Next New Zealand – September 2019

T

araLorigan’searlylifemayseem

very out of keeping with what

she does thesedays: runninga

large and successful support

organisation for female business owners

at every stage of success, with a roll of

high-prole Kiwi businesswomen like

Cecilia Robinson, Dame Julie Christie,

MimiGilmourandSarahPaykel.

Beingpartofa cult,whichshe doesn’t

wish to name,from the age of 17 to 31

shapeda verydifferentworldviewthanthe

oneshehasnow.“Theexpectationofthat

churchonallthewomenis thatwewould

getmarriedyoung,havebabiesandserve.

I didworkinvariousjobswhileI wasthere

but having real career aspirations just

wasn’tencouraged.”

One of those jobs was a receptionist

assignment at Apple computers, a

companyshehadn’tevenheardofatthe

time.“Iendedupstayingforsevenyears

andmanagedto graduatefromreceptionist

to marketing communications manager.

About three years into this journey

I realised that thischurch was seriously

wonkyandmyinvolvementhadtoend.”

Thispromptedhertostepuphercareer

and she undertook a postgraduate

marketing diploma which then led to

contractworkwithlargecorporateclients.

IN GOOD COMPANY

LovetookhertoLondon,wheresherst

encountered the concept of business

incubators, and when she returned to

Auckland two years later, she landed a

job running the AUT Innovation Park

Business Incubator in Auckland. After

threeyears,sheknewshewantedtostart

something herself that was specically

aimedatwomeninbusiness,butit took

timetorene what exactlyit wasgoing

tobe.Meanwhile,shetrainedasa coach

with a company that took a neuro-

scientic-basedapproach.

Eventuallyhernewcompany,Growmy

Biz, was born, quickly followed by

Co.Of Women, short for Company of

Women.Shetrieddifferentapproaches–

some more successful than others – before

taking the gutsy move of writing up a job

advert for a founding chair of the

company. “I got some nice emails from

quite reputable women saying ‘Good on

you, Tara!’ Then I got a call from Dr Lee

Mathias, founder of Birthcare and serial

entrepreneur. We met and she said

‘I think you’re onto something’.”

Under Lee’s mentorship, Co.Of Women

began to grow. In 2011, Tara instigated

Women Entrepreneurs’ week, recognising

it as the ideal platform to launch the

new commercial model. In March 2012,

Women’s Entrepreneur’s Week was

ofciated by then-Prime Minister, John

Key, and prominent women such as

Trelise Cooper, Sharon Hunter and

Carmel Fisher got on board, as did a

global corporate partner.

Over the next few years, Tara rened

thebusiness support model and developed

a digital offering featuring a magazine,

videos and podcasts from the 2500-plus

member base, as well as other tools and

C

arolynBanksstartedherbusinessjourneyin

a very male-dominatedindustry. “I started

anITconsultancyin 1998 andthereweren’t

a lotofwomendoingthatat thetime.I gotveryused

toworkingwithmensoit’sslightlyironicthatI now

runa businessnetworkforNewZealandwomen.”

Amove from Wellington to Aucklandin 2005

didn’tgoquiteaccordingtoplanwhen Carolyn’s

biggest client was bought out. “I recognised I

needed to network. I only knew two people in

Aucklandso I realisedit wouldbegood forboth

businessandpersonalreasons.”ShejoinedBNI,a

well-knownbusinessnetworkingorganisation,and

enjoyedit,sowhenpeopletoldherabouta women’s

group called Venus, shetold them that she was

‘I THOUGHT‘A BIG GROUP OF

BACKSTABBINGWOMEN – NO

THANKS!’BUT I WAS WRONG’

happywhereshe was. “I thought, ‘A big group of

backstabbing women – no thanks!’ Someone

convinced me to go to just one meeting and I

realisedhowwrong I had been. I immediately loved

the whole concept and vibe. After that rst

experience with Venus I thought ‘Gosh, they’ll

havetocarryme out of this organisation in a box!’”

Venus was established in 2008 by Tauranga

woman,Vanessa Davey, who was running her own

event business and felt a calling to provide a

communitythat supported and encouraged values

likenurturing and collaboration within the business

world.“Vanessa started a small group in Tauranga

andbeforeshe knew it, it had grown from one to

40 groups.There was denitely a need for uniquely

femalesupport in business.”

Carolynloved it so much she took on a regional

managerrole in the rst year of joining. “I saw that

manywomen needed help developing themselves

asbusiness owners and seemed to thrive on the

supportofother women to do it. What they get from

womenis different. Nurturers need nurturing.”

‘Our model is based on what any business needs to

TARA LORIGAN – CO.OFWOMEN

CAROLYN BANKS – VENUS NETWORK

70 NEXT / SEPTEMBER 2019

WOMEN WE LOVE