|
ExpatWomen's Interview with Glenda
Dr Glenda Stone is founder and CEO of Aurora (), a niche marketing company founded in 2000. Aurora is based in the City of London, serving over 100 corporate clients globally across various sectors. Aurora runs the UK's only 'large employer-direct' jobsite (). In her position as CEO of Aurora, Glenda brings together experience as a manager, entrepreneur, business angel, government policy maker, curriculum developer and teacher.
Glenda co-chairs the UK Government's that aims to increase the quantity and scalability of women's enterprise. She also chairs: the Aurora Businesswomen’s Network (comprising of more than 30,000 members); The Times’ Where Women Want To Work TOP 50; the BlackBerry Women & Technology Awards; plus sits on a number of Business Start-Up Award panels and Business/Technology-related committees.
Glenda won BusinessWeek’s Business Vision Award in 2004, was awarded Pioneer of the Nation by HM the Queen in 2003 and won European Businesswoman of the Year in 2002.
Glenda is originally from Australia. Jill interviewed Glenda via phone in her headquarters in London, England.
ExpatWomen: Glenda, congratulations on all you are doing to help women. What gave you the idea to start Aurora and what were you hoping to achieve?
Glenda: I have always been interested in women's equality even when I was still in the Australian outback teaching history. I felt that there were not enough women in senior positions in companies and wanted to help change that phenomenon. I saw a niche where I could help blue-chip companies recruit professional women and market their products and services to women ! |
|
ExpatWomen: Please share with us Aurora´s most important achievements to date. |
|
Glenda: Aurora has had many important achievements. We have a database of over 30,000 women who have signed up to our newsletter and/or have participated in events we have organized. Aurora, in conjunction with The Times newspaper, recently published (October 3, 2007) our second annual UK Where Women Want to Work Top 50 list. We work with over 100 blue-chip companies in 17 countries, helping them market their products to women. Our job site lists over 8,500 jobs. And finally, we are constantly in the news, being interviewed on women and business issues as experts in our domain. |
|
ExpatWomen: Glenda, tell us your experiences as an expatriate woman and how this has influenced your work at Aurora. |
|
Glenda: Well, I am an Antipodean (definition... someone of New Zealand, Australian or South African decent), which basically means I have the mind set to just GO FOR IT. We expatriate women must think this way since we have to reinvent ourselves in each new place we live. I could have taken a job in government or even worked in a company, but I decided to start my own business as I saw a market opportunity. I think my GO FOR IT attitude was very advantageous when I first started my business as I did not know "who was who in the zoo". I just called everyone and was not held back by name or title. I think a British woman may have not been able to do the things I did because she would have been too afraid to talk to those "important" people due to their reputation. |
|
ExpatWomen: Who helps you run Aurora? And why do you think you have been so successful in selling your services to blue-chip clients globally? |
|
Glenda: I am the CEO of the company and set the strategic goals. There are 12 people working for me in areas such as sales, marketing, events, client relations, finance, technology etc. I think we are successful because Aurora credibly connects companies with women for either employment purposes or helps them market their product/service to this niche. We have built a solid reputation in the industry and women trust us. |
|
ExpatWomen: Tell us about the Women´s Enterprise Taskforce, of which you co-chair. |
|
Glenda: I co-chair the UK Government's that aims to increase the quantity and scalability of women's enterprises in the UK. It is a three-year task force (2007-2009) that was started by now Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The goal is to find ways to motivate women start and grow their own businesses. We will collect data (for example – trends worldwide, in the UK, what is and is not working region by region; VAT by gender, etc.), identify role models and best practices, and supply technical and financial information to help educate women about starting their own business. The government’s goal is that more women will start and grow their business, thus stimulate jobs, wealth and investment. |
|
ExpatWomen: What are the Aurora´s next goals? |
|
Glenda: We would like to focus more internationally (on both clients and women) and of course increase sales with our existing and new customers. We would also like to expand our services to new verticals. |
|
ExpatWomen: What are your five top tips for women who may want to start a niche marketing business in the country they are living? |
|
Glenda:
- Do market research -- Find the gaps and duplications in the market you want to go into.
- Identify your revenue stream.
- Focus-- Do one thing and do it well. Remember to have 20/20 vision on your goals.
- Be aggressive and tenuous – Go For It! Make the money, and
- Keep focusing on the numbers. Failure to plan is planning to fail.
|
| |
ExpatWomen: Thank you very much Glenda. We wish you and your team continued success! |
| |
| |
December 2007 |
| |
| |
|
| |
020207.gif)
