SLAM Society Wins Outstanding New Business at the Southern Sydney Business Awards

A proud moment for SLAM Society at the Southern Sydney Business Awards.

What started as a search for connection has become an award-winning community.

This week, SLAM Society was named Outstanding New Business at the Southern Sydney Business Awards.

It is a moment I am incredibly proud of and one that feels especially meaningful because SLAM started from such a personal place.

Four years ago, I wasn’t trying to build an award-winning business.

I was a mum who had moved to the Sutherland Shire with a baby, no local support network, and a deep feeling that I couldn’t possibly be the only woman craving real connection.

I didn’t have a big launch plan or a polished roadmap.

I had a baby on my hip, a phone in my hand, and a simple idea:

What if I created the kind of space I needed myself?

So I put up a post asking if any local mums wanted to meet for coffee.

Women came.

Some nervous. Some solo. Some simply craving connection.

That first coffee catch-up became the beginning of SLAM Society.

What SLAM has become

Four years later, SLAM Society has grown into a community of more than 5,000 women across the Sutherland Shire and Sydney.

We’ve hosted more than 300 events — weekly walks, lunches, dinners, Women in Business gatherings, wellness days, cabaret nights and Bali retreats.

We’ve brought together mums, women in business, women new to the area, women rebuilding their confidence, women starting again, and women simply wanting to feel more connected.

And so much of that growth has happened through word of mouth.

Every time a woman brings a friend, shares a post, sends a message or says, “You should come to SLAM,” she helps grow this community.

That is the part I am most proud of.

Not just the numbers.

The fact that women trust SLAM enough to tell their friends.

The award

Winning Outstanding New Business is more than a business milestone.

To me, it is recognition of the need for spaces like SLAM — spaces where women can feel welcomed, supported and less alone.

Because this award isn’t just for me.

It belongs to every mum who came along with her little one hoping to find her village.

It belongs to every woman who walked into her first SLAM event feeling nervous and did it anyway.

It belongs to every woman in business who shared her story, supported someone else and chose collaboration over competition.

It belongs to every woman who sent a message saying, “I needed this more than you know.”

It belongs to every member, partner, venue, sponsor and supporter who has believed in what SLAM Society is becoming.

You built this with me.

And because of this win, SLAM Society will now progress as a finalist in the next stage — the Regional Business Awards.

To have SLAM recognised at a regional level is incredibly special, and I feel so proud to carry this community into that next chapter.

I also want to acknowledge and congratulate all of the incredible finalists and winners from the Southern Sydney Business Awards. It is such an honour to be recognised among so many hardworking local businesses contributing to our region in meaningful ways.

What I’ve learnt building SLAM

Connection doesn’t happen by accident.

Someone has to create the space.

Open the door.

Pull up a chair and say, “There’s room for you here.”

That is what SLAM has always been about.

Not just events.

A community where women can show up as they are and feel genuinely welcomed.

Building a business from a personal need has been one of the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done.

There were moments I almost gave up.

Moments where I wondered if it was worth it.

Weeks like this one remind me it is.

What’s next for SLAM

We’re not slowing down.

We have two Bali escapes coming up this year — our Mums & Kids Getaway in Nusa Dua in September and our Women’s Island Escape in Nusa Lembongan in October.

We’re expanding our Women in Business events across Sydney.

And we have some exciting things in the works that I can’t wait to share soon.

To everyone who has supported SLAM Society from the beginning — thank you.

Thank you for buying the ticket, joining the walk, coming to the lunch, booking the retreat, sharing the post, telling a friend, sending the message and showing up when you were nervous.

You helped turn this idea into a real community.

If you’ve been thinking about joining the SLAM community, now is a beautiful time to say yes.

👉 See what’s coming up here

👉 Explore SLAM membership

And if you’re a woman in business building something from the heart, keep going.

Sometimes the right room is the one you’re brave enough to walk into.

Toni x

Founder, SLAM Society