.

Award recipient 2 speaks: We'd like to thank our inner sanctum team of consultants and people that help us every day. We'd like to thank our family. Lisa's mum and dad, my mum and dad, our siblings, and our six beautiful children that we love more than life itself.

We have big plans to grow our business over the next two years, and we want to see as many Australians as possible who need our service receive safe and gentle micro suction from a wonderfully trained, brilliant nurse. We believe that registered nurses can be the solution to some of the issues facing the Australian healthcare system.

Award recipient 1 speaks: Earworx is a shining example of registered nurses that are trained and who understand their scope, taking pressure off GPs and emergency departments across the country.

We're going to spend the next 12 months raising awareness of what registered nurses can do to assist the Australian healthcare system and the issues that it faces. Patients who choose to attend a registered nurse for their healthcare needs should be able to receive a Medicare or private health rebate. 

This is about access and equity for all Australians. Thank you. 

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Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: So, the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Award for National Embracing Innovation Award winner is... (a lot of pause) Transmutation.

Footage: Two recipients wearing formal attire, one in a dress and one in a suit, embrace before walking past tables of well-dressed people and onto the stage to accept their award.

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding.

Award recipient speaks: We're very humble and excited to have received the award. The vast majority of people in this room know how bloody hard it is to run a small business. And to be recognised like this is an absolute validation of that hard work.

Congratulations to all of the other businesses in this category, and, of course, all of the other businesses here tonight. A huge thank you to Telstra for putting on these awards. We have absolutely felt special the moment we arrived and the week long experience has been so great.

Transmutation is a business that makes waste great again. [laughter and clapping]  

We fully intend to be one of the leading circular economy businesses that replaces virgin plastic with recycled plastic in Australian market, as well as continuing to solve worldwide problems such as the recycling of powder coating waste which we've just solved.

High quality... [cheers] Yeah, thanks.

High quality plastic from 100% Australian recycled materials sold back into a market as a profitable business is what we do. Although we do work very hard, we cannot possibly be here tonight without great supporters and a great team.

We'd like to thank all of our collaborators and partners. First up Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs, Country Road Australia, Dulux, Second Sphere Partners... Matt and Alicia at Sustainable Plastic Solutions for sharing our vision and bringing all their know how and expertise behind the scenes.

We'd like to thank our advocates Graham Rowe, Billy Hadfield and Ned and Molly Wright and our shareholders who are behind the scenes and allow us to do what we do. Our great staff back in Robe, South Australia, Tiffany and Seth for running the show while we're standing here and the biggest thanks of all to my co-founder, wife, friend and partner on this wild ride - Norelle [applause] At Transmutation, we make one man's trash into everyone's treasure.

Footage: Video transitions to a blue end screen with the words ‘Best of Business Awards’ and the Telstra logo.

Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: The 2024 Best of Business Awards National Indigenous Excellence Award Winner is... Eather Group.

Footage: Recipients wearing formal attire, two in dresses and one in a suit, walk past tables of well-dressed people onto the stage to accept their award. 

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding. 

Award recipient speaks: Woo, yeah! First, Aunty Yvonne, thank you for welcoming us to this beautiful Gadigal country.

Telstra. Marvellous event. I'm blessed to meet so many good humans, especially in our category that are doing great things for their community. You guys rock. Hey, honestly, Fair dinkum. So it's an honour to be up here taking this award. But, mate, you guys are the _ [laughter] Excuse the French.

I'd like to thank the great humans have worked within Eather Group, that wear their PPE every day, they get up in the grind. They stand for what we care about. They're out there. They're amongst it. God, they got some resilience. We love you guys. This is the best. Thank you. [applause] 

What can I say about these two beautiful humans beside me, Mate seriously, I'm just the tool. These two are the fuel. Honestly, mate, without these guys behind me… anyway, to be able to do what we do, it's, you know, I love you guys. This is beautiful.

14 years ago. I worked in an industry called destruction. It's construction, but it was destruction. I seen better ways that they could do with the waste of resource and the materials that they were mishandling.

So, in 14 years, I've been able to save 9 million tonnes of material and diverted that back into the building industry, changing a Neanderthal mentality that it's a waste. It's not a waste.

These are products that need to be respected Just in perspective, 4 million tonnes of that has gone back into the brickworks which has made 250,000 homes.

