My job: More power to the job hunters

Philippa Weaver took the plunge and started her own website. Photo / Graeme Sedal

Name: Philippa Weaver
Age: 45
Role: Founder of Green Sky www.greensky.co.nz
Working hours: Have two young daughters so work 9am to 3pm four days a week, as well as patches in the weekend and some evenings.
Qualifications: First class Honours degree/MA from Canterbury University (Palestinian politics and education).

Describe what you do.

Green Sky is a website that flips the traditional employment model on its head and advertises people, rather than jobs. It is an open marketplace where people who want to be hired can promote themselves. It's for job seekers, contractors, freelancers, businesses and people offering services to their community. I run the business alone, apart from my amazing programmer Gayan Perera from Magnetism Solutions. My main focus at the moment is increasing our numbers.

Why set this up?

I wanted to run my own business because I had come to a point in my career where I didn't feel authentic anymore. I felt like I was putting on the "company hat" at the door and parking my own values and perspectives. I set up Green Sky because I had a "power to the people" moment when I realised the employment model is built upon the needs of the employer. I wanted a website where I could say: "This is who I am and what I have done. These are my skills and this is what I am looking for."

Your history?

After seven years at university, including an MA in Palestinian politics, a brief lecturing stint in political feminism at Canterbury (University) and a "mini-MBA" in Sydney, I made a change and got a sales rep job for a sales and marketing company. Over the next 18 years I moved up the ladder, eventually becoming a general manager. Throughout those years I knew in my heart I wanted to do my own thing but I never had the courage.

Three years ago, I found myself single with a 3-year-old and a brand new baby. Then my role was restructured. I felt I had absolutely nothing to lose by starting up the website. It was the best decision I ever made.

What kind of clients do you have?

Current Department of Statistics Household Labour Force Survey statistics show there are 1,086,000 New Zealanders of working age, but not in the labour market.

They are predominantly students, mothers and retired people. They have so much to offer and want to earn more money but they don't currently have a vehicle that allows them to let people know they are available. They are who I created Green Sky for.

What training and experience has helped you?

I have no background in recruitment or in IT but my business and academic background gave me the skills and confidence to create a vision, develop a business strategy and execute a concrete plan to realise the vision. Malcolm Gladwell talks about 10,000 hours of training as a key determinant in success. My background was my 10,000 hour "apprenticeship" for this project.

In set up phase you're constantly working between two ends of the spectrum - big vision and minute detail. You can't train for that. I'm lucky I have a mind that works that way.

I outsourced the web development and design to Magnetism Solution, who provide all my programming and database management support.

What skills or qualities do you need?

To be an entrepreneur you need two things in bucketloads: incredible tenacity and blind faith. You must be prepared to ignore all outward signs that nothing is happening, and find the strength to put all your passion and commitment (and money) into something that might never succeed. Most challenging part?

The most challenging phase for me was setting up.

I was only working two days a week as my girls were so young, so I worked insanely for those two days.

There were several months before launch where I would be with my girls all day, work till 2 or 3am in the morning and then up breast-feeding my baby at 5.30am. And these were the critical months when my brain had to be at its sharpest

You just push through those times.

Advice to someone wanting to do same thing?

First, spend double the time you'd normally plan on the conceptual platform of your business.

Challenge every business assumption you've made. If you don't do that before you launch, you will be found out later on. This includes being as clear about what your business isn't as what it is.

Second, before you commit you have to decide at what point you will walk away. You have to know how much time and money you are prepared to lose. Do this while you are feeling confident and strong, or you will find yourself facing these questions later when you are emotional and scared. Face your worst-case scenario before you start out, and then throw yourself in with no fear.