Kiwi Business Story: Jo McFadden at PEP Worldwide NZ

Jo McFadden is the General Manager of PEP Worldwide NZ and an Owner Manager Programme alumni. 

This Kiwi Business Story is based on a podcast from 13 April 2023, and all figures quoted are from that time. You can enjoy the complete podcast here.  



How did you hear about The Icehouse? 

It was through Mike (Burke), one of our directors, who said: ‘I reckon this would be an amazing programme for you.’ I read up on it and a couple of friends have friends who are business owners who have been on it. 

So we chatted, and I just got a sense of what it would be like, and thought it sounded like my kind of gig; community, the way you learn, a little bit more organic. 

Any hesitations?

I'm really focused on learning and absorbing as much as I can, and sometimes I feel like: ‘did I leave it too late?’ because I'm in my 50s – but I wouldn't change things. 

But no, I just was up for it. I suppose the one thing I was thinking when I turned up, was that these people are all amazing business people, and I'm not! I look older, so are they going to think I know more? I felt like the 19-year-old in the room from a business perspective! 

What about imposter syndrome?

If I think back to the very first day, I was really nervous. You have to be really careful that you don't let your thoughts go down the rabbit hole of; ‘Who am I?’, ‘Why am I here?’, ‘Am I good enough?’

How has OMP impacted you and your business? 

What worked really well was taking yourself out of the business, going away, focusing on learning, and then the hard task of coming back and implementing… but that's all fun, too! 

Every time we went away [on programme], there were nuggets that were perfect for me right then. And I'd come back, I'd be really excited, I'd share, we’d change things, and we’d implement things. It definitely helped me with the big picture. 

I had been in the ‘doing’ for so long. And because we were growing, I was stuck in the ‘No, no, I need to do this…’ 

But all the nuggets around people, people management, getting the right people on the bus, getting the wrong people off, how to act and catch things quickly or catch things fast (were invaluable).

Sometimes we'd have sessions, and I'd come back and go, ‘Ah, That’s exactly what I do.’ And other times, it would just slowly filter in, and it wasn't until I'd reflect back and think, ‘Actually, that's all from OMP!’ 

It had a massive impact on me and a massive impact on the business. There were four women in a programme of 25 and we had a close bond. The guys were great, too. We had an awesome cohort, the facilitators, and the coaches were amazing.

Why is community important for those business owners and leaders?

It's lonely at the top. I'm just about to go on holiday, but what I realised about three weeks ago is that I'd been holding on to so much….

I thought I'd just reach out real quick to some of the OMP crew or the community around me. And I didn't, because I just thought, ‘I'll be right. I'll just keep going.’ I’m in my early 50s but I still have a bit of a mentality of, ‘I’m all good, this won’t happen to me. I'm not going to burn out.’ 

If you've got communities around you, just let people know. The OMP group have done it really, really well. We have a “What’s Up” chat!  They'll post things asking, ‘How do I do this?’ or ‘What can I do here?’. I've posted a few times. But if there's any learning here, I wish I'd just reached out to the group and gone, ‘I'm really struggling guys. My headspace is not good.’ 

How can PEP help businesses?

(PEP Worldwide is an organisation focused on harnessing the power of working well. It offers personal efficiency courses and has a huge impact on productivity of individuals.) 

Honestly, I'm always up for a chat! You can email me, Google PEP Worldwide NZ if you're interested in having a conversation or want to know more. Just contact me and say, ‘Hey, I listened to your podcast, I'd love to chat for five or ten minutes.’