How to find your passion for business again: Highlights from the Nurture Her Conference

Women in business need to take time out of their busy schedule to unwind and refresh both physically and mentally. Reset and refocus for 2019 and step away from the to-do list or in my case, step into Fiji.

I was recently invited to attend the Nurture Her conference in Fiji and spent five glorious days alongside 155 inspiring female entrepreneurs listening to over 20 world class speakers. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed in business and lose sight of why you were passionately drawn to starting it in the first place. This conference helped me get back to the core of why I am and always have been in business.

The Joy of Business

Murray Thom is a creative entrepreneur extraordinaire in the music industry and spoke from personal experience about finding joy and being fearless in business. Murray shared some wise and insightful viewpoints that rung true from my creative background.

“When you speak the language of the artist, that’s when you know you are starting to do business, he stated.

For me, business has always been creative because to grow and thrive we need to be adapting and creating innovative products and services for our clients and customers. When I feel passionate about what I am doing nothing feels like work, true joy comes from finding that passion.

Murray and Zac spoke about “not chasing a dying breeze” and gave valuable examples from their own business lives, speaking about how it takes incredible courage to correct the course.

I think we too often see this as failure, when the true failure comes in continuing on, and losing the joy in what we are creating. So often we write the plan around who our ideal client would be but forget to execute this plan. This can mean having those hard conversations with someone and gently passing them on to find another who is more suited to their needs. For me this has come with … let’s say maturity (age has other connotations), experience and confidence. I have had mentors speak with me about cutting clients that don’t enrich my life and being brave enough to to do it! It actually was liberating.

Innovation – Adapt or Die

Victoria Crone (to 2017 was MD of Xero) threw out the challenge of innovation and whether we would choose to thrive or survive in this fast paced and changing world. Her speech was of the fourth Industrial Revolution, the expansion of intelligence and what it means to be intelligent. Her challenge was to become part of the conversation and shape the future we all share to move forward together.

Janine Allis (Boost Juice and Shark Tank) shared her own experiences in business. She focused on the audience of women, the importance of surrounding yourself with great people who lift you up, setting yourself up to succeed and learning when things go wrong. Some one liners from her speech that will be post it noted on my office wall for months to come are the power of “Adapt or die,” “Done is better than perfect,” and “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” These power statements are relevant for women in business who suffer from imposter syndrome far more than our male counterparts.

I regularly run decisions through that filter in my own businesses: What would a man think/say or decide about this? It doesn’t mean I change my mind but I always try and consider it, I think it helps to make bold but well-informed decisions in my own business.

J.F.D.I (Just. F***ing. Do. It) ALT: Get out of your own way

The conference finished off beautifully with Maz Farrelly (Reality TV Guru) as the last speaker. She shared her experiences of pitching to the blunt and brutal TV industry with the audience. Maz took a moment to directly speak to women and threw down the challenge, “Why not you? Why not you to change the industry or profession that you are in?” So the biggest post it, one of those really giant ones I’m putting on my wall is, “Get out of your own way,“ and, “JFDI (Just F***cking Do It).” I loved her directness (something I find myself in trouble for sometimes!).

This is a snapshot of my experience at the conference in Fiji and a reminder to take time out of the business to enjoy the journey and remember why I started in the first place. Nurture Her was a great refresh and reset both personally and professionally for a successful 2019.

Thank you to all the amazing speakers and organisers of Nurture her in Fiji.