Jess Hatzis and Bree Johnson, co-founders of coffee-based skincare brand Frank Body and creators of advertising agency Willow and Blake, have been awarded the 2017 Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award in recognition of their vision as Australian businesswomen.
Frank Body recorded revenue of $14 million in the 2014-15 financial year while the girls had stated that their revenue was about to increase twofold for the followingyear.
Their other venture, design and editorial agency Willow & Blake has since absorbed some energy as they decided to push it more towards a “general artistic direction” on projects.
The award honours the contributions of businesswomen under 40 and alongside the winning duo, were shortlisted celebrities like Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins and creator Alyce Tran, as well as technology, design and consumer goods leading creatives.
Hatzis and Johnson both stated that “female entrepreneur” has become an outdated phrase as women are equally capable to build successful businesses.
“I think it’s about celebrating women’s success while not segregating women. We look forward to seeing a day where we’re not ‘female entrepreneurs’,” Johnson told SmartCompany.
“We’ve been really lucky because we’ve been recognised for the hard work that we’ve done.”
“When we started Frank it was always considered a side project, but you find yourselves in these positions sometimes,” says Hatzis.
“There were a number of reasons: for Bree and I, we were looking for the creative challenge of owning the project from start to finish. Our co-founders were really interested in the product side of things, and it all came together. At Frank, we’re lucky to essentially be running a full service agency.”