The Girls! Make Your Mark Awards finalists have been announced!

Make Your Mark joined forces with handbag.com to create the Girls! Make Your Mark Awards to celebrate our great female entrepreneurs. Together we searched to find the cream of the country\'s female entrepreneurs and business brains.

 
Awards are given in four categories, The Pioneer, Female Entrepreneur Of The Year, Entrepreneurs With A Conscience, and Handbags And Gladrags. Take a look at the finalists for each category and vote for who you think deserves to win the handbag.com People\'s Choice Award on 12 September. Voting ends 1 September.

 
The awards are supported by fashion designers Savannah Miller, Pearl Lowe, and Marissa Montgomery and judged by Ann Summers CEO Jacqueline Gold and vocal coach Carrie Grant.

 
And the nominees are... 

Pioneer finalist

Isabel Branch, Plan:Polo, West Sussex
Knowing your industry inside out prior to starting a business is certainly an advantage and Plan:Polo founder Isabel Branch has put every single one of her seven years in the world of polo to good use.

 
Years of seeing chaos and confusion ensue in the organisation of polo tournaments convinced Isabel that the industry needed an online planning tool for clubs and players so that their schedules could be properly organised; thus Plan:Polo was born.

Due to launch shortly, Plan:Polo is set to become something akin to a finely-tuned, super targeted social networking site. Isabel believes that by the time she is finished, the system will be totally indispensible to anyone affiliated with the world of polo. She believes that winning a handbag.com award would give her business even greater credibility and help to gain her the recognition of the general public. 

www.planpolo.com

Click here to vote for Isabel

Pioneer finalist

Sarah Gillies, UMIcreate, London
Developing a positive business opportunity out of an otherwise negative personal setback requires a special type of entrepreneur. When Sarah Gillies developed a medical condition that put an end to her successful photography career, she suddenly found herself having to search for other ways to use her skills.

 
Refusing to be beaten, she started UMIcreate, an online card creation site that enables people to create personalised holiday postcards, scan in their children\'s artwork, personalise party invitations and much more, without needing specialised photographic equipment.

 
Spotting a niche, Sarah came to realise that UMIcreate could bridge the gap between the photographic market and the online card industry. Eventually she is hoping that the company will be able to diversify its product range and expand overseas.

www.umicreate.co.uk

Click here to vote for Sarah

Pioneer finalist

Priya Lakhani, Masala Masala, London
As a young, professional Indian woman Priya Lakhani had one aim in starting her company Masala Masala - to create a truly authentic curry that could be found on the supermarket shelf and yet was still as good as her mother\'s.

 
Priya has managed to maintain the integrity of the old while combining it with the new, and achieve all this in a business setting. Self-taught, she is proof that prior experience is not a prerequisite to business success.

 
Priya is "determined to give something back to the wonderful country from which these recipes came" and will launch the Masala Masala Trust alongside the business. Based in Mumbai it will provide a meal to a homeless person for every unit of product sold.

 
Masala Masala is set to launch at The Speciality and Fine Foods Fair in London this September and so far the range consists of eight products, three of which will be revealed at the launch.
                                                                   www.masalamasala.co.uk
                                                                   Click here to vote for Priya
 

Pioneer finalist

Jo Morey, Haute Chocolat, West Sussex
Many women would describe themselves as having "an innate passion" for chocolate, but not everyone would have the courage to turn it into a business like Jo Morey with Haute Chocolate, a combined shop and café promising to provide escapism and indulgent, luxurious chocolate to busy people throughout the day.

 
Still in Haute Chocolat\'s infancy Jo has already overcome several hurdles, including initial lack of finances. On a shoestring budget, Jo cannily combined holidays with research to secure meetings with major hitters and used her negotiation skills to secure an experienced independent market consultant to facilitate focus groups. She admits that when recruiting female testers, the promise of delicious free chocolate was somewhat of a help!

 
Jo is targeting London and Brighton as the first locations for this unique concept, and we can\'t wait for the opening event.

Click here to vote for Jo

Pioneer finalist

Emelie Olsson and Louise Olsson, The Catapult Club, London
Business inspiration can strike in unlikely places. When Emelie Olsson enrolled in a Krav Maga self-defence course she had no idea that it would be the start of a journey that would see her joining sister Louise in founding their own business, The Catapult Club.

