The owner of Sammons Contracting shared her experience at the Developing Northern Australia Conference recently, speaking about returning to her home region around Elliott, building a business and supporting other Aboriginal entrepreneurs to turn ideas into opportunities.
Ms Sammons had spent years working across social services, justice and child safety, including managing on-Country programs for the Queensland Government. After years away, she felt the pull to return.
"I think a lot of us always say that Country has a way of bringing us home," Ms Sammons said.
Seven years ago, she established Sammons Contracting, building relationships and exploring opportunities that could create work on Country. A partnership with Suncable led to land management work around solar panels, while relationships with pastoralists opened further opportunities.
For her, business was never simply about establishing a company. It was about creating opportunities for other Aboriginal people, particularly young people, and helping them see pathways that might otherwise be overlooked.
That work has extended through managing Banka Banka Station with her husband. Handed back to the Warumungu people in 2020, the station sits in a region where around 15,000 tourists pass through each year.
Ms Sammons has explored how tourism and station-based opportunities could support micro and Indigenous businesses, while bringing young people alongside her through practical, side-by-side mentoring.
"A lot of the things that we find in community... our young people are not that skilled in that area around the tourism or using the RMS systems and all that type of stuff," she said.
Rather than relying on formal training, Ms Sammons has focused on co-designing programs that allow people to learn by doing.
At Banka Banka, Aboriginal people interested in starting businesses were invited onto Country to explore opportunities already there. Bush medicines were demonstrated, cultural knowledge shared and conversations began about tourism experiences that could become businesses.
She sees this as grassroots economic development.
"It cannot be done from the corporate world from upstairs to downstairs. We need to build innovative projects from the ground up."
Her experience has shown why conventional business support does not always reach the people it is intended to help.
Many Aboriginal people in remote communities have business ideas but work Monday to Friday for governments or organisations. Attending business workshops during standard hours can therefore be almost impossible.
"They want to be involved and they want to start their own businesses," Ms Sammons said.
She encouraged organisations to rethink when and where support is delivered, including considering weekends when people may be available.
Being physically present in communities is equally important.
"If you want to be in the grassroots, come get in the grass."
That means moving beyond boardrooms and spending time with people where they live, work and build their businesses.
She also highlighted barriers including digital skills, literacy, numeracy and basic everyday skills. A family member not knowing how to use a rice cooker demonstrated how foundational skills can need to be addressed before someone can confidently navigate complex business systems.
"How do we develop programs that work for us our way?" she asked.
Ms Sammons also challenged the assumption that formal qualifications are always the best pathway.
"I don't have any training. Everything's all built from the ground up, so we just wing it."
For her, side-by-side mentoring and practical experience had been more valuable than completing a certificate.
"That was the key that actually supported in getting me where I needed to be for my story."
That philosophy aligns with Impact North's pathway model, supporting Aboriginal entrepreneurs from initial ideas through to sustained business growth. Stepping Into Business helps people clarify their business model and take initial steps, while the Business Builder Programme provides ongoing support, including peer leadership and community engagement.
After three years, Impact North reported 188 new jobs created in remote communities, $4.1 million in revenue and funding opportunities, and 83 per cent of supported businesses still operating, compared with a national average of 59.7 per cent.
The value of that support has been practical.
"Impact North fills the supports that I don't have, like the skill sets," she said, pointing to assistance with business systems such as Xero and connections with other businesses and partners.
Her message was ultimately about changing how Aboriginal entrepreneurship is supported.
It starts with recognising that Aboriginal people are already creating businesses, sharing culture, solving problems and building opportunities for others. What they need is support that meets them where they are, listens to what they want to build and backs them to make it happen.
The entrepreneurs are already there. The challenge is making sure the right support is there with them.
What they need is someone willing to meet them on Country, listen to what they want to build and stay alongside them long enough to help make it happen.
When Aboriginal entrepreneurs are backed in that way, the impact extends beyond an individual business. It creates jobs, strengthens local capability and opens doors for others to follow.
