Hello Venusians,

Welcome to my June newsletter.

 

Wow, we’re midway through June – doesn’t the year just zoom by when you’re having fun, I’d almost swear someone somewhere has shortened the weeks!

So who has been getting up at 5am to watch the America’s Cup sailing?  I’ve had some early starts watching Emirates Team New Zealand race in the Louis Vuitton series and latterly in the America’s Cup, 5am starts wear you down! I have been known some days to pick up the phone at 10am and say good afternoon!  I have loved every minute of it though, my heart rate has been higher than normal with some close finishes but at least we’re racing in the America’s Cup against Oracle – fingers, toes and everything else crossed for that!

Venus still has me in my happy place, isn’t it great when you love what you do? It’s keeping me busy but it just seems like fun!

So what have I been up to?

Quite a lot!  This last month Air NZ has been my friend as I’ve spent a lot of it travelling, getting out and about and meeting members. Kelly McFarlane and I headed down to Tauranga for a couple of days of POWER Rave’s with members, we also ran a Power Hour and I interviewed possible new VRMS’s (and consequently appointed one, welcome Sally Blockley!). I then came back to Auckland briefly before heading to Wellington for a week with the Venus Management Team there. My time in Wellington was spent working out a schedule for the Venus Training Academy, I also attended a couple of meetings, did some POWER Raves, and attended an absolutely fantastic Venus After 5 in the Hutt Valley sponsored by Summerset. Back to Auckland again for about a week before heading off to meet Maree Bryant, our South Island Regional Manager, in Dunedin where we launched a new group. We then got in the car and enjoyed a drive through beautiful Central Otago to launch Venus Queenstown the following day. Welcome on board to the Dunedin and Queenstown ladies!

Venus Training Academy

It’s been a big month of planning in the Venus Training Academy, going through the IP and working out who is going to deliver the workshops, the dates, venues etc. My head must have been overfull as I even dreamt one night about putting everything on a big calendar on a big wall!  We have three programmes, Venus Business Essentials, Venus Business Management and Venus Find your Voice that we’ll be running over the next six months as well as workshops on topics such as selling, presenting, social media, finances, networking, personal branding and personal development.

Remember the Venus Training Academy is there to run group training in an environment that sees you alongside other women who are looking for the same learning and advice. It’s very much about the learning alongside like minded women in a supportive environment. If you require specialist or more one on one training please speak to your VRM as she will be able to recommend you to one of our Venus members.

Keep up to date with what’s happening via either the Venus Training Academy Facebook page where you can meet the trainers and find out what is going on. Also please have a look at the Venus Training Academy website at www.venusacademy.co.nz.

New Look Venus

We are STILL working out way through all the documents and IP rebranding it with the new look for both Venus Networking and Venus Training Academy.

We have got most of the new Venus look sorted on Facebook with all the new banners etc. New look Member handbooks and pens are being sent out to new and renewing members as well as Venus Networking brochures.

We’re just working through rebranding and doing new brochures for the Venus Training Academy, as well as updating the website with all the new information – who knew it was such a big job, it seems to grow a life of its own?! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully, over the next month or two, we’ll get ourselves out the other side once and for all!

Venus Charitable Status

Again, this is a work in progress, everything is going along well and all those involved are positive. I’ve been told it’s a six month process from beginning to end, we’re probably almost half way through it now. There’s a lot of detail, financial and legal, to be done, it appears these processes just go at the rate at which they need to go!

Venus HQ

Jeanette Miller – Finance and Membership Manager, Lindsey Carroll – Operations and Communications Manager and myself have been working hard behind the scenes getting all the housekeeping in order. It still continues to amaze me at the breadth and depth of what needs to be done!

Meeting and Education Topics

Again, thank you for the positive feedback around these, glad you’re loving them and yes, all suggestions welcome. Procrastination was one I’d got lots of requests for so was happy to oblige. Remember for those of you that aren’t business owners these topics are as relevant to you everyone else. Understanding business is key to your role as an employee as it would be if you owned the business. The value and insight you could bring to the business and your employer could be invaluable, also long term you’re not always going to be where you are right now.

Venus Magazine

October, as you all know, is the month that we will publish our magazine. We are looking for members that would like to run advertorial’s or advertise in the magazine and expressions of interest in submitting editorials are being invited.

We have put together a Venus Magazine Press Pack for those interested which details costs, format required etc. The press pack will be sent out to all members with all the relevant information. Lindsey Carroll our Communications and Operations Manager is going to be the main point of contact for the magazine and for any queries/enquiries.

Venus Member Advisory Board

As part of our move to become a charitable organisation I’ve made the decision to appoint a Venus Members Advisory Board, these women are current Venus members and will form an internal Venus board that I, and the Venus Management Team, will work alongside as representatives of the membership overall.

Our Members Advisory Board are all long time Venus members, with a bare minimum among them of two years membership. They have all largely been through Venus Training Academy programs and have proven themselves as strong contributors to the community.

Their role is to be our sounding board when it comes to rolling out new initiatives, they will also be involved in our strategic planning. They are all women who are running successful businesses and have quite diverse backgrounds which I think will add a lot of flavour and perspective.

And yes, I can hear your comments, they are all from the Auckland region at the moment. This is simply because this is the portion of the membership I know best. Having only owned Venus 4.5 months I wanted to get this set up sooner rather than later. Long term I would see members of the Venus Member Advisory Board coming from across the regions nationally.

So how’s Venus going for you?

Are you making the most of it?  Been to Member Success or Power Hour?  Keen on running a Venus After 5?

Remember we’re here to help in any way we can so ask, ultimately though your networking is entirely up to you. The more involved you get the more you’ll get out of it. A positive attitude and a hard work ethic go a long way in business and in networking. Use the resources available on the website, visit groups, go to the social functions, get involved on Facebook and keep an eye on the website.

Being a Venus member is about you being part of a community of like-minded business women who support, motivate, encourage, learn and grow. We can help each other as individuals but as a community, we can do so much more!

To use the America’s Cup as an analogy – we may be a small community nationally but by working together as a team we can achieve a lot, remember a rising tide lifts all boats!
Until next month my wonderful women! X
Carolyn

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