 
Based on teaching the same principles as the art of Krav Maga; self-confidence, self-empowerment and personal liberation, the Catapult Club aims to provide its female members with skills that are practical and relevant in modern life. It offers the Life Launcher weekends away for small groups of females that combine skills-based training, socialising and relaxation; some might say the ultimate girls\' weekend.

 
The Olsson sisters have overcome many challenges, particularly in ensuring that their unique offering is not pigeonholed into the existing \'life-coaching\' or ‘personal development\' arenas.

 
On a personal level, Emelie and Louise have also learnt a lot along the way about how to strike the right balance between communicating as business partners as well as sisters.

 
www.thecatapultclub.com

Click here to vote for Emilie and Louise 

Pioneer finalist

Sarah Vorbach, face boutique, London
The face boutique cosmetics line has been a labour of love for founder Sarah Vorbach. She and her team spent four long years planning and researching in order to produce the highest quality products with ingredients sourced 100% from the UK.

 
The inspiration for starting her company came to Sarah when she was helping her 19 year old niece choose skincare and she realised there were no suitable brands for younger skin that were truly ethical and naturally derived. Sarah has refused to compromise her environmental ethos at any stage of the business; from the use of recyclable packaging to the sourcing of reputable suppliers, every effort is made to ensure that this range fulfils its social and environmental responsibilities.

 
Sarah\'s team also has a central aim of educating young women on how to care for their skin. Hard work and perseverance has so far scored them a highly successful launch in retail chain SpaceNK. However the next goal for the team is to gain increased exposure for the brand in the UK which will hopefully be followed by further expansion into the United States and Europe.

 
www.faceboutique.com

Click here to vote for Sarah 

Female Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist

Joanna Behari, Home Jane Ltd, London
Home Jane was established in 2006, after founder Joanna Behari renovated her own home and found the process frustrating due to a lack of communication from the male tradesmen she employed. Looking further into the industry, she spotted a gap in the market for an exclusively female company to provide an all round service to other women like herself.

 
Spurred on by wanting to disprove the mind-set that the world of manual trade was no place for a woman, she began to build up a team of highly skilled professional tradeswomen who could undertake plumbing, electrics and plastering plus give advice on decoration, interior design and property maintenance.

 
Joanna has overcome many barriers along the way and describes her journey as a "long and lonely road." From struggling to be taken seriously in a fiercely male dominated environment, to the fear and loneliness that she felt so keenly in the early stages, Joanna and her female team are proud of what they have achieved so far. The positive reception the company has received is demonstrated by the fact that Home Jane is due to expand out of London and in to Manchester in September.

 
www.home-jane.co.uk

Click here to vote for Joanna 

Female Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist

Nicky Gray, KiKi\'s Kabin, Tyne & Wear
Nicky Gray was just 20 in 2006 when she leapt head first into business to start Kiki\'s Kabin, which she describes as "selling smiles, memories and a safe place for children to play while their parents relax."

 
Set in an old church, Kiki\'s Kabin is three floors of unadulterated fun for kids and just a tiny bit of thinking time for their parents. Start-up wasn\'t easy and Nicky found herself having to make very responsible decisions for someone of her years and battling continuously to be taken seriously by older staff members. Refusing to be defeated, she has since turned Kiki\'s into a successful business employing 17 people.

 
Nicky feels that one of the most rewarding aspects of her work is the opportunity to work with schools teaching enterprise and also mentoring other people wanting to start up their own businesses.
www.kikiskabin.co.uk

Click here to vote for Nicky 

Female Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist

Jennifer Irvine, The Pure Package, London
Jennifer Irvine was standing at the kitchen sink when inspiration struck in 2003 and she realised that she wanted to start up her own business. As a life long foodie, the idea behind Pure Package came to her very easily; she wanted to deliver high quality, nutritionally balanced and individually tailored meals to people like herself, who wanted help with dieting, training support, pre or post baby nutrition or just to ensure that they were eating healthily.

 
When background research showed that there was nothing else like Pure Package currently on the market, Jennifer knew that she would be launching a truly groundbreaking service.

 
Despite having to juggle being a business owner, wife, mother and everything in between, through hard work and sheer determination Jennifer has managed to create a multi-million pound business in just five years. The fact that Pure Package has managed to maintain its top position in the marketplace despite the appearance of rival companies is testimony to her incredible talent as a business woman. 

