I need your vote...

I’m Rachel Golding, founder of Dinner on the Table, and I’d like to cook your dinner.

That's the bit you know. Here's the bit you don't know: I have been nominated for an AusMumpreneur Award for 2016. These awards are about celebrating mums in business and raising awareness of the very many women engaged in this industry.

Every nominee is entered in two categories. One is decided by a panel of judges. The second is decided by you, the People's Choice category. I am nominated for Making a Difference (Business) Award.

Now, I realise how unfortunate the timing is, asking you to vote again after the weekend we've had. While your vote at the election poles may not have yet produced a government, your vote in the AusMumpreneur awards will help us spread the word about impact of having a good dinner done for you. Dinner on the Table is changing daily lives. We think that's worth talking about.

Here's the full entry. There's a link to vote at the bottom.

I’m Rachel Golding, founder of Dinner on the Table and I’d like to cook your dinner. And when you order from our weekly changing menu and have your dinner delivered to your home or workplace I’ll use some of your money to cook dinner for a woman living with disability and her family. I know having a good dinner, done for you, changes your daily life, giving you time for the things that are important to you. And together, you and I are changing the daily lives of women living with disability by putting dinner on their tables too.

As women, we’re all doing the daily juggle. Those living with disability are often juggling with few resources and great challenges. Women are largely responsible for preparing meals and it takes a lot of our time. Dinner on the Table gives that time back to women with and without disability.

Support for people with disability rarely includes support for those closest to them: their families. As a mumpreneur, I have had the chance to dream big about how this might change, and create a lasting, cost effective service, positively impacting all women, including vulnerable women and their families.

Balancing the demands of a growing social enterprise with a young family is a daily challenge. I have never been more excited about my work and the impact that it has on the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable. But no one, at the end of their lives, wishes they had spent more time working and less time with those they love most. Motivation, clear business goals, an incredibly supportive husband, and using my own service to get dinner on the table every night has helped meet these challenges.

Dinner on the Table has grown 46% in the past year. In 2016 we have gifted 169 meals to families living with disability, representing 595 adult meal portions, and saving recipients 296 hours of dinner preparation time. Our dinners significantly impact our customers’ lives, whether they pay or not. One gifted meal customer recently wrote to me: “When we get our delivery on Tuesday, I will pay it forward and give [my best friend] the delicious Chicken & Leek Pie to help her out at this stressful time. I wanted you to know how far your kindness and generosity is spreading.”

Running your own business is hard work. It may not give you all the lifestyle flexibility you desire. But it may also be one of the most exciting jobs you’ll ever do. Your ultimate goal in business needs to be something that will excite you over the long term, and will keep you motivated, both when you are succeeding and when you are challenged. Collaborate with people who challenge you to think carefully, and who compliment, rather than replicate, your skill set. Hire people who share your vision and are quick to learn skills.

Dinner on the Table is changing daily lives, one dinner at a time. We’ve all got to eat and we need to feed those we love: every, single day. As women, we know how good it is when someone else cooks dinner. Now imagine the impact this has on a woman whose depression is so deep there is just no energy left at the end of the day to prepare a meal. Dinner on the Table is harnessing the power of the marketplace to radically alter how support is provided to vulnerable women.

I'd love your support.  Click here to cast your vote.