THE Swan Chamber of Commerce’s Hour of Power will return on September 9 with three Swan business award winners sharing the stories behind their work.

The speakers are Midland Snap Print owner Deborah Whitburn, Oceania Film Company director AJ Jayalath and Johnson Property Corp property consultant Tessa Johnson.

The upcoming session’s speakers were all award recipients during this year’s Swan Chamber business awards.

Swan Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Tom Smilovitis said it would be a return to basics for the format.

“We are really returning to the heart of the Hour of Power, featuring three great speakers who are from the area and part of our business community,” he said.

“Speakers are given 10 minutes each to share their story and as usual we will have a questions and answers session at the end.”

Ms Whitburn was awarded the chamber’s service excellence award and has previously been recognised by Snap for her community involvement.

Ms Johnson said her talk would focus on the person behind the business and her path into property.

She grew up in the Swan Valley in a family with a strong business background but said her journey into real estate was not straightforward.

“I initially wanted to do something different because my mum, my grandad, my auntie, my brother, my dad’s even done a little bit, everyone’s been in the property business,” she said.

“But I just kept having this pull back to real estate and property consulting.”

Ms Johnson said she was eager to talk about her own motivations while building a future in the area.

“I think my future is my why,” she said.

“It’s one of those things that as a young person in the chamber, it makes you confront that big question.”

Mr Jayalath said his talk would reflect on his journey from an international university student to running a production company in the Swan Valley.

He said one of the main lessons from that journey was the value of consistency.

“You make your own luck by showing up,” he said.

“You get to meet a lot of new people, you get exposed to businesses, new ideas and new opportunities.

“That’s luck, but the luck happened because I showed up.”

Mr Jayalath said another lesson was to remain open to learning.

“I show up to any meeting, shoot or anything in my life with an open mind of, ‘I’m going to learn something here today,’” he said.

“You never stop growing as a person and as a business.”

His connection to the area began soon after arriving in Australia 12 years ago, when a drive through the Swan Valley reminded him of Sri Lanka.

He later joined the Swan Chamber as a university student and said it became an important part of his development as a business owner.

“It gave me that exposure and a safe space to make enough mistakes at the start, to know what to do and what not to do,” he said.

The Hour of Power will be held at the Crooked Spire, Midland on September 9 and run from 10.30am to 11.30am.