19 Year Old In Her Business Awards Finals

19 Year Old Steals the Spotlight as Her Business Awards Finalist

The Her Business Awards have a number of categories, ranging from Best Businesswoman to Best Small Business, but it's none other than 19 year old Eva-Maria, who has made it through to the small numbers of finalists for the Most Inspirational Role Model Award.

"I felt I had grown enough over the last two years since I got a taste of the business world when I took on self-publishing my first book 'You Shut Up!', to be nominated for this honour."

Author, internationally certified coach, public speaker and as of November 2009 world's youngest president of National Speakers Association chapter, Eva-Maria's mission is to help improve 1,000,000 adult-teenager relationships around the world.

"With this mission, to me, business is the system - what will count for me at the end of the day, is when the one millionth person says 'Eva-Maria, you really helped, and transformed my relationship with my teenager - we have so much more understanding between us. Thank you.'"

There are many challenges people face in every day business, and Eva-Maria reckons that any person in business is already very strong.

"Some of my personal challenges were that I was Russian, I'm a woman, and I was only 17 when I started. I didn't notice that these were challenges, until others pointed it out. And I will always love teenagers, because to them, they won't care about any of that stuff, whereas in the important business world, there are certain things you must follow and you must 'be', otherwise it'll be a VERY bumpy ride for you. I guess I just don't let people get in the way when they don't take me seriously. You'd think wanting to make a positive impact would be enough for adults to listen."

'You Shut Up!' is a parenting book from a teen's perspective, and Eva-Maria has branched out to many other ways of carrying her mission and message, through speaking groups around New Zealand, Australia and Russia, coaching families from all over the world, and even going into TV.

She's a realist, and this may be the true reason why she has become one of the finalists:

"From my work, I was getting amazing feedback from people all over the world, every single day, but this still didn't mean I didn't have to work."

"When I speak, or do book signings, people say it must have been so easy for me, but the reality of it is that a good business person can make their success look easy. I won't hide it - I had to work my bum off, and still do, every single day, because business is an adult's game, and there is simply no place for a 'kid' to be in there."

"I think I've definitely changed perspectives" she grins.

But her real hope is to get more business women in New Zealand to step up and take advantage of awards and other opportunities: "I want everyone to take this as a sign that no matter what age, gender, or race you may be - we are all human at the end of the day, and letting people's opinions or 'norms' put you in a box is old news. In a few years, people will be doing business with people like me - with my generation, and we play with a different set of rules."

The Her Business Awards is scheduled for Friday 4th December, 2009. Be sure to get your tickets - it's sure to be an exciting night!

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