Bex Harris is the owner of the Rosebank-based lighting controls business Intelligent Environments and many of you will recognise her as a Rosebank Business Association board member. In 2022 Bex won a community scholarship to contribute towards her attending The Icehouse Owner Manager Programme (OMP) – she talked to me about getting into The Icehouse this year and what’s changed over the last 6 months since she took the plunge and joined a cohort of 22 other highly-motivated owners from around the country for the six-month programme.
Intelligent Environments is proudly a family business, providing super-smart lighting solutions for both new and existing buildings, creating more efficient and healthier places to live and work.
When Bex started the OMP in February she felt like maybe she wasn’t good enough to be there – “I had that imposter syndrome thing going on but in the first two days I realised that everyone there was just so much like me - lots of family-owned businesses and my confidence levels started lifting pretty quickly.”
Bex was able to swiftly implement real changes and new leadership techniques back in the business and they clearly resonated with the staff. A questionnaire to staff before Block 3 confirmed the changes that Bex was making were being appreciated.
“They noted that there had been a massive shift in the way I was approaching things so there was obviously quite a quick impact!”
Bex says the industry is challenging right now but the OMP has been solid confirmation that her team are at the forefront of the industry and with more than 100 projects on the go, the team is “nailing it”.
“We realise that we are the industry experts and we back ourselves – we want to shout about it so we have got stuck into a whole new level of marketing with a video showing exactly what we do.”
“We know now that we were missing talking to the end-user and that’s who we needed to educate about the benefits of smart lighting. We have employed a fractional marketer and now we are able to share what we do in a really effective way.”
Public speaking has been a barrier for Bex but OMP has changed that, helped by one of the experts who made a big impression, communications specialist Amanda Fleming.
A recent speaking engagement presenting to graduate students was the first time she realised that she wasn’t shaking when she walked up to the podium.
“It’s funny because, on paper, I’m an extrovert but I have always disliked public speaking. This time, I was able to use the video that we had made and I just felt a confidence I hadn’t felt before”
Bex says anyone thinking about the Owner Manager Programme should be courageous and “just do it and don’t worry about age or the experience you think you may, or may not, have.”
“There was a range of ages in OMP 60 - most were mid 30’s and quite a few family-owned businesses. It was really interesting to see the different styles of family businesses and how they work – I learnt a lot from the others in the group who were from all over New Zealand.”
Bex continues to support the Rosebank community with her board-level involvement at the Business Association and the company’s contribution to Fair Food Rosebank, sending a team once a month to sort food and being on call if they need volunteers.
Bex was the winner of a Stephen Doecke scholarship awarded to business owners giving back to their community. There are a number of scholarships available for Icehouse programmes and coaching - please contact me for more details.
k.delautour@theicehouse.co.nz
0274323087
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