Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/49418
Photographer: Amanda Bransgrove her inspiration Annah Stretton Stretton Group, CEO What is the biggest challenge facing New Zealand this year? Balancing the books. We need to look at how we can get more people off welfare and into the workplace. To do so has many advantages, not only for industry but also for self-esteem and safer communities. Productivity also needs lifting. What happened to the nation of 'can do's' that we used to be? What will your main business focus be? More global expansion is high on the radar for 2012. The Chameleon (the one dress that does it all) will be our focus as we open up global markets through consumer expos as well as determining the likelihood of establishing a successful retail model in the country. How do you intend working smarter? By working calmer, listening, encouraging, empowering and sharing the vision with continual and ongoing communication. By bringing people with me and making them excellent as well as enabling them to use those skills that they were recruited for initially. By leading with creative thought and a powerful vision that is all about success and independence for all the team. What do you plan doing more of in 2012? Establishing more of our Birds of a Feather stores in New Zealand and Australia. Globally seeking opportunities for retail and wholesale expansion. Public speaking internationally. Travelling more for work and leisure. Exploring all opportunities that come across my path. Exploding the Chameleon concept into other synergistic products and services. Working on the big vision for Stretton Group And less of? Wasting time with people who never change the way they think and behave. Office paperwork and day-to-day management of people What will your technology purchase be this year? E-book reader What was the best book you read last year? The trashy stuff. I love great novels by a variety of authors. Susan Lewis and Lesley Pearce are perfect additions to sunny days on the deck with a cold glass of rose wine. How did you pay it forward in 2011? I do this continually through events by lending my brand, getting involved or simply writing a cheque. Examples of this connection in 2011 : The Tekapo Fundraiser where we raised funds for a new footbridge, Women's Refuge Melbourne Cup event in Christchurch and a collaboration with Kiri Nathan, a designer of fabulous evening gowns, to nurture her label and drive business sustainability for her. Who would you most like to sit next to on an international journey this year? For work: Tim Alpe. I love talking to him – he's so enthusiastic and he loves to listen ... one of the good guys ! For play: Bradley Cooper. Show me a woman who wouldn't! If you could change one thing about the world right now … it would be? Poverty. The fact that two billion people live on less than $2 a day means we have a problem. We need to teach these people to ... fish – give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime. Your best advice to school leavers is? Keep learning, keep your options open. Create a broad platform of knowledge. Always learn about business; it will give you the power to make choices. Your best advice to people starting a business this year is? Train your mind, upskill and learn how to run a great business. No matter what you do it's 80% about loving a business and 20% about the product and service. 30 | December/January 2012 | HER MAGAZINE Tim Alpe JUCY Group, CEO What is the biggest challenge facing New Zealand this year? Confidence will still be the major issue in 2012. The potential ramifications of the current financial problems facing Europe are huge and there is potential for it to have a significant impact on our economy. What will your main business focus be on achieving? It has to be a successful launch into the United States. We will be 'jucyfing' the US in 2012 with the launch of our unique green and purple campervans. It is a major move for JUCY and one that we are very confident will have a significant impact on our goal of becoming a global tourism brand. How do you intend working smarter? It is simple. We must continue to surround ourselves with amazing, talented people. What you learn as you get bigger is that you can't do everything yourself. It is imperative that you employ your weaknesses – we have 180 crew at JUCY, which means I have 179 weaknesses! What do you plan doing more of in 2012? Spending more time with our JUCY crew by visiting our 15 different locations in New Zealand, Australia and the US. I never want to be the "undercover boss" where your crew don't actually know who you are. Sleep would also be nice in 2012, but don't know if that will happen! And less of? 3.00 a.m. emailing What will your technology purchase be this year? I like the latest and greatest so it will have to be the new iPhone and iPad. What was the best book you read last year? The story about the In-N-Out Burger chain in the US. This is an amazing book about a very successful chain of burger restaurants that have refused to follow the mainstream burger restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King. They have no freezers, make everything onsite and have only five things on the menu. It is an amazing story about keeping business simple and doing one thing better than everyone else. How did you pay it forward in 2011? We support a lot of up and coming musicians and sportspeople, and also speak to a lot of people about the JUCY story, which we hope will inspire people to get out there and start their own business.