Women celebrate success and network like busy bees at Bega Chamber of Commerce's International Women's Day lunch

Bega Chamber of Commerce president John Watkin said it had been "great to see women in business network together" on the day.

"It was a pretty big turnout and it was fantastic to see the women of Bega coming together to have a meeting like this," he said.

The International Women's Day event began at 12.30pm at the Peanut Eatery Bega, with guest receiving a complimentary drink on arrival.

As the women and two men began to fill the venue, guests began to mingle and catch up across the room shortly before the MC of the day Jess O'Donnell took to the mic to get the event started.

The guest speaker for the event, June Tarlinton, needed no introduction as the crowd enthusiastically welcomed her to the microphone.

Ms Tarlinton told the people in the room a very heartfelt and inspiring story about her journey in life, from her childhood in a rural property near Wandella and the Cobargo community to her time as a local dairy farmer over the last 40 years.

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Laughter was shared across the room, silent nods of agreement and emotional minutes of silence as Ms Tarlinton recounted her many stories of growing up in the Bega Valley, her hardships with the Black Summer Fires, floods and periods of drought, as well as her many funny anecdotes.

Ms Tarlinton's takeaway message was to encourage women to give anything they're interested in a go, despite how difficult it may seem.

After the speech some lucky door prizes were drawn, with prizes including vouchers donated by several local business owners.

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Mr Watkin said executive members of the Bega Chamber of Commerce, Emma Keft and Kirsty Towill had done a "fantastic job" as organisers of the event.

"The lunch was a credit to them, so many people attended and had a great time enjoying the beautiful lunch and the speech from our guest speaker," he said.

"June talked about her life experiences which provided a great insight into her life and journey growing up in Cobargo, which really brought people together," he said.

Mr Watkin said more than half of the guests on the day had been women in business which helped confirm the need for a professional women in business organization in the area.

"This event was like a launching pad for Kirsty's desire to get a women's in business organization running in the Bega Valley and judging by the enthusiasm and excitement in the room, I think it'll be a great success," he said.

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