Bridey Drake is one of Australia's biggest content creators, with millions of followers across her social media channels.
She runs a very successful pyjama business - Night Sweet Thing - and she is the star of a new documentary Bridey Drake: Pure Average and has just released her first book of the same name.
But did you know this global empire is all run from her home town on the Central Coast?
"The Central Coast and Australia has always been a huge part of and inspiration for what I do," she told the Newcastle Herald.
"Night Sweet Thing started here, my community started here and a huge percentage of our customers and supporters are here."
Bridey's business story is an impressive one. She left school in year 10 because she was not thriving in the education environment. She later discovered she has dyslexia, something that had made class and schoolwork challenging.
"I always knew I wanted to get into business and tried everything from calendars to hair products and none of them took off," she said.
"I started Night Sweet Thing when I was 18 with $900, so I've essentially learnt everything along the way by building it with my family. I really have my mum to thank for always believing me and supporting my wild ideas."
Her family is a feature in the new documentary that acts as a behind-the-scenes look at the social media personality. Bridey said her mum - Lisa, or Mamma Drake as she is known on TikTok - was pivotal in getting it from an idea to a product that could hit the market.
"I was young, I had no formal business background, and I was figuring out everything from product development and manufacturing to marketing and customer service," she said.
Pyjamas ended up being her most successful product thanks to their comfort, bold patterns, and sales buoyed by how interactive she is with her fans and customers online.
"I wanted pyjamas that felt fun and made going to bed something to look forward to," she said.
"I was creating content online and I saw an opportunity to create something that felt like an extension of my personality and my community.
"What I love looking back on is that it was never just about selling pyjamas. It became about creating a feeling and a community around them."
Last month the brand did a pop-up with VistaPrint at Westfield Sydney. All of the profits were donated to Wildlife Warriors, the conservation organisation founded by the Irwin family.
It is just one collaboration in what has been a busy year for the business, with growing the US market the next goal for Night Sweet Thing. When asked what advice she would give other young entrepreneurs like herself her message was "back yourself, even when you don't have all the answers yet".
"I think sometimes we feel like we need to wait until we're completely qualified, completely confident or have everything figured out before we start," she said.
"Everyone thinks there's only one path to achieving your dreams but I'm here showing young people that that's not the case.
"You don't need to have a massive team or a perfect business plan to start testing an idea. And probably most importantly, don't lose who you are along the way."
Paediatric nurse consultant Ilana Lawrence opened the doors to BCP Hub in Warners Bay last year with a vision in mind.
She wanted to create a place where healthcare felt less clinical and more like a village.
Fast forward a few months and Ilana is a finalist in the Health Business category at the 2026 AusMumpreneur Awards.
It's a bittersweet achievement for the mother of two.
The BCP Hub was the final building project completed by her husband, Nathan, before he passed away from metastatic bowel cancer in October 2025.
The space he helped to create has grown from a handful of practitioners into a multidisciplinary community housing 26 independent small businesses, bringing medical, allied health and complementary healthcare together under one roof.
"The Hub isn't just a building or a business to me. It was Nathan's final build. His fingerprints are all over it, and every time I walk through those doors, I'm continuing something we started together," Ilana said.
Alongside the BCP Hub, Ilana founded The Sick Sense, which aims to give families the knowledge to recognise when a child is becoming unwell, when to seek help, and how to advocate for their child.
For Ilana, both businesses share the same purpose: bringing healthcare knowledge out of hospitals and into the community while creating stronger connections between families and the professionals who care for them.
"There are days when grief wins and days when I genuinely think I can't do this. But my purpose sustains me when motivation can't. I keep showing up for our girls, for Nathan, and for the community that has wrapped itself around us."
Ilana says the national recognition belongs just as much to the community that has supported the businesses as it does to her. Her long-term vision is ambitious: to make The Sick Sense a trusted household resource for family health literacy and eventually expand BCP Hub into a larger, purpose-built community healthcare space.
Three hundred Novocastrians are expected to attend the Signal, TEDxNewy's flagship event.
The speaking event is on October 24 at the Conservatorium of Music and features a lineup of local innovators, researchers and storytellers delivering talks of under 18 minutes, with live performance between them.
"Newcastle is full of ideas that deserve a bigger audience," Jake Hoppe, Licensee and CEO of TEDxNewy said.
"This year we have taken TEDx beyond the main stage, with a series of community salons and student workshops across the Hunter that have put the power of ideas in more hands than ever. Signal is where that year comes together, on one stage, in front of the city."
TEDxNewy is entirely volunteer-run and not-for-profit. Every dollar from tickets and partnerships goes back into the events and the stage. Angel tickets fund a second seat for someone who could not otherwise attend.
Tickets at events.humanitix.com/tedxnewy-signal.
