Girls In Business 2026 Conference & Awards

Iyia Liu | Founder & Host

Iyia Liu is a serial entrepreneur and the founder and host of Girls in Business, a global community empowering the next generation of female entrepreneurs. After launching her first company at 21, Iyia went on to build multiple successful ventures and has since dedicated her work to helping women grow confident, profitable businesses through education, mentorship, and community.

Dame Valerie Adams

Dame Valerie Adams is one of New Zealand’s greatest athletes — a two time Olympic Gold medallist, fourtime world champion, and the powerhouse behind an extraordinary 107 competition winning streak. She returned to the Olympic podium as a mother of two, winning Bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games while also coaching her sister Lisa to Paralympic Gold. She has been appointed a Dame of the New Zealand Order of Merit and continues to influence global sport as Chair of the World Athletics and Oceania Athletics Athletes Commission, a World Athletics and Oceania Athletics Council Member, and a board member of High Performance Sport NZ. Beyond her achievements on the world stage, Dame Valerie is a strong advocate for Pasifika communities, women’s empowerment, body confidence, and leadership. Her story — captured in the documentary Dame Valerie Adams: More than Gold — shows the depth of her impact both in and beyond sport.

Jony Lee

Jony Lee is a creator and marketer with six years of experience building presence online. She has grown her own audience to over one million people through candid, observational storytelling. Jony has worked on both sides of the industry, giving her a clear view of how creativity and strategy come together. In her previous role as Head of Growth at a marketing agency, she worked closely with brands and businesses to sharpen and scale their social media strategies. Today, she combines hands-on creator experience with strategic thinking, sharing practical insights on building visibility that lasts.

• Jony Lee's instagram
• Jony Lee's tiktok

Kristy Campbell

Kristy Campbell is the founder of Pink Pony Creative, an Auckland-based Brand Identity Designer, Content Creator and International Speaker known for her bold, boundary-pushing approach to branding. A self-proclaimed “Creative Cowgirl,” she has built a global studio powered by social media, working with clients across the US, Australia and beyond. With an online audience of 740,000+ across Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, Kristy has transformed her distinct perspective into a worldwide platform and has spoken at Adobe conferences in the United States, sharing her strategy-first approach to brand identity. She builds brands that refuse to blend in; bold by design, strategic at the core, and impossible to ignore.

• Kristy Campbell's instagram
• Kristy Campbell's website
• Kristy Campbell's linkedin

Toni Street

Toni Street is one of New Zealand’s most well-known and loved broadcasters. She is one third of the hit breakfast show Coast Breakfast with Sam Wallace and Jason Reeves, and is a familiar face on TVNZ, where she has been a reporter, presenter, and host for more than a decade. Toni spent ten years reporting for 1 News, went on to host Breakfast, and fronted Seven Sharp for four years. Across her career she has anchored major live events including the ASB Classic, international netball tests, world cups, the Olympics, and the America’s Cup. She is also the author of Lost and Found, New Zealand’s best-selling book of 2022. Toni’s latest venture is Confident Communication, an online course designed to help people build confidence and communicate with impact in any setting.

Jenny-May Clarkson

Former Silver Ferns netball captain turned one of NZ's most recognised broadcasters, best known as co-host of TVNZ's Breakfast. A champion athlete and trusted on-screen presence with a career spanning both courts and cameras.

Lisa Perese-Cullen

Lisa Perese-Cullen is a content creator, entrepreneur, and the founder of Harper James. Known for her hilarious and refreshingly honest take on motherhood, business, and everyday life, Lisa has built a loyal audience of over half a million followers online. Her relatable storytelling and authentic voice earned her the title of New Zealand TikTok Creator of the Year, making her one of Aotearoa’s most loved digital personalities.

• Lisa Perese-Cullen's instagram
• Lisa Perese-Cullen's tiktok
• Lisa Perese-Cullen's website

Erin Adam

Erin is the co-founder of The Social Lab, one of Australasia’s leading paid social and digital growth agencies. After beginning her career at Facebook, Erin went on to build an agency that has helped scale over 1,000 businesses using high-performance digital advertising strategies. Known for her expertise in Meta advertising and e-commerce growth, Erin is passionate about helping brands unlock scalable revenue through data-driven marketing.

Caitlin Crisp

Caitlin Crisp is a New Zealand fashion designer and founder of the womenswear label Caitlin Crisp, known for its feminine, elegant, and playful designs. Born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, she developed a passion for sewing at a young age, influenced by a family background of tailors and seamstresses. Crisp studied fashion design and later gained national attention after appearing on Project Runway New Zealand in 2018, where her vibrant and whimsical aesthetic attracted a strong following. She launched her eponymous label in 2019, beginning with one-off and made-to-measure garments before expanding into seasonal collections. Her brand has grown into a curated range of timeless, easy-to-wear pieces that combine classic silhouettes with a fun, feminine edge. Based in Auckland, Crisp runs her business with a small team and continues to build a loyal customer base across New Zealand. Her work focuses on creating clothing that helps women feel confident and celebrates modern femininity.

Sarah Robb

As a certified coach, NLP Master Practitioner, speaker and author, I help my clients retrain the brain and breakthrough beliefs and patterns that keep them stuck. When I was 20, my Father died in a sudden accident. Six years later, my Mum passed away from a brain aneurysm. These experiences led me to deep depression, grief, and anxiety. However, these life-changing events were the catalyst for my immense growth and transformation. Today, I use my education and experience to help others on their journey so that they too can create transformational change.

Lara Henderson

Lara Henderson is the founder and CEO of PURE MAMA, the premium skincare brand redefining performance bodycare for motherhood. Inspired by her own pregnancy in 2018 and the lack of truly luxurious, natural products for mothers, Lara launched PURE MAMA in 2021 after two years of research and development. Built from New Zealand while raising two young children, the brand has rapidly grown into an eight-figure business, earning a loyal following among global tastemakers, editors, and high-profile mothers, and becoming the number one premium pregnancy skincare brand across New Zealand and Australia, as well as one of the fastest-growing in its category in the U.S. Now sold globally, PURE MAMA is available in MECCA stores across Australia and New Zealand and leading U.S. retailers including Nordstrom, Revolve, Erewhon, and Goop, with a major launch into Canada underway.

Courtenay Louise

Best known as Monique on Shortland Street and a Season 3 finalist on Celebrity Treasure Island, Courtenay is a trained actor within NZ and Australia.

FUJIFILM

INSTAX

MONARCH BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

BREWE

SHARK BEAUTY

TAN IN THE CITY

PURE MAMA

HARK & ZANDER

MM HAIR

SPRING WITH SARAH

ESSANNO

LADY ALCHEMY

THE FOLLOWING

STUDIO PILATES

MELITTA

CLN Fuel

Aleph Beauty