Sharon Pratt, business owner and strong member in the community

Fresh out of school at the age of 17, Sharon began working at the then Schubert Crash Repairs as the office secretary.

Not long after, Max Schubert sold the business to her father, Graham, and then began the era of Graham Edwards Crash Repairs.

"I started as Max's secretary from '82 to '84 and then my parents bought the shop," Sharon said.

"They changed the name and then I became office manager from '84 to '99 and then my husband Warren - who's also a panel beater - and myself bought the premises in '99 and here we are in 2022."

It was back when she was first working as the office secretary that Sharon met her now husband, Warren Pratt.

While Sharon was working in the office, Warren worked in the shop as a first year apprentice panel beater.

It wasn't long after the pair got married, beginning the next era of the family business.

Sharon found it hard to have any spare time between working the shop and raising her three sons, but her husband's dedication to the Mobilong Rotary Club welcomed her to the world of Rotary.

Sharon's passion to engage, help and to give back within the community started with her father, a man who supported community welfare.

"My dad was an Apexian for many years, I suppose it was just the way I was brought up, to help others," Sharon said.

"When Warren became a Rotarian, I just followed suit so really, it's nothing new to me."

Sharon said that it is her husband, Warren, who has been the driving force in not only her personal life but the business - she attributes the business' success to the partnership between herself and her husband.

"The two of us together... between the two of us we have a very successful business, we have a great bunch of fellas who work there as our staff, without them, without staff, one does not have a business," Sharon said.

"We're grateful to have every one of them... without staff nothing happens, we really, really appreciate the ones we've got."

Sharon and Warren's business continues to thrive under the pair, with hopes it will continue long into the future.

"We're only the third owner, second generation, in 70 years, so it would be nice to have it continue, be it under the same name or a different name," Sharon said.

"It's a thriving business, it always has been and it probably always will be."

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