Dr.PAWPAW’s Pauline Paterson Wins A NatWest everywoman Award

Dr.PAWPAW‘s Pauline Paterson has been announced as the Aphrodite Winner 2021 at the NatWest everywoman Awards for Founding her business whilst raising children.

The 19th annual NatWest everywoman Awards celebrated the UK’s most inspiring female entrepreneurs, whilst recognising their outstanding achievements during one of the most difficult periods for business in our lifetime(s).

The event brought together some of the UK’s most successful business owners, and the ceremony told the stories of extraordinary women, who against all odds, have turned their dreams into reality (whilst creating jobs, opportunities, and global brands in the process).

This year’s winners spans multiple sectors, including food, fashion, drinks, health, beauty, energy, IT, and the service industries, – all of which have been united by one common purpose: to inspire future generations of entrepreneurs, and to leave the world a better place than they found it.

The Aphrodite Winner (which was sponsored by the Daily Mail) is for a woman who Founded her business whilst raising a child or children aged 12 or under.

Dr.PAWPAW started, because Pauline Paterson’s daughter was diagnosed with eczema. The former hairdresser tried a myriad of products to help soothe these effects, but the only one that worked was a papaya fruit-based balm that she had used growing up in Australia.

Undaunted by her lack of business experience, Pauline spotted an opportunity to bring this to the UK market. Initially, she sought out various Australian producers, but no one was interested in exporting. But she didn’t give up.

Determined she was onto something, Pauline decided to create her own papaya brand, learning to run the business on instinct alone. Through trial and error (from finding a manufacturer, to sourcing the right ingredients), she created her own range of multipurpose papaya balms, – suitable for all ages and skin types.

The initial success of the company took Pauline by surprise: after just one trade show, Pauline had managed to garner up interest from all over the world. Eight years on, and Dr PAWPAW is turning over millions. Now, Pauline is looking to go even further, by raising investment to take the next step up.

Maxine Benson MBE, the Co-Founder at everywoman said: “For nearly two decades, these awards have provided a platform to share the stories of hundreds of entrepreneurs, – encouraging, emboldening, and empowering other women to follow suit.“

“Against a backdrop of COVID-19, these women have shown how innovation and enterprise has helped their businesses to thrive under extraordinary trading conditions. We hope that their experiences will inspire others, and provide the motivation and inspiration necessary to boost the backbone of the UK’s economic recovery,” added Maxine.

Julie Baker, the Head of Enterprise at NatWest Group, said: “The winners show just a fraction of the wealth of female talent across the UK. We need to ensure that female-led business owners has access to the same funding, networking, and support opportunities as men.“

“This is why NatWest has ringfenced £2 billion for female-led businesses. We now have 800 women in business specialists across the UK, and a target to recruit 60% women entrepreneurs to our accelerator hubs. everywoman does a phenomenal job of shining a light on inspirational role models, and I want to congratulate all the winners and runners up,” added Julie.

A % of Dr.PAWPAW’s annual sales is donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.