Nyamal woman Joanne Taylor always knew she wanted to help Indigenous people follow their dreams.

It was a trait passed down from her mother and grandmother, both strong women who she watched fight tirelessly for three decades for their native title rights in WA's Pilbara region.

As Ms Taylor sits in the office of her flourishing Port Hedland-based courier and equipment hire business, she speaks with pride when she says her fights today are easy compared to what her Elders went through.

"It took us 30 years to get our native title and I'm thinking, well, you know, we waited for 30 years to get our determination, so I guess we'll just keep pushing and keep progressing," she said.

Ms Taylor is now JukawalYi's managing director, a family business started with her husband in Perth on a dime and a dream to tap into employment opportunities on mines while waiting for that native title claim to be finalised.

A JukawalYi truck onsite in the Pilbara.

It was a struggle in the early years; Ms Taylor recounts working multiple jobs to keep the bills paid, and doing everything from cleaning the office to administration to keep the business running.

But that tireless work paid off and JukawalYi now employs eight staff, is based back home in the Pilbara and has contracts with Fortescue, BHP and several national businesses in the region.

JukawalYi's big break came via a contract to dry hire 22 vehicles to Fortescue's Iron Bridge mine in 2020.

"I thought they would only want like five or something, but they wanted 22 which kind of blew my mind," she said.

"For our small business, it elevated us as well and put us on that platform where it gave us the confidence to approach other companies as well.

"We are able to go out to the mine site now and see our cars driving around with the JukawalYi logo on, and seeing that gives you that proud moment."

That contract and the expansion which followed has led to some challenges; as word got out demand for JukawalYi's services grew.

Growth, however, has been complicated by years of global unrest due to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.

But Ms Taylor knows these challenges pale in comparison to the long fight for land rights the Njamal people were put through.

"Hats off to our oldies... they can try to step down now and let the next generation make the next dream come true," she said.

"That dream is making sure families are taken care of in the future and with business opportunities, employment and the training that is one of our strategies."

JukawalYi's mission is to help all Indigenous people into employment - whether on a mine site, a warehouse or working the courier routes - but Ms Taylor is particularly proud of her niece who the business and South Hedland ITP has been able to support as an apprentice accountant.

"That's what we want to be able to achieve; grab some local people, get them on board and get them up there and get them into supervisory positions," Ms Taylor said.

"We are a base here in Port Hedland where they have the opportunity to come in and work out on Country.

"That's very powerful for us."

In everything JukawalYi does, her family and Country remain close, so much so that the name of the business comes directly from their stories.

JukawalYi is the Nyamal word for the banks of the Oakover River where Ms Taylor's family is intricately linked to as her great grandmother's birthplace.