FROM making jams at home in the kitchen to selling her organic sauces in far-flung places like Jordan and South-East Asia, Anni Brownjohn has shown hard work really does pay off.

Based in South Murwillumbah, Ms Brownjohn's company Ozganics produces and manufactures gluten- and dairy-free organic sauces and dressings catering for people with allergies.

"It started in my home kitchen,” Ms Brownjohn said.

"I had a son who was allergic to colours and flavours, a daughter allergic to dairy and my husband was allergic to gluten. I had to modify what I cooked.”

With many friends telling her that her healthy food was the best thing they'd ever eaten, Ms Brownjohn decided to start selling at markets, which is where her business started to take on a life of its own.

"You couldn't see the top of my kitchen table, it was covered in jars two deep and we would eat dinner with a cloth over the jams,” she said. "All of the bedside tables were literally avocado boxes packed with jams and a sheet over them. My first warehouse I had was a second-hand caravan.”

Realising she had something worth selling, Ms Brownjohn decided to pursue her dream of running an organics-focused food company, opening up a factory in South Murwillumbah in 1999.

While she has had many successes over the years, including winning the 2013 Telstra Businesswoman of the Year, Ms Brownjohn's company was tested this year during the March floods, caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie, which severely damaged her warehouse and forced her to relocate her staff until repairs could be made.

"Losing $1 million in one day was something I never expected to happen at 57 (years old),” she said.

"However, I think you have the opportunity to shut the door, go home and have a cry or (realise) we're better than this and that it's a good opportunity for us to change. Part of that change is really knuckling down and becoming what we started as, which is a food innovating company and to get back to what we do best.”

"We're going to drive the business through innovation,” she said.

"Change comes upon you and you have two choices. You can be change, which means that's unmanaged change, or you change, which means you manage it. We're in the process of change which is managed.

"As a company we now know what our strengths are and my strength is what's new and where do we go from here.”

Despite being heavily involved in the post-flood debate with both federal and state government, Ms Brownjohn said the business community would have to rely on itself if it wanted to keep moving forward.

"I am bitterly disappointed in the response we've had from both state and federal government assistance,” she said.

"What would be really nice is if the state and federal government realise that without assisting companies to change here and do better, there will be no employment.

"We want this area to thrive.”