By Tracy Donovan, Interview and Quality Specialist - March 2024
While prepping for the WLB relaunch, I was looking at past projects. And man, I had to laugh. We were pretty hokey back then. The processes took FOREVER, they were so manual! At one stage we even had the bright idea of cutting up pieces of paper to nut out the methodology, and there were mountains of post-it notes stuck all over Ange’s lounge wall!.
We decided to film a series of videos explaining each stage of the feedback process. It was a much bigger job than we thought - it took days and days. I remember it was winter and horrible outside, so it didn’t matter, but we had to do many takes, because we’d end up doubled over in fits of laughter!
Laughter is one of the things I love about Ange. She was interviewing me for a role at ExportNZ BOP and I was so nervous because I’d been out of the workforce for a few years bringing up my boys. We introduced ourselves and shook hands. As she turned to lead me into her office, her high heel got caught in her trouser cuff and she fell over, like properly fell over, right before my eyes! We laughed till we cried, my nerves disappeared, and our firm work and personal friendship began.
Another film-shoot saw us walking around the mount, Ange in full wetsuit and speargun at the ready, to find the perfect spot to launch from the water. We’re a great team as we will always gravitate towards fun, while getting the work done too.
It’s cringy thinking back to how basic we were when we started out, but everything has to begin somewhere!. What’s remarkable is that even back then we were delivering quality work and getting results for companies, many who still refer to the work we did, years later and some who have rebooked with us for the 2nd or 3rd time. Our focus on quality work means from the beginning we received stellar testimonials and were referred for work left, right and centre.
From just Ange and I, WLB have spawned another three insights specialists, and we made the big call to outsource some of the work. The stuff that doesn’t require the brainpower, that doesn't affect our customer experience and now our capacity has significantly increased. It's my role to oversee the contractors, and I'm loving the responsibility, and how much it takes off Ange's plate, so she can concentrate on the juicy stuff she loves doing.
We have customers from all over the country, and all over the world, and our processes are now super slick and professional. But happily, our values are still as valid today as they were back then.
The more recent additions to WLB have experienced our ‘road trips, not work trips’ value. This week Ange and Anna are in Rarotonga for work – first time in the islands for a WLB work trip – go us!!
And I’m so glad Ange has both stayed the same in character but evolved professionally.
I can’t even fathom her wearing high heels and cuffed trousers now! Can you?
Tracy
