Are you a trailblazer in business? Enter the 2023 Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Awards

Do you know the legend of Madame Clicquot? 

One of the original Bold Women in business, she took the reins of Maison Veuve Clicquot after being widowed in 1805 — a period when women couldn’t open their own bank account, let alone independently own or run a company. And, did we mention she was just 27 at the time?

Madame Clicquot not only propelled Veuve Clicquot to success, helping to transform it into the prestigious French champagne house it is today, but revolutionised the entire  champagne industry.

Among her many accomplishments, she created an identity for champagne outside France, bottled the first recorded vintage champagne and crafted the first known blended rose champagne. 

Needless to say, Madame Clicquot became famed for her tenacious, creative, audacious and entrepreneurial spirit — something Veuve Clicquot continues to honour to this day through its annual Bold Woman Awards.

Launched in 1972, the Bold Woman Awards are the first and longest-running international accolades of their kind celebrating female trailblazers in countries around the globe.

Entries for the 2023 SA edition of the awards are now open: inspiring women who've made their mark as business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs are invited to nominate themselves, or their peers, for recognition. 

The awards comprise two categories — the Bold Woman Award and the Bold Future Award — and form part of Bold by Veuve Clicquot, a global programme dedicated to supporting women in business.

This year also sees the introduction of Veuve Clicquot’s Bold Open Database, a revolutionary endeavour that aims to use technology as the catalyst for social and economic development.

A global first, the database identifies and promotes female entrepreneurs, free of cultural, geographical and technological barriers. Its goal is characteristically audacious for the champagne brand: not only to gather — all within one database — the details of female entrepreneurs from all over the world, but to make them visible, amplify their influence and promote interest in and support of their work.

Enter the 2023 Bold Woman Awards 

To qualify for the Bold Woman Award, candidates must be founders or CEOs of a company that's been in operation for more than three years. They must have demonstrated transformation and evolution in their field and supported the growth of the enterprise for at least two years, while maintaining an ethical approach to business. 

To qualify for the Bold Future Award, candidates must be the founders or CEOs of a company that has been in existence for less than three years. In that time, the candidate must have made a significant contribution to the success of the company by instilling a sense of entrepreneurship and have made a tangible contribution to transformation in an existing market, while bringing ethical change to the business. 

Submit your entry now on the Veuve Clicquot website.

Three finalists in each category will be selected by an independent panel of judges and  be invited to attend the Bold Woman Awards ceremony on July 19 where one laureate in each category will be lauded by a grand jury.

The Bold Woman Award winner will travel to Reims, France, for an immersion in the history, tradition and luxury of Maison Veuve Clicquot.

This article was sponsored by Veuve Clicquot.

_{Terms and conditions: Entries close on May 14 2023. Candidates must be official residents of SA and the business must be based in or operating in SA.}