Nett Magazine - January 2010

 

I spent nearly 20 years as a Registered Nurse in aged care nursing homes. It's been a very fulfilling career, nothing like the stereotype everyone seems to have of nursing being depressing. I continued nursing late into my second pregnancy and while it would have been easy to slot back into a good role, I sensed a change in the air within the aged care industry. I wanted to be involved with bringing aged care into the 21st century, putting it on the map for a younger generation.

Most of my role as a Nurse was as a communicator: helping clients and their families come to grips with some of the biggest issues they've faced in their lives. The key is to listen to people's issues and concerns with your full attention and to respond in a way that empathises with their situation. I've found that taking a similar approach in my business communications has been really effective, as I'm never in a position of needing to do a hard sell to get people interested in what I'm doing with AgedCarer.

 

I always assumed business was all about being opportunistic and cutthroat, but have come to find so many great socially-focussed companies that are playing key roles in bettering society.

 

The potential of what we're doing with AgedCarer is huge given there's a million people caring for a family member in Australia who could benefit from the website. So setting short-term goals is very important. I've always got ten really big ideas I'm wanting to implement and I've had to learn to try and focus on one or two at a time, prioritising what's going to help take things to the next level sooner.

 

When I started AgedCarer I thought I had to understand all the technologies that make a good website, but I soon found it was better to bring in Web experts who could work quickly and efficiently, which freed me up to focus on content and services.

 

The main thing I've tried to do with AgedCarer is make sure it's responding to the needs of my target audience, so a lot of my ideas and feedback come from talking to real carers and higher profile people within the industry. I'm also lucky enough to have friends working in a diverse range of industries, like PR, web development and film who can give me new perspectives on how I could be doing things better.

 

The hardest thing about living in the city and having a high-intensity career is that it's not hugely compatible with raising a young family. I've been able to set up a business on my own terms while living in a beautiful location and scheduling time around our family's needs. The irony is that I'm probably working harder than I ever have, but it's on my own business. I'm learning new things all the time, connecting with interesting people in my industry and working on something that will help a lot of people get through a very challenging time in their lives. I had always thought that my creative side was totally separate to my career, but I've been able to start something that merges the two in a very fulfilling way.