Ms Rein, the wife of former prime minister Kevin Rudd, was named the 2012 Telstra Queensland Business Woman of the Year for her work at the helm of the employment and business psychology services company.
She thanked her parents, especially her father, for providing inspiration in business and teaching her diligence with financial matters.
"He told me the story of the Little Red Engine," Ms Rein told a packed Telstra Queensland Business Women's Awards gala luncheon in Brisbane on Friday.
"It said: 'I think I can, I think I can'.
"But when life got really, really hard it said: 'I know, I know I can' and it got to the top of the hill.
"You can if you think you can."
She also thanked friend Francis Edwards, who encouraged her to start her own business when she was working in employment rehabilitation.
"Her 'I think you can' was immensely enabling," she said.
She jokingly thanked her husband for not divorcing her after she decided to borrow $7000 to start up her business.
Ms Rein also won the 2012 Commonwealth Business Owner Award.
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