Tag: New York

Introverts aren't known for personal brand pivots or are they? There is the fallacy that introverts don't 'show off' or 'put themselves out there'. I think this is far from the truth because as an introvert I know what it's like to know what you want and go out and get it. It's just we do it in a different way.

From the moment I landed, my heart started to sing. I've been to New York more than 100 times, yet it still has me hooked. No matter what airport you land, you know that the drive to your hotel or wherever you are staying is going to make you come alive in a way that no other city in the world is able to do.

This morning, I decided to have breakfast at my favourite cafe, Hobba Prahran before heading to the office. I sat at Hobba with a big smile on my face. I have spent the past month with my teams in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Atlanta and it has been amazing.

The energy in each office, stand up meetings, pride in their work, on-boarding of clients and in general, their 'nice-ness' is beyond anything you would ever expect in an office environment.

I had a particularly stressful period of time. Hackers had attacked our business and we were leaking cash like no tomorrow. I handled it great for the first three days, then I fell apart. I felt like it was all too much. My life is full and to add that type of stress to my life, I felt overwhelmed. It was certainly challenging.

My team could see that I was stressed, and on my last day in the Melbourne office prior to heading to the US, the team wanted to celebrate my birthday. I asked them if they would mind if we didn't celebrate my birthday and celebrated just Christina's instead.

On the 28th of August, I celebrate another year, and for that I am forever grateful.

As a entrepreneur who has a belief that you should always finish something you start, I am hell-bent on Marketing Eye's global expansion, and the only thing that holds the company back is my ability to travel more often given that I have a dog at home to look after.

Baring this in mind, we expanded to the US, and have done so in a way that we can trial operating remotely and within a management style that is conducive to me getting enough sleep and being present to whatever team I am working with at the time.

Finally, I have a printed copy of the 2016/17 Global Marketing Strategy for Marketing Eye and it is being developed out to the point where every single item in the marketing strategy is given to a person who is responsible for outcomes. 

It's particularly exciting given that usually we only share part of the plan, but this year, we decided to share it all - along with our profit sharing strategy for employees. It's time for many of our younger team members to start investing in houses or apartments, and they cannot do that without getting some real money behind them.

The last week in New York was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

So many things happened, but mostly I have to say the city just absorbs all my creative juices and it makes me want to take on the world in every aspect of life.

I love to write. It is a hobby and at times a job. I take it both seriously, and with a tongue in my cheek. I am not a qualified journalist, in that I never went to University to study Journalism, but I've been writing for 24 years and long before blogging, and self publishing became fashionable, I wrote for various editorials.

Sometimes, I can get a blog out in 15 to 20 minutes on a topic that I come up with just from the top of my head. Kind of like right now. Other times, I have to stay on message, and write about a topic that either readers are wanting to read about, or something that is pertinent to our audience for one reason or another.

Next week is a big one. I will be speaking at the most esteemed women's conference in Australia, the inaugural Inspiring Rare Birds Con, founded by serial entrepreneur and mentor to many, the beautiful Jo Burston. 

While Silicon Valley still is the money bags capital of the world as far as venture capital dollars are concerned, with 15 percent of the world's venture capital dollars being invested there, compared to 5 percent in New York, the tables are in fact turning.

Siicon Valley is home to the coolest companies on the planet, the highest salaries in the world and the most expensive real estate; it's New York that is comparative on a few levels here, but is currently experience a tech boom that may eventually take the reigns of it's Bay partners.