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/54854
GENERATION X workplace. I've found men to be very respectful for what I do professionally and I am frequently asked for advice, support and mentorship. I also find asking others for help and support is met with a genuine response that is not condescending or otherwise. I think in 2012 if any issues happen in the workplace they come from personality or management differences. Q: Generally speaking what do you think Janene Freer Founder, Flossie Media Group Generation X Q: How do you think women in business are perceived by their male counterparts in 2012? As equals, or lacking in competence at the higher levels? Personally I've never encountered any type of sexism in the Rachel Taulelei Founder, Yellow Brick Road Generation X Q: How do you think women in business are perceived by their male counterparts in 2012? As equals, or lacking in competence at the higher levels? I think women are perceived as equals by men in business. Q: Generally speaking what do you think distinguishes women's business style from men's? I don't think you can generalise by sex. I think people differ from each other in a myriad of ways. We each have strengths and weaknesses that we have developed through upbringing, schooling, life experiences, and the environment(s) in which we exist and operate. Q: What do you think is a women's most valuable asset in business? I think any person's most valuable asset, regardless of sex, is their energy. Q: If you were to prioritise the top five activities essential to building a successful business over time, what would they be, with 40 | February/March 2012 | HER MAGAZINE distinguishes women's business style from men's? Very generally – I don't really like to make judgements based on gender (and in my experience there's nothing homogenous). But speaking simply from life experience (not necessarily business) women are more well rounded but definitely more emotional. Men tend to lack compassion and are more 'single focused' – not particularly good at multi tasking. Men don't second guess themselves as much as women. And typically women think of the other benefits of business and are less commercially focused. Q: What do you think is a women's most valuable asset in business? Again, I'd prefer to speak from what I feel my own best asset is as opposed to just a 'female' perspective (I'm not sure I'd be in a position to state that other women are like me!). My most valuable asset is my ability to just get on with it and no.1 as the most essential business activity to get right: Trust your instincts. Aspire to be the very best at what you do. Surround yourself with smart people. Maintain an unfettered belief in your ability to succeed. Learn through reading, experience and most importantly, networking. Q: Do you think customers have changed now from 5-10 years ago, and how? What are their expectations now? My customers have absolutely changed over the last five years. Their expectations are now higher as a result of the work we've undertaken. Where previously they accepted the status quo in seafood, now they're looking for more. Greater traceability, more responsible forms of catching, new species, and value in seafood's provenance. Q: What do you perceive as your marketplace: local, national or global? My priority is the national market, and then international. Q: Do you use Social Media? I do. Q: What are its weaknesses? I'm not sure the weakness is in the tools – more often than not it's the user with the weaknesses. adapt. Things move, life changes, hurdles appear – but my adaptability means that I am able to cope with change. My ability to just get on with it means that I don't spend valuable time dwelling, second guessing or worrying over non-consequential aspects – and can instead focus on the important elements. Q: If you were to prioritise the top five activities essential to building a successful business over time, what would they be, with no.1 as the most essential business activity to get right: 1) Research – know what the 'pain' is in the market you're looking to establish yourself in. 2) Strategy – how you can fix the 'pain'. 3) Opportunity planning – knowing where you're trying to go and how you're going to get there. 4) Team building – people you can trust to allow you to keep your focus on strategy and opportunity planning. 5) Client focus – no who your market is and how you can make their life easier. Q: Do you think customers have changed now from 5-10 years ago, and how? What are their expectations now? With budgets continuously being cut, all managers are looking to be more efficient and expect more from their suppliers. Our goal is to make them look good – so how do we do that? For me social media is about listening rather than telling. When you enter the social media world to simply tell your story you'll probably get it wrong. Social media plays to people's innate desire to belong, to be part of a community of like-minded people. If you listen to what people are saying, what they're feeling, and what they're looking for, through your business you can more effectively satisfy those needs and wants. Even if you do not participate in social media you have to understand how it operates as it is now undeniably part of everyday business. Q: How prepared do you think New Zealand businesses are to take their place on a global stage? Some businesses are eminently prepared and active in this space. Some of our New Zealand businesses are world leaders. Many however are not, nor will they ever be. It's the 80:20 rule, with the vast majority of our exports placed into the global market by just a handful of companies. This isn't a bad thing though – exporting isn't the panacea for all companies.