 
Despite its success, Jennifer still has plenty in mind for Pure Package and would like to see it continue to grow in the UK and potentially overseas.
www.purepackage.com

Click here to vote for Jennifer 

Female Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist

Clare Molyneux, Open The Door: Theatre In Education, Merseyside
As a child Clare Molyneux felt full of insecurities. After suffering the death of her father, and being made redundant aged 21, she decided to tackle her own demons by devoting her life to bestowing self-confidence and a sense of security in other young people.

 
In 2004 Clare started Open The Door - Theatre In Education. Her group of employees facilitates Performing Arts Programmes in over 500 schools youth clubs, children\'s homes and young offenders institutes per year. This gives them direct contact with over 10,000 troubled young people.

 
Clare\'s aim is to encourage kids to express themselves through the medium of acting and to have fun. They explore everything from gun crime to sexual heath, drug issues and racism. No subject is too frightening or taboo and their plays are performed on behalf of organisations like The Prince\'s Trust, The Liverpool Schools Parliament and Connexions.

 
Clare believes that everyone benefits - young people are allowed to communicate their innermost fears in a safe environment and in turn the general public are educated and enlightened about the issues faced by today\'s youth. 
www.openthedoortie.co.uk

Click here to vote for Clare

Female Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist

Sanchita Saha, CitySocialising.com, London
Forget Facebook and myspace.com, young professionals living in London are looking to a different website to shape their social agenda; CitySocialising, brainchild of Sanchita Saha.

 
As early as 2004, when the phenomenon of online social networking as we know it was pretty much non-existent, it occurred to Sanchita that young professionals moving to or in London were finding it difficult to meet new people and make contacts. The solution was to create an event based social networking site, where users could create profiles, share interests and meet in person at social outings and events.

 
With a background in media, Sanchita had a good grasp of the social part but had no prior online or web experience, so getting to grips with the logics of starting up her own website presented a formidable challenge which she had to overcome.

 
Sanchita\'s perseverance prevailed and she has single-handedly taken CitySocialising from a basic idea to a successful and growing business. CitySocialising is now available in seven major cities across the UK and her dream is to establish the service further afield into Europe and the USA.

www.citysocialising.com

Click here to vote for Sanchita 

Female Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist

Anna Scaife, Anna Lou of London, London
In just four years, Anna Scaife\'s self-titled jewellery collections have progressed from their humble beginnings in London\'s Portobello Market to being sold in over 300 stores and high-end boutiques in the UK, Japan, USA and Europe. Her carefully crafted designs have adorned celebrities including Madonna, Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue and have featured in numerous fashion magazines and on the catwalk.

 
These dizzying heights of success have not come without their own challenges. Anna\'s self-belief was tested when a cash flow nightmare forced her to sell her home in order to fund her fledgling business. Having to work 16 hour days since the company began has also tested her endurance levels to the max, but her willingness to take risks and her determination has certainly paid off and she is undeniably an inspiration to any budding female entrepreneur.

 
The next steps for Anna\'s business are concessions in department stores internationally and a large flagship store in the UK that she hopes will "become known as the best fashion jewellery and accessory destination ever!"

www.annalouoflondon.com

Click here to vote for Anna 

Entrepreneurs With A Conscience finalist

Helen Bate, Pictures To Share, Cheshire
The terrifying consequences of dementia revealed itself to Helen Bate first hand when her mother had the disease and she decided to do something positive to help families in a similar position.

 
After losing her mother to the disease, she went back to university and studied book illustration. Her new found skills allowed her to start up Pictures To Share, a company specialising in the production of beautifully crafted books. Having experienced directly how individuals with dementia are often ignored and even ostracised by the media world Helen\'s high-quality, non-patronising reading materials are designed for dementia sufferers and their families. This would, in her own words, give back some of the enjoyment that they had lost, at a time when they needed it the most.

 
Helen is determined to build awareness in the community about dementia and Alzheimer\'s and offer families a positive approach to caring for loved ones.

 
Her biggest challenge was obtaining sufficient support from investors willing to take a chance on a new idea for a group that is not traditionally part of the "consumer society."

www.picturestoshare.co.uk

Click here to vote for Helen 

Entrepreneurs With A Conscience finalist

Alexandra Bishop, Biome Lifestyle Ltd, London
It\'s no secret that the UK\'s collective environmental conscience continues to grow and Alexandra Bishop\'s online shop Biome Lifestyle is the perfect answer for those searching for a way to kit out their homes with super-stylish yet environmentally friendly products.

