Maxine Horne

Co-founder and CEO of Vita Group

Maxine is the co-founder and CEO of Vita Group, a leading Australian retailer which has provided personalised service and added value to customers for more than 25 years. Vita Group operates in two core industries of information & communications technology (through Telstra stores and Vita’s proprietary Sprout accessories brand) and skin health & wellness (through its Artisan Aesthetic Clinic brand and network of nonbranded aesthetic clinics).

The group operates more than 120 points of presence with a team of 1,700 and revenues of $753.7 million in financial year 2019. Since founding Vita Group in 1995 with one mobile phone store, Fone Zone, Maxine has guided the growth and evolution of the group. She leads the group leadership team and is responsible for the strategic direction of the business, including operational leadership of the group’s skin health and wellness channel.

• Maxine was named QBR Business Woman of the Year, Retail in 2006
• Received the 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year award for the industry category, Northern region
• Was inducted into the Businesswoman’s Hall of Fame
• Released her biography, Think Smart, Run Hard in 2016
• In 2019 she was honoured to receive The Courier-Mail Award for Business Person of the Year