I’m not one to throw stones at other people’s business leadership – but something has been churning around in my belly all week since I read that Gerry Harvey has reduced his online forecasts. As I began to write this post I received a good overview from Business Spectator on it’s thoughts on the large retailers and the online space. The thing that I find concerning about Mr Harvey’s approach to online – is simply his inconsistency. I would be…
Author Archives: Naomi Simson
If I knew then what I knew now – 1
I have been asked to write a series for the Fairfax papers – these columns appear regularly in The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Courier Mail… The editor asked me to write something that was insightful but educational.. and he inferred entertaining too. As I thought about it I realised that the lessons learned – or things that ‘I wish I knew’ would probably the most useful… so I have republished them here – because not everyone has a subscription…
Is Pinterest the next big thing?
This article first appeared in The Australian on 5 March 2012 – I thought I would share for those who might have missed it. The only constant online of course is change – just as I think I’ve got Twitter, LinkedIn and FaceBook worked out – other interactive social sites show up. My 16 year old daughter has taken herself off FaceBook – claiming that Tumblr is where it is all at… and now Pinterest has arrived and appears to…
Coming Up this week 5 March 2012
It seems that International Women’s day started early this year. I have had a busy week sharing my thoughts on women in leadership and innovation. In addition to the panel mentioned in the previous blog, I did a keynote for the Testra marketing team and chatted to Linda Mottram on ABC 702 Sydney on the current state of ‘service’ in Australia. I attended the Head over Heels event – profiling three entrepreneurial women as they shared their vision. Caroline Rafferty…
Chaos is Normal
I found myself part of a panel at the Australian British Chamber of Commerce International Women’s day event. I look around me: Ticky Fullerton of ABC Lateline is interviewing Cathy Harris AO PSM – Chairman Harris Farm Markets, Helen Conway, Director of the Equal Opportunities for Women in the Workplace Agency… and myself. We have been asked to share our views on how we see the world of women in business. I feel privileged and humbled to be part of…
I wonder what my legacy will be?
It was my birthday this week , and it is always a good time to reflect. I have taken a break (everyone at RedBalloon get’s there birthday off)… but I have taken 11 days for this birthday, (justifying that this is my eleventh year at RedBalloon) to travel back to the place where my career began. My first job after finishing my undergraduate degree was with IBM in New York. I had my 21st birthday at the restaurant ‘Windows of…
3 insights on why we lack women leaders
I was forwarded a news article this week about Facebooks #2 leader: Sheryl Sandberg. She had been at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland – on the eve of Facebooks listing announcement. She has been quoted as saying women need to aim high “Keep your foot on the gas pedal.” I was curious to understand what she meant by this. I definitely don’t believe that women need to ‘give up their femininity’ to succeed. In fact there is nothing…
628th Blog Post….
I am often asked why I blog; Is it because I want to promote RedBalloon? Is it to increase search results? Is it to build my own brand? The reality is that none of the above reasons are in fact true for me. I write my blog because I continue to learn from; books, business leaders, attending conferences – and each of these lessons or insights I need to store somewhere so I don’t forget them. I use my blog…
An elephant’s life lesson.
I am just back from holiday where the kids and I went to Northern Thailand to volunteer at an elephant conservation camp. This is one of the few places in Thailand where elephants are safe and able to live an elephant’s life. Clearly we are a family of ‘experiences’ and I wanted us to experience the challenges and joys of participating in a volunteering program as well as getting an understanding of how an individual can make a difference to…
New Year – Mentoring
We are now on the final countdown as we rush into Christmas. I don’t seem to have many minutes to rub together, so as I race from one thing to the next I steal a moment to reflect on what an amazing year we are having at RedBalloon – how fantastic it is that we will continue to be frantically busy until 2.00pm on Sunday when people sit down to Christmas lunch – and then the RedBalloon elves will also…
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...