 
Having relinquished a job in banking, and the security that went with it, Alexandra has worked tirelessly and often alone for the past three years in order to achieve her vision. From working in the postal room to undertaking PR, organising the accounts and tackling sales, her involvement in every aspect of the business has been the key to its success and is also what makes it so fulfilling for her.

 
Her commitment to running an ethical business knows no bounds; every product is handpicked according to its eco-credentials. Alexandra is also passionate about working with fair-trade co-operatives and helping more overseas communities. Biome Lifestyle is a proud sponsor of a UK based charitable trust working in Malawi - The Nyumba Ya Thanzi.

 
Her determination enabled her to withstand seven day weeks and a total absence of salary and now these sacrifices have paid off as her site continues to rapidly grow in popularity.

www.biomelifestyle.com

Click here to vote for Alexandra 

Entrepreneurs With A Conscience finalist

Amanda Jones, Red Button Design Ltd, Dumbarton 
Amanda Jones has a naturally entrepreneurial nature and enjoys using her skills to create business initiatives that help people in need around the world. Her time in nine-to-five employment was short-lived as she quickly became frustrated by the lack of opportunity and a sense of not doing anything meaningful.

 
Red Button Design Ltd was launched in 2006, and is a design house producing products exclusively for the aid and humanitarian markets. The flagship product is the ROSS (The Reverse Osmosis Sanitation System), a water purification device that could conceivably be used to provide safe drinking water to millions of the world\'s poorest people.

 
Over the next three years Amanda has great hopes for Red Button Design. She would like to see it develop as a recognisable design brand in its own right, gaining credibility in the humanitarian field and in promoting public awareness of the work of the United Nations.

 
In January 2008 Amanda was fortunate enough to travel to India on a government delegation alongside Gordon Brown, Peter Jones, Richard Branson and Karan Bilimoria.

www.thisisredbutton.co.uk

Click here to vote for Amanda 

Entrepreneurs With A Conscience finalist

Safia Minney, People Tree, London
People Tree is the brainchild of Safia Minney and is built on two of simple yet profound goals: to promote environmental justice and to ensure the continuation of traditional clothing production techniques in order to protect the livelihoods of communities that would otherwise be lost through increased modernisation.

 
Working with around 70 different groups in 16 different countries, Safia insists that People Tree ‘always takes the hard route\' in order to achieve its goals of social and environmental justice and to set standards for best practice.  This has been rewarded by the fact that the company is the only fashion dedicated business to be registered as a member of IFAT (International Fair Trade Association). If ever you needed proof of the saying ‘good things come to those who wait\' - lead times for most high street retailers are eight weeks, but for People Tree they can be anything up to a year!

 
People Tree currently has two successful stores in Japan and is hoping to open shortly in London. Safia dreams of eventually doing for the clothing industry what the Body Shop did for the beauty industry and winning would take her one step closer to making her dream a reality.  

www.peopletree.co.uk

Click here to vote for Safia 

Entrepreneurs With A Conscience finalist

Elaine Owen, Designated Associates, Merseyside
Social enterprise is genuinely top of the agenda for Designated Associates founder Elaine Owen, whose independent, self-financing business offers IT and technology based teaching, services and consultancy to business and individuals across the North West.

 
After being made redundant and leaving her house and husband Elaine was determined not to let the world get her down and instead turned these experiences into positive opportunities. It was the start of a new chapter and the chance to regain her independence.

 
Looking for a "real purpose" to her daily working life, Elaine set about ensuring that Designated Associates was known for quality works and that it give back to the community wherever possible. For example, she pioneered a very successful work experience programme for local schools, colleges and universities as well as offering pro-bono services to third sector organisations, including free PCs for the YMCA and mentoring services to local women in business.

