Courageous, inspiring and utterly phenomenal are just a few words to describe Australian Indigenous woman, Petina Tieman.

Despite experiencing a devastating childhood involving sexual abuse, violence, losing her father to a car accident, abandonment from her mother, and persevering through financial hardship, bankruptcy and a roller coaster relationship into her adult years - the selfless powerhouse has become a beam of hope for other disadvantaged women, collaboratively paving pathways for them to succeed.

"My life started with tragedy with my father being killed in a car accident, aged 21 when Mum was five months pregnant with me. I was then raised in a life of adversity, physical and sexual abuse, constant transition and relocation as my mother went through several other marriages – three of those were with abusive men," she said.

"Every broken marriage, we had to sever ties with that extended family and school friends. At age 15, I was raped by my employer and later that same year, my mother also abandoned me to move interstate with her then husband, a man who was previously in jail for murdering someone. This man also inflicted significant sexual abuse onto my younger sister and I."

Petina Tieman. Image: Supplied

"Age 16, I was putting myself through full time TAFE studies, holding down two part time jobs and stumbling through adult life. At age 24, I founded my first Women's leadership and empowerment group (WISEAM). Aged 26, I left my first husband to become a single mum of our 3yo daughter and explore what my life should be."

Commencing a new journey with her current husband from the Gold Coast, has resulted in owning multiple businesses, some of which have been more successful than others and caused plentiful moments where they were required to pivot, have been the most exciting and challenging years for Ms Tieman yet.

Some of the accomplishments she has since achieved are being the Co-Author to Amazon's #1 Best Seller The Women Changing The World, securing multiple contracts with government, and recognised as one of Australia's most awarded businesswomen with more than 25 awards - state, national and globally.

Petina Tieman with the Duchess of York. Image: Supplied

Ms Tieman was most recently invited to speak at Global Summits in London and Paris. During her UK and Europe trip, she walked away with three global awards at the prestigious Women Changing the World Awards. This was a huge moment for the business woman, but the accomplishments didn't stop there. Later, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, posted a photograph with Petina on the Duchess' social media. This extended the world's knowledge of Petina Tieman even further.

The Duchess of York shared pictures with Petina Tieman.

Key focuses for Ms Tieman are to continue being a driving force for women in the Indigenous space through her business, Complete Business Solutions which provides individual, custom built support to First Nations clients from remote areas.

"Group training is not our preferred model, instead we simply tailor business support to help each individual achieve their dreams and aspirations. Keeping it real, keeping it simple based on their level of education and the lack of resources that they have. Whatever the challenges and barriers that they have, we assist in navigating that, building them a pathway," she said.

Ms Tieman's approach to entrepreneurship is truly holistic. She recognises that personal and mental well-being is just as important as business success, so she combines life coaching and counselling services mixed with business mentoring to help entrepreneurs navigate both aspects of their lives.

"If I don't help them through the personal things that are consuming their minds, then they can't concentrate on the business," she said.

With Ms Tieman's unstoppable nature and guidance, we will surely see an increase in Indigenous leadership, businesses, and women in corporate positions. This will be further supported by her new venture Australian Women In Business Pty Ltd, providing mentoring, coaching, business support services and business boot camps for Women across Australia and will offer Indigenous scholarships to the programs.