Vanessa Garrard, founder and director of E3! has been included in Australia’s Top Female Entrepreneur list, a celebration of International Women’s Day.

Garrard Vanessa founded the company along with Richard Chen and Jillbert Mulder, which sources and develops consumer electronic products for major retailers and distributors worldwide.

Vanessa is ranked at number 26, with E3! being the youngest company to be included and named as the fastest growing.

“Being a director of a growing consumer electronics company is extremely rewarding,” Garrard said. “The fact that I can run the business whilst raising three young children also proves that it is possible for women to lead a successful company and have a family too, we don’t have to choose one over the other. That’s not to say that it isn’t a juggling act, it is, but it is possible,” she added.

Garrard has worked in the Australian consumer electronics industry for 9 years, having worked with every major buying office in Australia and also the Hong Kong sourcing offices of Woolworths and Coles Groups in Asia.

As Director of E3!, she is involved in the strategic business expansion plans of E3!’s product portfolio and distributor base in Australia and Internationally.

A list of passionate working-women

The list is a selection of women who are diverse and passionate entrepreneurs, each of which have taken very different paths to get to where they are. SmartCompany has compiled a list of 48 of Australia’s best business women entrepreneurs. The list includes names such as Gina Rinehart, Therese Rein, Jan Cameron and Naomi Milgrom.

The women from the list have highly diverse backgrounds but agree that it’s becoming easier for women to start their own businesses. Majority of the listed women also feel that it’s also becoming easier for women to make it as business leaders and start up companies.

The success of entrepreneurs is key in the current challenging economic climate. Many market commentators believe entrepreneurial business leaders are the key to global economic recovery.