[cheers] Thank you. This award to us it means so much to us. I'm honoured and with opportunity I won't squander this award. I will make more change throughout National. Here we come, Eather Group. Let her rip.

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Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: The 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards National Outstanding Growth Award Winner is... LSKD.

Footage: Recipient wearing formal attire walks past tables of well-dressed people onto the stage to accept his award. Small fireworks emit from the stage. Recipient poses with the award.

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding. 

Award recipient speaks: This is wild. Thank you. I mean, yeah, to be bringing this award back to Logan in Queensland is a real honour. So, thank you.

[Cheers] Yeah, firstly, I'd just like to thank Telstra.  Such an amazing event. And to meet so many amazing people these last couple of days, it has been so inspiring. Thank you to the judges. I mean, that 10 minutes we had to present was so nerve-racking. And I'm sure all the finalists felt the same way, so thank you to the judges.

To the finalists, and to all the entrepreneurs in the room. I think you know, the highs and lows that we go through in this journey. And to be able to enjoy the journey tonight is such a special thing for us. So, congratulations to you all.

[clapping] Um, you know, this brand started from my mum's bedroom. We were shipping orders from, I was a teenager, so to be here tonight, it wasn't that long ago and to now have over 250 team members around the world opening retail stores. It would not be possible without them.

You know, like what we're trying to create, you know, to inspire our community, to be 1% better every day through our mission and our values. And we want to try and create the best sports wear in the world. For them to go out and create communities and be 1% better every day is such a huge honour.

So, yeah, to be up here tonight is super cool. So, thank you so much. Hope everyone has a great night and thank you.

Footage: Video transitions to a blue end screen with the words ‘Best of Business Awards’ and the Telstra logo.

Audio – music: Telstra jingle

Footage: Upbeat music plays as the video moves from a blue opening screen with the words "Best of Business Awards" and the Telstra logo to the Award presenter.

Presenter speaks: The 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards National Promoting Sustainability Award Winner is... (I forgot to undo it. Oh my gosh! So embarrassing. That was just part of the suspense.) Congratulations, Lyka Pet food.

Footage: Five recipients wearing formal attire walk past tables of well-dressed people onto the stage to accept the award.

Audio: Upbeat electronic music, people cheering and applauding. 

Award recipient speaks: Hey everyone, it's an honour to accept this award tonight. I'm Anna and I'm the CEO and founder of Lyka Pet Food.

I firstly want to say thank you to Telstra for hosting such an incredible awards ceremony. And the whole experience has been so supportive and just such a highlight of, you know, all the hard work that we do.

Next, it's so humbling to meet such an amazing cohort of incredible businesses. It's been incredible meeting you all, and I'm so excited to see how, as a group we can continue to push the boundaries in this year and the years to come. Winning this award wouldn't have been possible without an amazing team. And I also want to shout out in particular COO Gigi and Dr. Matthew Muir, our co-founder.

Now, you might be wondering how on earth is a pet food company in the sustainability category? Let me give you a quick snapshot of Lyka's story. The company is named after my dog, Lyka.  She's my soul mate, I've had her since she was six weeks old. 

Many years ago, I used to feed her a processed kibble diet. She wasn't doing very well, so I started cooking for her. And then her health flourished. And I knew I wanted to create this impact to dogs all across Australia. 

So, five years ago we were cooking her meals in my dad's kitchen. Fast forward to today. We served over 13 million meals to dogs across Australia.  [applause] Sustainability has been in our DNA since day one, and our co-founder Gigi is Brazilian and from his childhood experience, the deforestation of the Amazon forest. And we knew from day One we wanted to build the company as a platform for sustainability.

So, a small snapshot of our efforts so far, we are carbon negative across scope one, two and three. We are single use plastic negative. We have developed, alongside our partners, a global first material.

It's a thermo-formable bioplastic, and we fitted out our kitchen with state-of-the-art sustainability technology, everything from solar panels to equipment that separates fat from water. As a growing business, we are a case study for investors, shareholders and corporations that sustainable businesses can be, in fact, sustainable.

Thank you, everyone, and I hope you have an amazing night.

Footage: Video transitions to a blue end screen with the words ‘Best of Business Awards’ and the Telstra logo.

Audio – music: Telstra jingle