Imagine running a business based on fun – that’s what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon in 2001.
I wanted to test if a business could be successful by simply listening to its people and its customers, and focusing on what would get people talking: the giving and receiving of experiential gifts that create memories.
Well, the ‘test’ – which I started out of the front room of my house with my dog, Dexter – worked. redballoon.com.au has now been listed in the BRW fast lists six times – an accolade I only dreamed about when walking the city streets, with red balloons tied to my briefcase to promote my fledgling business!
This blog is my journey: the sum of my own personal experiences as an entrepreneur, business owner, leader, manager and mother. What I get right, what I get wrong, and all the adventures in between.
Your questions, comments and feedback all help make this blog the inspiring business resource I want it to be. So please, subscribe, get involved and have your say!
My Proudest Business Moments
- Being the 2011 national winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award – Industry Category
- Winning the 2008 national Telstra Business Womens Awards for Innovation (and the NSW Business Owner category)
- One of four finalists in the 2009 Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Awards.
- RedBalloon voted as one of the top ten Great Places to Work in Australia by BRW 2009, 2010 & 2011
- Hewitt ranking RedBalloon with a 97% employee engagement score – especially given the average in Australia is just 54%!
- Making the BRW Fast Lists for six times
- Leveraging our business success to create RedBalloon ‘We Care’ to fund charity and volunteer work
Who’s Dexter?
It can be pretty lonely setting up an online business from home. Until RedBalloon generated the revenue to employ people and move into premises, it was Dexter the Spoodle I brainstormed with during our daily walks. Now Dexter is almost as much part of our brand as the red balloon. He comes to the office, welcomes visitors, loves photo shoots and can even be followed on Twitter!
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
