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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
RedBalloon Team Blog
Where I’m Speaking
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
- is amazed how many people are drinking alcohol at 8am in the morning in the airline lounge about 1 day ago from web
- It is not the storms you meet in life, but the way you set your sails... about 1 day ago from web
- 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: Business Vision
What is bothering me…
Trust is such a fragile thing. One knows that to be trusted is to trust. But what if you give trust – and it is not reciprocated. Is it a one off, can never ever be regained? Does trust need to be earned back, or proved? Isn’t this a contradiction in terms. Jim Collins told [...]
Corporate Customer Love
I recently read the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos.com – He believes much of the success of his $1billion online retail business comes from it’s commitment to the culture of the business – which allows every person in the business to stay customer focussed. He talks about customer happiness with [...]
Posted in Customer Experience Also tagged Brand Marketing, culture, Customer Excellence 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, culture, Employee Engagement, 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 [...]
A crystal ball would be helpful
Hindsight versus foresight: When people ask me ‘have I got any regrets’, or ‘what would you do differently?’ I answer philosophically – we made a few mistakes – some very expensive ones, but we still had to try them – they were all part of the learning to discover what next. Without failures, of course [...]
Posted in Lessons Learned Also tagged Business Growth, Business Leadership, Leadership, productivity 3 Comments
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, Employee Engagement, Female Entrepreneur, Fun at work, Managers at work 1 Comment
Excellent…
I’m very exciting that RedBalloon is recruiting for a new role, a Customer Excellence Manager. We see it as the next big step in our growth and innovation story. To put it in context; I’ve always used the title Chief Experience Officer (in part because of what we sell) but more so because ‘I’m accountable [...]
Posted in Input Please Also tagged Brand Marketing, Business Growth, Customer Excellence, Female Entrepreneur, Managers at work 7 Comments
Four things to stop doing
The hardest thing for a CEO to know is; which of the many things we do – are the ones that really, in the long run add no value to the business? Another words 'where am I wasting my time and energy?'. The challenge is how to identify what I should I stop doing? I [...]
Posted in Lessons Learned Also tagged Business Growth, Business Leadership, Female Entrepreneur, Leadership 1 Comment
Why?
We often giggle at RedBalloon that all of us (including me) are generation 'why' - rather than 'y'. When I started this business (what seems like a lifetime ago) - I too wanted to work in an environment that I loved to come to every day. I wanted to dedicate my talents to something that [...]
Posted in Lessons Learned, Uncategorized Also tagged Business Growth, Business Leadership, Employee Engagement, Female Entrepreneur 1 Comment

Questions…