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…
Tag Archives: Entrepreneurial Journey
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…
Three Wins for RedBalloon.
RedBalloon has had a wonderful week of celebration by winning three prestigious awards. Whilst there are many businesses far larger than us, doing amazing things – it is such an honor to be on the same stage as those businesses. Could small be the new big? What could large businesses learn from us about absolute commitment to the employee experience – and as a result the customer experience. How wonderful to be recognized in this way. Last night I had…
Six Traits of Champion Entrepreneurs
Jack Cowen started his presentation at the EY Entrepreneurs workshop with a quote “An entrepreneur needs to be a cross between a microbiologist and an astronomer.” He believes that true entrepreneurs are special in that they can be both detailed and visionary. He was a judge in the EY Global Entrepreneur of the year program in Monte Carlo for 2010. It was a delight to have him in the room sharing his insights – not just from his own amazing…
What do you call a gathering of female entrepreneurs? An opportunity
I have just had the pleasure of being a participant at the Ernst & Young Women’s Entrepreneur Workshop in Sydney. It was a delight to listen to Carla Zampatti share her story of being an entrepreneur committed to women’s fashion and the struggles she faced in the late 60s. Lyndsey Cattermole shared the thrill and sheer determination it took to create her business – Aspect Computing – and Melissa Widner discussed her journey as a serial entrepreneur – and her…
Coming up this week 10 October 2011
It’s party party party at RedBalloon… well not really in fact we are very focused on our preparations for Christmas. It is however the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first RedBalloon.com.au website. On Friday night we had the team and partners together for a fabulous evening as well as some of the original RedBallooners. I was asked to say a few words and I found it quite difficult to express myself (which is odd, as you know because…
Coming up this week 3 October 2011
The highlight of last week was attending the NSW Telstra Business Womens Awards – a massive congratulations to Catherine Burn Deputy Commissioner for Corporate Services of NSW Police on being named this years NSW winner. Always a delightful event to hear the amazing stories of these business women’s achievements – but I think one of the cutest comments from a past winner “Now that I am part of this select group of TBWA winners I can do anything, even parallel…
Three steps to making money online
Another interesting question posed by the Australian – everyone is looking for the get quick rich scheme – and the reality is that there are none – unless you don’t mind a bit of hard work… here is my response to the question “How to make money online?”. This century is all about transparency and authenticity – people want to know that you are real. But having a great product that appeals to people and will get them talking is…
Dancing in the conversation.
I don’t really like the word ‘networking’ – it implies something forced or not easy (I think the term should remain the domain of IT folks). I was recently at the EO conference in Amsterdam and one of my friends asked me if I was going to ‘network’ there – which made me cringe. I know people have said of me that “You’re a great ‘networker’!” I don’t necessarily think that I am, given that you will rarely see me…
Here’s to the crazy ones – a timely reminder
In my presentations on leadership I often use the Think Different Apple TV ad (below) as an example to inspire… and there it was at the EO Amsterdam University I attended last week. Learning is not necessarily about new thoughts but reconnecting to ideas, concepts and theories you have already discovered. Ideas come back to us when they are most needed. The MC did not read a bio of Kofi Annan to introduce him, he simply said “I present a…
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...
