A Noosa mum busy raising three boys has broken down stereotypes to become a successful name in the local mechanical industry.
Establishing herself in a male-dominated industry, Natasha Coughlan owns four Noosa businesses and prides herself on offering opportunities for women to thrive.
She is also a finalist in the 2022 AusMumpreneur Awards across four categories, which recognises Australian mothers in business who are achieving outstanding success.
With Noosa Exhaust and Mechanical, Noosa Offroad and Dirt Tek as part of her business empire, Ms Coughlan also offers business coaching to help small to medium enterprises reach their full potential.
It was a love of camping and four-wheel-driving that led the successful entrepreneur down this industry path, but the real catalyst for change came from a personal experience.
With a husband who works away as a mechanical engineer, Ms Coughlan took her car for its routine check-up and was told a list of items that needed fixing.
“When my husband came home and went in to ask what was wrong, we found out not everything on the list needed fixing,” she said.
“There is such a bad name around mechanical services, and I really wanted to create a workshop people could come to, without wondering if they were going to be ripped off (or) overcharged.
“We hear this on a daily basis – we have heard of women being taken for a ride by mechanics because they are women.”
Wanting to make meaningful change, the opportunity to do this came about after living in Indonesia for eight years.
During the family’s time overseas, Ms Coughlan spent time raising her boys – now twin 16-year-olds and an 11-year-old – while doing remote work in the property investment and development industry.
“While I was running that, I was helping out other friends run their businesses and I realised I was really good at it.
“I had always wanted to run a business, and we love cars and four-wheel driving, and when the opportunity arose last year it was perfect.”
Ms Coughlan said she has now created a space where people, particularly women, feel comfortable bringing in their cars and a place where her staff – both female and male – feel empowered.
Another important aspect of her business was instilling work-life balance and making sure she never missed anything that was happening in her children’s life.
It is her commitment to work and family that has seen Ms Coughlan recognised in this year’s AusMumpreneur Awards in the leadership, customer services, women’s champion and service business categories.
Ms Coughlan is delighted to be named as a finalist and is proud of her achievements, particularly stepping up and running a mechanic workshop without being a mechanic and balancing being a successful businesswoman while raising a family.
“It can be stressful, you will have ups and downs, but if you keep a positive mindset, are doing it for the right reasons you can create wealth and a life by design, and by wealth I don’t mean just money,” she said.
“You can create a life that you desire but you have to stay positive and focus on the solution not the problems.
“Having a great team in business is also a must have, and a focus on helping others when you can.”
The awards will be announced at the National AusMumpreneur Conference and Awards dinner on September 1 in Sydney.