 
To get to this stage Elaine has had to create a business without any starting capital, start and grow a family alongside the business and negotiate the buy out of her founding business partner.

www.elaineowen.com

Click here to vote for Elaine 

Entrepreneurs With A Conscience finalist

Carry Somers, Pachacuti, Derbyshire
Carry Somers founded Pachacuti, meaning ‘world upside down\' in Quechua, out of a desire to make a stand against problems in the clothing trade in the Andean regions of South America, which regularly included arson, intimidation and mistreatment. Since its inception 16 years ago, Carry\'s company has done what had previously been deemed impossible; to create beautiful clothing which benefits the producers, preserves the traditional skills of the workers and is totally environmentally sustainable.

 
Pachacuti employs over 400 embroiderers, tailors, knitters and milliners, and 300 weavers through women\'s Panama hat co-operatives in Ecuador. The hat sales fund a number of social projects; from paying the rent and food costs for Alcoholics Anonymous to building a local grocery store. Carry is also running an apprenticeship programme that equips future generations with the skills needed to support themselves.

 
She is passionate about inspiring future generations closer to home; in the UK she works with secondary schools to educate pupils on the human cost of cheap fashion and encourages young designers to work more ethically through providing work placements.  

www.pachacuti.co.uk

Click here to vote for Carry 

Handbags And Gladrags finalist

Sarah Brown, Pai Skincare, London
Launching a truly organic skincare brand isn\'t easy, as Sarah Brown discovered when she decided to create Pai in 2007. However, years of putting up with the adverse effects of chemicals on her sensitive and allergy-prone skin gave her the determination and inspiration to do it.

 
Sarah went about getting Soil Association certification, a challenging and drawn out process which she describes as one of her biggest challenges. She also worked to become SEE (Social, Environmental & Ethical) accredited, and is the first skincare company in the world to have achieved this.

 
In order to take Pai to market, Sarah gave up her well paid full-time job, undertook courses in skincare manufacturing and spent 18 months exhaustively researching ingredients, trialing recipes and developing the brand.

 
Since launch, Sarah has secured retail space in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Singapore. Her vision is to make Pai the leading organic skincare brand in the UK and to drive International debate on the chemical ingredients used in cosmetics.

www.paiskincare.com

Click here to vote for Sarah 

Handbags And Gladrags finalist

Debbie Bryan, Debbie Bryan Ltd, Nottingham
When Debbie Bryan was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 33 it was a pivotal turning point - making sense of years past at school when she struggled to keep up.

 
With a newfound zeal for life, Debbie went to university as a mature-aged student and emerged with a BA and an MA. She then started Debbie Bryan Ltd in 2006, creating design-led craft fashion accessories committed to maintaining a handmade "local ethos." She says the most rewarding aspect of owning a business is seeing someone\'s enjoyment at wearing one of her pieces.

 
Debbie is working towards ensuring that all the materials and technology required to make her collections are sourced directly from local Midlands\' suppliers. She is presently stocked in small independent retailers in the UK and the US, but dreams of cracking the larger multiple retailers globally.

www.debbiebryan.co.uk

Click here to vote for Debbie 

Handbags And Gladrags finalist

Clare Thommen, Boudiche, Glasgow
Many great ideas are dreamt up between friends over a glass of wine or two, but are often discarded in the cold light of day. But for friends and eventual business partners Clare Thommen and Fiona McLean this wasn\'t the case. Their lingerie boutique, Boudiche, was born in 2005 out of a desire to create a luxurious shopping environment in which women could find gorgeous lingerie that fitted properly.

 
Although the business came together at breakneck speed - 10 months after sketching out an initial business plan, Boudiche was ready to open - the girls themselves admit that the ride wasn\'t easy. They have learnt some important lessons along the way, including that it is essential to speak up for your brand, to defend it and challenge what you don\'t agree with. They single-handedly fought to have their venture recognised by the big banks and to gain necessary funding. After three appeals they eventually won.

 
Quitting their previous jobs, signing over their flats and pouring their entire life savings into the venture all contributed to the almost unbearable levels of stress but in their eyes it\'s all been well worth it and then some.

www.boudiche.com

Click here to vote for Clare 

 
Photo: The Scotsman 

Vote now!

Cast your vote for who you think deserves to win the Girls! Make Your Mark/handbag.com People\'s Choice Award on 12 September. Voting ends 1 September so get voting!

 
Click here to cast your vote

 
Find out more about the Girls! Make Your Mark Awards 2008 including our amazing prizes, plus exclusive videos from Jacqueline Gold, Carrie Grant and Marissa Montgomery giving us their top five career tips