I've always had that bent for things technical. I left school at 16 and from the very beginning the jobs I did gave me exposure to that side of the industry.
I tried sixth form but I was over school by then. My first job was working for an online research company as a data analyst. I thought it was a really impressive title but basically it was data entry. I was getting $14 an hour, while most of my friends were working at the supermarket for $4.50.
When I started
NZ Girl at 21 I could see online was going to explode pretty quickly. In Asia Pacific there were no similar sites to look at. I had a big white writing pad on my desk and I just sat down and brainstormed the things we wanted to talk about, then set about getting the content right.
What I like about online is the fact everything changes so quickly. I’m really intrigued by anything that challenges the status quo in the way we interact. I look at what we need to change to achieve something, and if there’s an obstacle there, how to take it away.
With my role, being online is part of my life. The first thing I do in the morning is look at my iPhone and it’s the last thing I do at night.
It’s a personal commitment you make to the business, and at the moment it’s the deal I’ve signed up for. I look forward to the day it’s not, and hopefully in five years that lifestyle will change.
My life is always across both the personal and work worlds, although I only use Facebook for personal things, and I use a lot of instant messaging. But I try to make it a habit once a year to get away for two weeks with no computers or phone.
People are very bad these days with not picking up the phone and most people, given the choice, will just send an email. I always tell people to get on the phone. It means people will then think of you the next time you meet.
I’ve spent the last five months living out of hotels in Sydney while I set up
the business over here. You don’t want to see my mobile phone bills.
I am an uber-geek but not in a technology way, more in the business sense. I would sit down at a restaurant and pull out my phone but probably to work out how much money they were making that day.
I was born with skills that I don’t take for granted. I’ve never taken an exam in my life and I have no formal qualifications, but I’m adaptive and can pick things up quickly. I have an innate business sense that comes from my dad. When I was young I did lemonade stands and had car wash companies so I was born with that entrepreneurial streak.
I like things shiny and new and cool, but I haven’t gone too far and I think I’m still normal with technology. If you take Twitter as an example, I bagged it for a long time, but once you start participating you understand its power. It’s a great way to have a voice and to get the Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame.