Annette Francis, the founder and designer of Gaia Organic Cotton, Australia's first organic cotton babywear brand, has been nominated for a 2015 AusMumpreneur Award.

The 43-year-old is the daughter of Col O'Donnell, who used to run the Manuka pharmacy, and Jan O'Donnell; the youngest of their five children. The family lived in Pearce and Deakin.

Now mum to her own three kids – Bella, 10; Saffron, nine; and Ziggy, four; - Annette lives in the small town of Copacabana on the NSW central coast, where she also runs her business from home. (The kids in this pic are models for the range.) Husband Simon Porm is an artist.

She credits doing a textiles major and having encouraging teachers at Girls Grammar for giving her the spark to go into fashion design.

Annette started selling kids' clothes at the Balmain markets but had the lightbulb moment in 2000 to start Gaia after seeing an ABC documentary about organic cotton.

"It made sense to me to have organic cotton and babywear. It was such a perfect fit," she said.

The Gaia Organic Cotton brand is now sold online and has stockists around Australia including in Canberra at Wolfie in Manuka and Mountain Creek Wholefoods in Griffith.

Annette says she works early and late to be available to her children during the day, saying being a mumpreneur "brings freedom and it can also be tough".

"It's so important to seek balance," she said. "Schedule 'me' time and 'we' time to be with your children, your partner and yourself," she said.

She's been nominated for the People's Choice Retail Business Award and voting is by the public online at www.ausmumpreneur.com.

"It's really exciting," she said of the nomination. "It's been a really good opportunity to reflect and look back on the journey and I feel really proud."