A couple of weeks ago OBriasco Bridal was lucky enough to be named the winner of the Ultimate Visitor Experience Award at the Hawke's Bay Business Awards 2023. We were so surprised but equally excited! It is a huge achievement to be recognised in a region full of a lot of amazing businesses across a range of industries.
It all came about a few months ago when we were anonymously nominated for that awards category. To be honest, I didn't really know what that meant, as I didn't know much about the Hawkes Bay Business Awards.
So I looked into it and went to the opening night, which was wonderful to see who the judges were and the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce board members.
At this meeting, I learnt that it is a prestigious award that considers all businesses around Hawke's Bay of all different sizes. And it's not so much a judgment of your business in the sense of being good or bad, it's more about identifying your business's areas of strengths and areas that need improvement.
So I sent off the application and within a few weeks the judges and mystery shopper came by to assess our business.
I found the process to be more supportive than critical, and it was a really good chance to look at the big picture, what needs celebrating and what can change or be developed, to ensure strength in the future of our business.
Then came the awards night! It was held at the War Memorial in Napier, which was beautifully decorated, and the room had an amazing buzz of energy about it. There were about 300 people in attendance, many finalists and business owners from all across the Hawkes Bay region, all very passionate about what they do, sharing experiences of starting up and running their business, and many who were still recovering from cyclone Gabrielle earlier this year.
Luckily for my nerves, the Ultimate Visitor Award was the first category to be awarded, and very surprisingly...we won!
I was totally shocked, but so happy. I kept my unprepared speech short and sweet and collected my award from Napier mayor Kirsten Wise on stage.
Being recognised as the Ultimate Visitor Experience for 2023 has really helped solidify my confidence in what I am creating. I knew very early on that creating a memorable experience for my customers was a key factor to the business's success, so to be recognised for what I do is truly wonderful, and will certainly have a positive effect on how we operate and our reputation in the future.
Overall, it was an amazing experience to go through the judging process, getting to experience the awards night, and taking home the win was the cherry on top!
Olivia x
