The line-up includes Hungry Jacks owner and majority shareholder of Dominos, Jack Cowin, Atlanta-based Megan Burton who is a serial tech entrepreneur, organic farmer and now is in the process of setting up a rural community bank, Catherine Cervasio, the founder of Aromababy selling products in Australia, New Zealand and throughout Asia as a Mumpreneur, and other speakers ranging from marketing and technology entrepreneurs, to agriculture app builders and venture capitalists.

The North Queensland Entrepreneurs Conference is the first all-day entrepreneurs conference for startups and business owners, with the calibre of speakers that has been included in the line-up to ever hit Townsville.

Townsville has a high unemployment rate, and this conference, which is being hosted by the not-for-profit, The World Incubator, aims to inspire individuals to think differently, believe in themselves and take a risk by giving their ideas every opportunity to take-off.

“I grew up in Charters Towers and for a short time in Townsville, and I never knew that I could be an entrepreneur. There was no-one telling me that this was an option. I fell into entrepreneurship and have never looked back,” said Mellissah Smith, founder of international marketing firm, Marketing Eye, and the chairperson of The World Incubator.

“The mistakes I have made along the way because I didn’t know all the answers or no-one taught me what to do would make most people cringe – including myself, but it is these lessons and the attitude to always keep moving forward, that has put me in the position where now I can give back to others through bringing my friends who are the speakers to Townsville to share their experiences.”

This conference will not only give people the insights into what made the speakers successful, but it will also share their failures and how they were overcome. The startups from Charters Towers are classic examples of people who had ideas, but hadn’t quite taken the steps to take those ideas to a level of commercialisation.

“One particular startup, a rural farmer, has just built an app that we believe will be an international success overnight,” said Ms Smith.

“This app will save lives and is a no brainer for everyone to download.”

Another incubator startup is collaborating with new and old technologies into one platform to help farmers and property owners manage their entire properties from one device.

For more information on the speakers, please contact Mellissah Smith on 0412 994 994 or www.nqe.com.au