A small group of us gathered once again on Zoom to discuss Seth Godin's new book The Practice.

Seth is well known for his marketing books and that audience love him. And it felt to us like this book was again aimed more at these sorts of people again. We as a group found the writing style quite hard to get into. Although we often pass comment on books that only tell stories, we felt like this book needed more stories to illustrate the points made within it! 

The book was made up of 219 ideas to help people be more creative and while this felt like a slightly overwhelming list, we did still find some takeaways within the pages. It opened with the words ‘The magic of the creative process is that there is no magic’ . This book's premise was helping people get better at practising being creative as it's something we can all do. 

Author: Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas
Reviewed by: Libby Gordon 

Kicking off NZBWN International Women’s Day on a cold winter February morning a group of Kiwi women gathered on Zoom, coffees in hand, lockdown weariness on faces, to discuss… humour! 

The conversation as always, wove around a bit as reflections and takeaways were shared from the pages read. Easy to consume, either reading or listening the people enjoyed the relationship between the two authors, they enjoyed the collaboration, friendship and story that was woven throughout. 

The two main takeaways from the conversations were around being yourself and the importance of humour, especially in the workplace. 

The first point was nicely summed up by this statement ‘I don’t see self as very funny, this book may not be for me… but it is not about telling jokes it is more about being yourself’

There was a recognition that you don’t have to be a comic to bring levity into your work persona; it’s about your personality and what works for you but not being afraid to use what you have. Often surprise humour is the funniest, it does not need to be a big joke, just something to show personality so that other parties know they are not talking to a brick wall. Being natural can help you to be better at your job; one group member reflected how it made their sales calls better, just being themselves. 

Hosted by New Zealand Business Women’s Network & Kea New Zealand.
Review by Rachael Frear

What an amazing night hearing from three of New Zealand’s greatest female success stories - chef Monica Galetti, London Bridge Hospital CEO Janene Madden and fashion designer Emilia Wickstead during this year’s International Women’s Day event to discuss the theme: Choose To Challenge.

My top highlights:
1. Kiwis have a phenomenal reputation in the UK for our “roll up your sleeves, get on with it attitude”
When I made the move from NZ to the UK, I had heard about the reputation of our Kiwi predecessors, speaking to our can-do attitude, work ethic and resilience. All these values shined throughout when hearing Monica, Janene and Emilia speak about their upbringing, careers and lives.

The panelists came from very different professions; however, all discussed this similar kiwi nature when facing challenges too, with Emilia explaining “we have that roll up your sleeves, get on with it attitude and I think that was something that was instilled in me from a very young age from my mum”. Throughout the event, you could feel the love and admiration Emilia has for her mum as one of her biggest inspirations and supporters.