Michelle McIntyre used to have a habit of saying no before anyone else had the chance. Not out loud, necessarily.
She would see an opportunity, wonder whether she was good enough or deserving enough, and sometimes rule herself out before putting her hand up.
That is beginning to change. The Gosnells educator has been named a Phoenix Finalist in the 2026 Australian Ladies in Business Initiative (ALIBI) Awards, one of several finalist recognitions she has received this year after deciding to put herself forward more often.
“I’ve realised I don’t have to decide whether I’m good enough before I enter,” Ms McIntyre said.
“My job is to put my hand up. The judges can decide the rest.”
Earlier, the Examiner reported on Ms McIntyre after she became an Education and Training finalist in the AusMumpreneur Awards.
Since then, the founder of My Wellness Academy has also been named a ROAR Awards Fearless Educator Finalist and an SLAI Awards finalist in the Reiki Master and Crystal Therapy categories.
The latest recognition, however, has a different meaning for her.
The Phoenix category recognises rebuilding, something Ms McIntyre knows well after spinal surgeries, ongoing nerve and back pain and periods when her husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment also required her attention.
There were times when she considered walking away from her business. Returning after those interruptions was not simply a matter of picking up where she left off.
Systems had changed, social media had changed and the way businesses reached people had changed.
“I’d had years of experience behind me, but in some ways, I was having to learn how to reach people all over again,” she said.
Instead of trying to recreate the business she had before, Ms McIntyre began working differently.
Some tasks were broken into smaller parts, plans were changed when her health required it and she stopped expecting herself to work at the same pace all the time.
Her thinking about success changed with it.
“I don’t think growth at any cost would feel like success to me anymore,” she said.
“Success now also means building a business that works with my life rather than sacrificing myself to fit the business.”
But there was another hurdle of giving herself permission to try.
Her husband had bought her a canvas bearing the words, “She believed she could, so she did.”
Ms McIntyre admits there were days when the motivational message had the opposite effect.
“Sometimes I’d look at it and think, ‘Yes, but she needs permission first,’” she said.
This year, she began challenging that thinking. She started entering awards, sending emails, asking questions and saying yes to opportunities she might previously have talked herself out of.
Not everything has worked, however, Ms McIntyre said taking more chances also meant giving herself more opportunities for something to go right.
“Maybe part of the reason I’m receiving more recognition now is simply because I’ve finally stopped ruling myself out,” she said.
“I’m learning that I don’t need somebody else’s permission to try.”
The ALIBI recognition is particularly personal because, unlike awards centred on her work as an educator or practitioner, she sees the Phoenix category as recognition of what it took to start again.
The national awards will be held in Orange, New South Wales, on October 24.
Ms McIntyre said winning would be welcome, but putting herself forward in the first place already represented progress.
“One of the biggest lessons I’m taking from this year is to stop giving myself the no before anybody else even gets the chance,” she said.
“I can give myself that permission.”
