Your Say – Georgia McGillivray
CEO & Co-Founder, The Social Club
I’d name my autobiography…
Water babies
Although my career choice has probably limited my time on the water over the last few years, I am still always planning my next paddleboarding/surfing trip often somewhere close to home or usually to warmer climates during our winters. My family are partly responsible for this, raising us as water babies, happiest in or on the water.
Best advice I’ve been given…
My Dad has always said “The harder you work, the luckier you get” and I think I have carried this advice with me throughout my journey so far.
Second to this would be advice from my Mum “Always treat people as you would like to be treated yourself,” which I think is so important in life.
I made my first dollar:
At 12 years old, instructing school groups how to surf and windsurf.
Initially my job was to carry the windsurf boards and sails from the hire school, across the road to the water, and back after.
After a while I was promoted to kayaking around the windsurfers to give them a hand, and pushing the surfers on to waves in the ocean, which I thought was pretty cool! Finally I was allowed to give lessons, which I loved.
Life motto:
Dream big, work hard and smile more. It’s all about the balance.
The women who inspire me:
My Mum, Piera, has always been my main inspiration. She has such a strong work ethic, I have no idea how she managed to raise 4 kids (and our friends who often moved in and didn’t leave) on top of working and running the house. Following the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, there were 8 boys aged 16-22 living in my parents house for over a year, including my 3 brothers and 5 of their friends.
The main challenge for women in business is…
Not being treated equally. We have come a long way and 2018 has seen many positive steps forward, however this is still a work in progress.
I am lucky enough to have contacts with a lot of inspirational female business leaders who I have the greatest respect for. I take a leaf of out their book whenever I can.
We need pay equality because…
Everyone should be paid based on their results and deliverables.
Input equals output. It makes no sense to pay people differently because of their gender or any other stereotype!
