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Overview
From a very serious corporate career in marketing to creating a business based on fun RedBalloon, this is my journey. In this blog I share what it takes to be an entrepreneur and what I have learned - warts and all. I am also the author of 'I want what she is having' which chronicles the first five years of building of a fast growing business.
Very proud to be awarded National Telstra Business Womens Award for 2008 in the Nokia Innovation Catogory
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My presentations to company events are not listed because those engagements are not open to the public. Contact Kate on +61 2 8755 0034 for more details on speaking.
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- on my way to Keri Keri, via Auckland Auckland, from Sydney Sydney about 1 day ago from web
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- Saw this at the gym this morning 'To make your dreams come true, first thing to do is wake up' about 1 day ago from web
- Doh - got the first call on my new iphone 4 - could not hear a thing... had forgotten to take of the plastic wrap. about 1 day ago from web
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Tag Archives: Employee Engagement
Who is Australia’s Dream (and Worst) Employer?
I’ve often blogged about how people talk about the business they work for – this century anyone and everyone can be a publisher – using twitter and facebook to talk about their work place. An employer brand is part of the powerful marketing mix in creating customer experience. If we think of company X favourably [...]
Posted in best places to work Also tagged best places to work, Brand Marketing, Female Entrepreneur Leave a comment
Communication about Bad Apples
Bad Apples can still do damage even after they have left the organization. Cleaning up the damage and rebuilding culture will take consistent and considered effort. My previous post 'Bad Apples' raised the question of authentic communication to the rest of the business - to ensure that culture is not impacted. At RedBalloon being completely [...]
Posted in Lessons Learned Also tagged Business Leadership, Fun at work, Managers at work Leave a comment
Bad Apple
In the last few posts I have been talking about what it takes to be a Great Place to Work. It’s all about trust and purpose. One of the questions I had recently at a speaking engagement is very relevant ‘What if you have a rotten apple inside your organization– someone who is not just [...]
Posted in best places to work Also tagged Business Leadership, Business Vision, culture, Leadership, Managers at work 2 Comments
Have Faith
I have trawled through online articles featuring best employers and companies with high engagement scores (I'm curious as to what others do of course) and I can’t help but notice the negative comments some attract along the lines of “it’s easy for you” from people all over the world. The truth is any organisation no [...]
Posted in best places to work Also tagged Business Growth, Business Leadership, Business Vision, Managers at work, productivity, Recognition and Acknowledgement 1 Comment
Thoughts from a RedBalloon veteran
On Friday it was time to farewell an original RedBallooner - Sarah was with us in the very early days - and has seen the business grow from 9 people to its present 50. She has caught the entrepreneurial bug and started her own show a named ‘Lady Bug’ as a fully fledged interior designer. [...]
Balancing Balance..
Nigel Marsh has a simple story to tell - which vividly illustrates - "if it's meant to be it's up to me". We are the architects of our own future - responsible for our own happiness. One question that keeps bothering me during these discussions about paid parental leave... is this the right question we [...]
Posted in Input Please Also tagged Business Leadership, Female Entrepreneur, Managers at work, productivity, Work life balance 3 Comments
Curious about Strengths
Some years ago I had my Gallup Strengths done (see previous post) since then everyone who joins RedBalloon has also completed the review… it is fun and insightful and really helps us as a leadership team to understand how to best get our people in ‘flow’. It is not a recruitment tool.. because no strength [...]
Posted in Lessons Learned Also tagged Business Growth, Business Leadership, Female Entrepreneur, Managers at work, productivity 1 Comment
A big end of financial year blunder
Many businesses are busily planning for the new financial year. We are no different. We have our heads down, reviewing our performance, gathering data and imagining what next year will be like. And the team of course is who we are counting on to deliver the plan. (Business is a people sport after all.) As [...]
Posted in Reward & Recognition Also tagged Business Leadership, Corporate Gifts, Recognition and Acknowledgement Leave a comment
Icing on mud pie 2
I cannot stand waste. And this week the debate about how the government is spending $38million on selling (advertising) a tax package has really made me mad! What a waste! (Not for the agency, or media who are the recipient of the funds) But as a marketer I know you cannot spend yourself into having [...]
Posted in Input Please Also tagged Business Leadership, Business Vision, Female Entrepreneur, Fun at work, Managers at work 1 Comment
Grow!