EXTRAORDINARY strength of perseverance through adversity has led to one of the biggest thrills of Rachel York’s life.
Out of 2500 nominees across the country, Ms York’s small hobby furnishings business, Amour De La Maison, was chosen as a finalist at the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards next month.
Starting out as a small hobby in 2021 and expanding into a small business, the Wangaratta entrepreneur was met with the battle of her life.
Over the past 12 months Ms York has been fighting ongoing cancer issues, including a recent diagnosis of ovarian cancer in the last month, which has required intense chemotherapy treatment.
Through strong resilience and community support, her business has continued to flourish, selling products to all parts of Australia with almost 3500 Facebook followers.
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Ms York said she was blown away when she received the invitation as a finalist.
“Amour was just about doing something that I loved; I had a passion for vintage design and furnishings, but it also needed to be affordable for everybody to be able to have,” she said.
“I don’t proclaim to be this magnificent businesswoman, because I always thought that if I sell one piece of furniture it gave me the ability to buy another piece of furniture to help someone else out then I was happy.
“To do this was huge for me, I’ve never done anything like this and to take that leap, have a little bit of faith in yourself and then have the support to put yourself out there."
Amour De La Maison was lauded for excellence in the Home and Garden Improvement category of the awards and is in the running to take a top gong at the award's second annual presentation evening gala, on September 23.
The gala will be held in Sydney, aimed at recognising small businesses owned by women across the country.
Working out of a studio in Kerr Street, Ms York's predominately online business specialises in vintage designer furniture from all shapes and sizes from designer lighting, décor, luxurious monogrammed linen, tables and chairs.
Despite her diagnosis bringing troubling times for herself and her family, she said it was important for her to show her tight-knit business community she would continue to smile through the battles.
“A lot of people on my page would have seen the changes in me; having orange curtly hair and now I wear a turban a lot,” she said.
“I don’t talk a lot about it, because I don’t want it to be about ‘poor me’ or ‘she’s doing it hard’; I want people to see that I’m still positive and this is just a little hiccup in my life, it’s not going to be my whole life.
“I’m lucky I’ve been up front and honest with all of my clients and people that I’ve met.
“I think if you’re up front and tell them you’ve got this thing going on and fighting this battle, but it’s not going to beat me, then people are willing to work with you as well.
“This is a little hiccup in my life journey and we’re just going to keep moving forward.”
Ms York said when she first started Amour while juggling full-time work commitments as an anaesthetic nurse at Northeast Health Wangaratta, she could never have imagined how successful it has become.
“I always dabbled in this sort of stuff so I thought I’d see if anyone was interested and if anyone likes what I do and it just sort of took off,” she said.
“I decided to migrate it into a small business, still with the idea I was just mucking around and I’ll take my time and it has blown out of proportion, it’s huge now."
Along with making people smile, one of Ms York’s biggest inspirations in the business has been her father, John McCormack, who helps with the shipping of furniture and taught her all she knows in furnishing.
While the prospect of winning a national award for her business would be something out of her wildest dreams, Ms York said regardless of the result, the world is her oyster in terms of taking Amour forward.
“I share my passion with my Dad, who’s retired and he helps me with a lot of the restoration work and a goal would be to work with him all the time and do this,” she said.
“I’m proud of where it is at the moment, for something that started in my husband's shed I’ve now got my own studio, a website, and I’ve been nominated for this award.
“I’ve only ever considered myself as an ordinary person and a mum that just follows her dreams.
“I wouldn’t have thought in two years this was possible, for a little mum from North East Victoria.”
