Did you anticipate the level of success OpenAgent has had?
You can never anticipate how well or how quickly a business will grow, however I think there is a certain formula for business success.
To start with, you have to solve a problem by offering a solution. For example, people often find selling a property a difficult experience. Many people have never sold a property before or know where to start.
Australians wanted more information, support and better outcomes, so we built a platform and service team that provides just that. Whenever you provide a needed service and a great customer experience, success follows. So we anticipated that if we did it right, success would follow.
How are you planning on juggling motherhood and a growing business?
It always comes down to the team and at OpenAgent we work together. Our results don’t depend on just one person, but everyone pulling together in the same direction. I trust the team to continue doing a great job while I take time off for maternity leave. I also have the benefit of having a great Co-CEO partnership with Zoe Pointon, who will hold the fort during the transition.
At home I have my husband who is stepping up to become the primary carer and work part-time, so I can continue working full time.
Part of me thinks my journey in business has prepared me for the adventure of motherhood: expect the unexpected in an ever changing and growing environment, but part of me thinks I have no idea what is coming my way!
Are you apprehensive at all?
There are plenty of challenges I foresee and I’m sure plenty of other challenges that will come my way that I’m less prepared for. The main one is for the first time letting go of the business. However, I trust the team to make decisions without me and letting go will be good for me and for the team to step up.
What makes a great team?
I believe innovation is the new driver of the economy. If you think you can assemble the best and most innovative team out of white males exclusively, you are kidding yourself. This is a loss to individuals and society, businesses and the economy at large.
Lack of awareness and unconscious biases only get resolved when we are actually aware of our own behaviour. I find most people will just think they are ‘fine’ when it comes to gender biases and continue behaving in the same unconscious way.
Double standards and social expectations prevent people (women) from having true choice, which is a profound loss for society and it means we are missing out on diversity in our workforce. To me it is not a gender issue, it is a diversity issue that affects 50% of the population.
How can we better assist working families?
Coming from Europe, I’m still amazed at the lack of support and affordable childcare options. Even during school age, which sets in late (we have pre-school in Spain from 2-3 years old) the existing arrangements don’t support full-time working parents.
School hours, school holidays, school involvement is designed to support the carers, however they don’t seem very compatible with a full-time working couple. Childcare is expensive and not always available (I am currently researching childcare centres in Sydney and getting into one in a timely way seems harder than applying for my degree at Stanford University!) Again this takes away real choices for working families, and society puts the responsibility for this, disproportionately, on woman.
What are the next goals for your business?
We want to be the place Australians go to sell their homes easily. Selling a property is a stressful process filled with hiccups. I think Australians deserve much better and we want to be responsible for making that happen. Along the way, I hope to raise awareness about our service and to become a trusted resource, so when people think of home selling they think of OpenAgent.