SUMMER SERIES: Albury business leader Desiree Georgiou grateful for the vivid experiences of childhood

Desiree Georgiou's father was in the Royal Australian Navy and here they were embarking on a new life in Papua New Guinea.

It meant this house in what resembled a compound had become her everyday existence.

The Albury businesswoman was only six at the time, but clearly remembers her mother's reaction to their new reality in the nation's capital of Port Moresby.

"I remember arriving at the house for the very first time," she says.

"There were 10-foot barbed-wire fences and the house was run down ."

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Despite their difficulties - "we would get picked up from school at random times of the day, because of attacks happening across the country" - Desiree's reflections on those times make her grateful for having had such vivid lived experiences.

"During the four years we were there (with her brother, also), we were the only white children in the school," she says.

"Every day, we walked past the dirt and the sadness of the country. We lived in a house with bars around us, we had a secluded lifestyle, we didn't have the freedom. You couldn't just go ride your bike on the street."

The turmoil constantly unfolding was not anything out of the ordinary for Desiree and her family.

"That was normal to us, it was our life over there. My dad had done a lot of stints overseas," she says.

The now 42-year-old, who has worked hard over many years to become a successful businesswoman on the Border, says her upbringing means she still places great emphasis on "the small things in life".

"People see what we show to people on social media. They see the highlight reel, but there's so much more than that to me," she says.

"I believe it's about the simple things. People don't see the behind the scenes, the late nights, the running to and from places to get my kids, and the alarm on my phone to remind me to collect my kids from school."

After Papua New Guinea, Desiree's father returned to Australia for 12 months before heading to Fiji, but this time she and the rest of the family lived in Mount Beauty, with her grandparents.

This allowed them to ease back into a "normal life" again.

In high school, her desire to help people perked her interest in becoming a nurse, but Desiree eventually fell into work in the beauty industry.

"I've had a few different jobs, from a dental assistant to time in a nightclub to working in accounts at a radio station," she says.

While working full-time, Desiree was doing women's nails after work each day.

"I took a plunge to open a nail room at a hairdressers. I thought 'well, it's now or never'," she says.

But she persevered, completing all the required beauty certificates, and, eight months later, after outgrowing the space in which she worked, Desiree made the decision to get even more serious about her career.

"Fashion Fingers (in Smollett Street) became available and I've been here ever since 2005," she says.

This achievement held even greater significance in light of the fact she was "always scared" of putting herself out there growing up.

In her younger years, she did not want to put herself into a challenging situation.

While she now serves as chair of Business Women Albury Wodonga, only a few years ago she never thought she would be "good enough".

"I viewed other women in this killer of a community as being so much better than me. I never thought I would head the group," she says.

Those experiences are part of what drives Desiree to help and encourage other women to make their own mark in the Border business community.

"I feel very blessed that I have been able to connect with a lot of people," she says.

Desiree says she doesn't see success as something that can be measured by wealth.

"I believe it is having a stable family life, and whether you have a nice friendship group and are happy. That's success, not how much money you have in the bank," she says.

That is reflected, she says, in the love and gratitude she has for her husband, Nick, and children Krystal, 12, and Tonie, 9.

"The biggest thing I've learnt in life is just say yes and figure it out later," Desiree says.

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