Blazing a trail for generations of women

For decades, Imelda Roche has been breaking down barriers in business to become one of Australia’s greatest success stories. At the age of 85, she remains the epitome of empowerment, both for female workers and her family

Bulletin IT’S a bittersweet irony. Fifty years ago, Imelda Roche broke through the barriers of the misogynistic business world with a revolutionary army of savvy female sales consultants, becoming one of Australia’s richest women along the way. Along with husband Bill, the pair built a business empire on the back of their Nutrimetics franchise, eventually acquiring the worldwide interests to the cosmetics company in 1991. Imelda, now 85, empowered thousands of women, primarily homemakers, to chase their own fortunes by direct selling, while at the same time navigating the challenges of being both mother to four children and the face – and brains – of a booming business. Which is why, more than 20 years after selling their business baby to the Sara Lee Corporation, Imelda is still grieving. It’s not that she regrets selling Nutrimetics. After all, it was a question of family or business.

And the answer, just as she taught her thousands of proteges across the decades, is always family first.

“I was heartbroken to sell Nutrimetics, I still am,” she says. “Bill and I bought the Australian franchise back in 1968 and created something really magical. It was so much more than a business to me, I loved my team. They were family. To this day, I still talk to, work with and help out so many of the women who were part of Nutrimetics.

“At its heart, we were a family business. Bill and I were the ultimate entrepreneurs and we hit on a winning formula. But as our four children grew up, I could see how easily this business blessing could become a curse.

“Nutrimetics was the dream for Bill and me, we didn’t want it to become a nightmare for our children. I didn’t want to hand it over only to be unable to stop myself from meddling. I didn’t want them to feel the pressure of having to carry this business albatross if it’s not their passion. I didn’t want to see them fight over business when they should come together as family. Bill had already

moved on to other passions, but I still loved Nutrimetics. I could just see that, as a mother, my responsibility was to my children ... so we sold so that they could be free to chase their own lives.

“I don’t regret it. And I believe we handled that transition the best we could – I stayed on for three years with Sara Lee to help embed the culture and philosophies that we created. I had to do that for all the people who worked with us. I owed it to them.”

If family is first for Imelda, loyalty is second.

While based in Sydney, she’s practically an honorary Gold Coaster – and sits for the interview prior to a speaking engagement at Bond University, which is almost a second home for her family.

Her son was one of the first graduates at the private university, while her grandson is a current student. Imelda herself was no less than the Chancellor of Bond from 1999 to 2004.

“The Gold Coast is a very special place to us. It’s one of the best cities for entrepreneurs,” she says.

“There aren’t huge corporations here, people who come here come for the lifestyle and then they build a business around that – that’s why it’s such a centre for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

“When my son came here, it absolutely transformed him. Bond really developed him, he has the most creative business brain you can find.

“I love giving back to a place that gave me so much.”

In fact, both Imelda’s sons are joint directors of the family’s Roche Group, whose property developments include Calypso Bay at Jacobs Well on the Gold Coast.

While she’s officially retired, Imelda is still heavily invested in not just the family business but her extended family of women in business. Even more than Nutrimetics, it’s her life’s work, which is why, in 1995, she was awarded an Order of Australia in recognition of her services to business and commerce, women’s affairs and the community.

She was named one of the world’s 50 leading female entrepreneurs in 1997, and has two honorary doctorates.

She’s served on more than 30 boards and committees focusing on health, education and trade and represented Prime Ministers Paul Keating and John Howard as an Australian delegate to APEC – she even has her portrait hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

But she’s less interested in her past highlights than current issues.

“So much has changed since I started in business back in the 1950s,” she says. “I remember when Bill and I used to go to the bank, I was like wallpaper – no bank manager would ever condescend to talk to a woman.

“I believe things began to change when women started graduating from university and wanted opportunities. The men who could easily say no to their wives, just could not deny their daughters.

“These days, officially, women have it better. We can get our own loans, we cannot legally be discriminated against. My hope is that women don’t have to push themselves as hard as I did.

“Having said that, I think women need to remember that there are still rules to business that they need to play by. I am amazed by some of the clothes that women wear to business meetings. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to dress the part. You don’t see men showing up in Hawaiian shirts – so you need to make sure your cleavage is covered and your hemlines are decent.

“You don’t have to not be a woman – the most effective female leaders are those who embrace their feminine qualities. Use your communication skills, your listening skills, your empathy, to your advantage. It’s not about your feminine figure but your feminine nature.

“Look at (New Zealand Prime Minister) Jacinda Ardern, that is a leader who leads like a woman – and people respond to that because she is authentic.”

Imelda says both business and parenting has become