Maxine Horne Travels from Brisbane, QLD

Maxine Horne is a strong and passionate business leader, with a reputation built on the strength of her values and her enthusiasm for everything she does. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vita Group, she has driven the growth of the organisation from one Gold Coast phone shop to a national, publicly-listed company, generating revenues over $600m in FY15.

Maxine is an accomplished public speaker, who engages audiences with her ‘vibe’ and quick wit. Known for her leadership skills, she has received the President’s Award at the NSW ARA Awards for Excellence, was named 2006 QBR Business Woman of the Year (Retail), and in July 2014 was awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Northern Region).

In the last 20 years of building her business to what it is today – Maxine has seen the ups and downs of the retail sector, and has weathered the storms of the telecommunications and computing industries. She’s learnt about business from the ground up and, and it’s this wealth of knowledge and experience that has made her a multi-award winning business leader. This business acumen has created one of Australia’s fastest growing companies, listed for four consecutive years in BRW’s Fast 100.

At the heart of Maxine’s philosophy is the power of human capital, and how to harness this ‘people power’ into results. She insists on putting her vision (people first) and values into action, and this has firmly placed the many Vita Group brands as some of Australia’s most successful businesses and a progressive employer of choice.

Maxine’s creation of award-winning team member and customer service programs has underpinned the success of Vita Group as a business leader. She provides intensive customer service training for staff, as well as incentives and a rewarding internal career path. Maxine drives her team to be the best they can be, personally and professionally – and she provides the culture and systems to achieve this. She knows from experience that creating the right culture in the business will drive an exceptional experience for customers.

Maxine has diversified the business into the beauty industry, and opening Artisan Aesthetic Salons around Australia.  

With a refreshingly honest approach, the dynamic Maxine Horne tells it like it is, and is always ready with ‘what next’ or how to be bigger and better than before.