Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I work every day but I try to give myself time in the morning to meditate and exercise so I that I’m able to give energy and time to my family as well. I chunk time up during the day and it seems to work well for me and them. If I work a morning market, I always make sure we have some fun time in the afternoon. My husband helps me solve problems, and we’re often labelling the products at night together. My gorgeous four-year-old son ‘helps’ me pack the orders in the morning and actually he’s quite good at it! My 23-year-old daughter lives in a different city and is studying to become a nurse but she joins me at the General Collective Lifestyle and Design markets as my Sales Assistant. She brings a scientific knowledge base to the discussions we have with customers around magnesium so she’s super helpful, and also a beautiful human to be around.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
I had had to learn so much. Everything in my business has been set up, learnt or completed by me from the logo to the formulations, (except for Xero, I outsourced that). My learning curve was HUGE and I remember setting up my Shopify website in the early hours of every morning before my son woke up. It took me two weeks and I was rag tired at the end but I did it. I guess I’m just not afraid of failing anymore, I have this enormous drive because it feels so right. I’m not sure where it comes from at times but I’m going with it!
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
Never turning off. I can’t leave for the day. Koa is all around me because it’s run from home at the moment. Plus, every time I look at my phone and computer to pick up my own personal messages, Koa is right there, saying look at me, look at me! My passion is mountain biking, it’s why we moved to Rotorua. But when I’m out riding my bike at the Cyclezone ladies shuttle nights in Rotorua which Koa Organics sponsors, I guess I’m ‘working’ as well. But that’s OK because it gives me the opportunity to get verbatim feedback from ladies about what they like, how my products help them and any suggestions they have for new ones. So I can’t seem to switch off. We are well and truly intertwined: business, family and leisure. I love that my family are involved and we can be creative in work together, but we’re definitely going to have to schedule regular holidays soon!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
More products are being developed as I’m writing this and I’m so excited by where this business can go. I love being my own boss and deciding which days I might ride my bike or work on a new formulation or design a new ad. I can’t imagine working for anyone else anymore, and I have definitely started to look at hiring staff. We will get bigger for sure, how much bigger is the question!
Check out the Koa Organics website to learn more about them and see their range of products. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.
