You work for Biccari Holdings, who is the Australian distributor of Carmex. What attracted you to working with the business?
It is a family business, so I’ve lived and breathed all things Biccari since I was a child. I remember way back in the day when I was just a child, going to the office after school and sticking the Carmex labels on by hand. So it has always been a brand that I have loved and cared about.
I did finish a uni degree and seek an alternative career path, working in the financial services sector mainly in Human Resources, but after four years of this, I returned to my roots and rejoined the family business, initially as Marketing Manager.
I really thrive on the analytics, change management, business development and the strategic planning side of the business. I like to take something, review what’s going well, see where there is room for improvement and seek out new opportunities, so when the opportunity presented itself to rejoin Biccari, I jumped at the chance. I knew the brand, and so passionate about it, I was equally as passionate about our thriving business and continuing to grow the family legacy. I also know I would genuinely be able to make an impact, add value and at the same time learn a whole set of new skills, something that is so important from a career.
You’ve introduced new products to the Carmex range. What inspires you to seek change and growth in the business?
I’ve never been one to become complacent. I am very results driven and I like to achieve; it is kind of my nature to strive to improve and exceed expectations. I am someone if you say I cannot do it, I will try my hardest to prove you wrong – I love a good challenge and become bored easy, so I have always embraced change, growth and challenges.
When I rejoined Biccari, we had one product – the cult classic Carmex lip balm jar – in our portfolio and Carmex was a pharmacy only brand. At the time, and still to this day, the Carmex jar is the number one selling lip care item in Australian pharmacies.
I remember sitting down with my family and talking with them about the fact that if our little product was already doing so well, already ranking as number one in the category, image what we could do with a more strategic direction, more business development and more retailers. We now have 7 products in the Carmex range and we expanded our distribution to include the grocery retail channel.
What did you do prior to being the MD of Biccari Holdings?
I worked for in the Wealth Management division of one of the big four banks. After I completed my uni degree, it was important to me to join a large organisation where I could experience many different departments, gain a wider array of skills and have a real career progression available. I started from their Graduate Program, and rotated through various business units, which was such a valuable learning experience and was also essential for making good business contacts and building a network. I then managed the Graduate Program for a few years, and in addition worked within the Human Resources team, advising pats of the business on day to day HR issues. This experience was a great foundation, I was lucky to work with many amazing people, gain valuable insights and knowledge and was also able to participate in some great mentoring relationships which have certainly helped shape my career decisions.
You’re a mum, as well as a businesswoman. How do you balance life, family and work?
Well, this has been my greatest achievement, and my greatest challenge. Becoming a mum was truly a phenomenal transition for me, it changed the way I viewed my priorities, it provided a purpose and meaning to my life that I didn’t even know was missing. However it hasn’t always been easy to juggle priorities.
All working mums will know the feeling of juggling so many things, but not feeling as if you are actually doing any of them very well. Therefore there is a lot of things I do in order to try to achieve that utopian ideal of the perfect work/life balance;
- I have strict work hours – I always leave the office between 4pm and 5pm. The technological nature of the world means we can virtually work from anywhere at anytime. Which actually means we’re connected and switched on too much in my opinion. I’ve never finished my work when I leave, I always take it home, but that early evening time with my family is important to me, so I sacrifice some of my personal time later that evening to make up for it.
- I take a Monday off to spend with my daughter. She’ll be at school soon and that I won’t get that kind of time with her. The trade off is that I have to work at nights and on weekends, but nothing beats that previous time.
- I make the best use of my time wherever possible – return phone calls in the car (hands free of course), clear emails on my phone standing in line at the supermarket, work on the plane.
- I’ve learnt to let go – I’ve come to the realisation that the world doesn’t fall apart if the house is a bit of a mess, or if there are still unattended emails in my inbox, or if a couple of dishes are in the sink.
- Be organised – I’ve always been an organised person, but I find that juggling family, a demanding job and a lot of business travel means I need to plan a little more than I normally would. I plan meals, do bulk cook ups, order my groceries on-line, schedule most things into my calendar (both personal and business).
- Have good support – my husband’s fantastic, his job is quite demanding too so there is a mutual respect about the challenge of work life balance. I also have great family and friends around me, and I have learnt to ask for help when I need it. We outsource things now too; I’m lucky enough to have a cleaner.
- Make time for you – even if it’s not that often, it’s certainly important to have your own time out.
- I prioritise my health and exercise – I find that when I eat well and exercise I have a clarity of mind which results n my being more effective as a mother, a wife and as a professional.
But the most important thing for me is making sure I am present. When I’m at the office I’m in work mode, when I am at home I’m in mummy/wife mode. Some people find it extremely difficult to switch off from work. I try to make sure that once I get home I give my daughter and husband my undivided attention, we sit down together as a family for dinner (not all nights, but more often than not), I participate fully in the bath, book, bed routine, and then I don’t switch back into work mode until after we’ve had some quality time and my daughter is in bed.
What advice would you offer young women wanting to make their place in the world?
I always find this type of question difficult to answer, probably because it tends to end up gender related. I actually disagree with the notion that it’s harder for young women in the workplace or business world. I have never found the business world challenging because I am female. Maybe that is because I was afforded opportunities in my career which we offered and earn regardless of gender. What I found challenging was the age / generational set retyping – rather than gender. People often associated age with comptentency and sometimes found it difficult to believe that a young person was capable of certain roles.
I highly recommend any young person trying to make their way in the business world to:
- Ask a lot of questions – you can always learn so much from other people
- Never be afraid to admit you are not knowledgable about something … but the clincher is that you then need to try your hardest to then learn all you can about it
- Believe in yourself, no one is going to believe in you if you don’t
- Work hard. Put the hours in, do a bit of overtime, make a bit of extra effort, exercise proactivity in all instances that you can.
- Try to improve things – aim to leave each department / workplace / project a little better than you found it, put your mark on it
- Seek out opportunity, the old adage of “opportunity doesn’t come to those who wait” is so true. You can actually create your own opportunities, you just have to have your eyes open to see them and then be willing to strive to get them.
- Above all else, be honest and be you.
