Your success deserves to be celebrated: Enter the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Awards

Veuve Clicquot is renowned not only for its exceptionally fine champagne, but for celebrating trailblazing women through its annual Bold Woman Awards.

The first and longest-running international accolades of their kind, they honour female leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship in 27 countries around the globe. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Bold Woman Awards — and the first time that South Africans are invited to enter.

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 programme presents an opportunity to recognise women who are making significant contributions in the business world, as well as to shed light on the barriers that hinder women’s success.

Through a series of initiatives and events, it aims to generate conversations for more impact and inclusivity. It gives female entrepreneurs a voice, encouraging future generations to be even more audacious — just like Madame Clicquot herself.

Do you share the same qualities as Madame Clicquot?

The Bold Woman Awards honour and take their inspiration from Madame Clicquot, whose boldness, tenacity, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit led to Veuve Clicquot becoming the esteemed French champagne house it is today.

Widowed at the age of 27, Madame Clicquot took the reins of the Veuve Clicquot in 1805 — a remarkable achievement in a time when women couldn’t open their own bank account, let alone independently own or run a business. 

Madame Clicquot went on to influence and transform the entire industry. Not only did she create an identity for champagne outside of France, she also bottled the first recorded vintage champagne in 1810.

She later innovated the riddling table system — a technique that clears sparkling wine of cloudy yeast after fermentation — and, in 1818, made the first known blended rosé champagne, known for its liveliness and bursts of fruit. 

Do you qualify to enter for a Bold Woman Award?

To enter the Bold Woman Award category, candidates must be the founder or CEO of a company that has been in existence for more than three years. They must have demonstrated transformation and evolution in their field and supported 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 founder or CEO 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 enterprise 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. 

Enter now. Here’s how

If you are a leader and role model ready to be recognised for your remarkable success, enter the Bold Woman Awards by completing a simple form on the Veuve Clicquot website.

Three finalists in each category will be selected by an independent panel of judges and will be invited to attend the Bold Woman Awards ceremony on July 21, where one laureate in each of the categories will be lauded by a grand jury.

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

^{Terms and conditions: Entries close on May 31. Candidates must be official residents of SA and the business must be based in or operating in SA.} 

This article was paid for by Veuve Clicquot.