Beddoes, youngest recipient of WIB Award

Kim Beddoes, owner and Director of Party Events & Fiji and Fiji Weddings is the youngest recipient of the Westpac Women in Business Award at 39 years of age.

Beddoes who was also nominated for the awards in 2017 said she was very grateful to the individuals and organisations that had enough confidence in her to put forward her nomination.

“This is an honour for me and my hardworking team but I am especially proud to be the youngest recipient of the award, my hope is that young Fijian women enter the business sector to help grow our economy, it’s not easy but it’s worth the hard work” said Beddoes.

Seven years ago Beddoes decided to leave the safety of her full time job and run her business from her spare room with only one staff. Today under two brands ‘Party & Events Fiji’ and ‘Fiji Weddings’ the company has offices in Nadi and Suva and employs 21 people with services available to clients all over Fiji including the outer islands and the North.

“Essentially my aim is to be Fiji’s leading Event and Wedding expert and to this end I have created two brands for these different services”

Ms Beddoes also has a vast background in event management, marketing and media and she was fortunate to start her career as a teenager working during the school holidays in the family business Sun Tours Fiji.

“This hands on experience provided me with invaluable lessons that have benefitted me throughout my career, also from 2002 to 2003 I was Marketing Office Events for the 2003 South Pacific Games, this was the largest event ever held in Fiji, managing this large scale event equipped me with sound knowledge that has helped grow my business”

Beddoes also said that being a businesswoman has come with its unique challenges.

“I have experienced a whole range of obstacles including discrimination, nepotism and theft to name a few, there has been a number of cases of individuals as well as businesses in Fiji copying images of our work and passing it off as their own, in order to stay positive and in business I have learnt over the years to turn these challenges into motivation to succeed” added Beddoes.

Some of the company’s achievements include the styling and event management of 2017 Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards followed by the Fiji Tourism Expo Opening & Closing Events. Fiji Weddings was also recognised for its continued delivery of well-planned and styled Weddings when asked to style the Asia Pacific catalogue for the world’s largest hotel chain, the Marriot.

“I believe that the back-to-back successes of these large scale important events firmly stamped our company as market leaders in the field of Event Management in Fiji” said Beddoes.

Beddoes said that her plans for the future include entering new markets and hopes to soon offer new services for customers.

Kim Beddoes is a proud ‘Private Sector’ member of SPTO.