It’s party party party at RedBalloon… well not really in fact we are very focused on our preparations for Christmas. It is however the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first RedBalloon.com.au website.
On Friday night we had the team and partners together for a fabulous evening as well as some of the original RedBallooners. I was asked to say a few words and I found it quite difficult to express myself (which is odd, as you know because I am not often short of words.)
I acknowledged the contribution of so many people and businesses who have supported us over the years – and of course reiterated that no one can grow a business on their own. I shared how exciting it is to be a part of such a story – how RedBalloon started with just a few people, an idea and a commitment to the customer experience. However, along the way I didn’t necessarily know, at each step, exactly what to do next. As I said “we tried a whole bunch of things – some worked, some didn’t – we just had to do a few more things that worked than didn’t. We were a bunch of people completely committed and united by our sense of purpose – but we were kind of muddling through, and each year a few extra people joined us on this crusade.. until finally we were big enough to have a dedicated passionate HR professional to take on the role of employee experience. Together with the appointment of a GM – four years ago (now CEO, Jemma Fastnedge) RedBalloon has flourished.”
‘This has made me ponder – if there was only a few of us ‘giving it our best shot’ and we managed to achieve what we have. How, exciting to think what we will create in the next 10 years with the team of 55, all highly talented, who know what they are doing, and who are completely aligned to our values.”
It is also a time to reflect – and I produced a hard back photo book to celebrate the 10 years of ‘good times’ as a RedBallooner… I so enjoyed putting this wonderful record together.
This week:
Monday: Birthday celebrations (and a few one on one’s too)
Tuesday: Westpac Global Banking Alliance dinner with Gail Kelly
Wednesday: Brisbane – Griffith University Global Insights Series with Jenny Brockie
Thursday: Participate in Entrepreneur Research for UNSW – School of Business. Also attending an Ernst Young Entrepeneur of the Year event at Qantas Centre for Excellence
Friday:Write, Write Write.
I attended the Insight event today, I was very interested to meet the dynamic Naomi Simson which I had heard so much about and was totally blow away by a vivacious, larger than life but down to earth extraordinary woman....I have to say it... I was captivated...thank you so much....I will walk into the office tomorrow and infect our team with some fun!