Last week’s blog by Bella, made me reminisce about my not so smooth process of coming to study at Massey University. It also reminded me of and my looming non-existent graduation. 

Some people go to university to party, some go to get away from their parents, others go because that’s just what you do! I guess the latter is what happened to me, although it didn’t happen automatically.

When I first graduated from high school, one of the youngest in my year, I had the dream that I was going to join the New Zealand Broadcasting School. That didn’t happen.

After one terrible interview that I travelled 5 hours for, I clearly wasn’t prepared. I literally forgot the name to my favourite movie: ‘The Help’. To make matters worst, while trying to remember the title, I quoted perhaps the most inappropriate and hell, the best part of The Help,  “eat my shit”.  How’s that for interviewing skills!

I was pretty adamant that I wasn’t going to get to NZBS after that and I guess my gut was right. It was humiliating, my first failure. I had told everyone that I was going to do this and had all my sights set on it. Looking back the rejection was one of the best things to happen to me.

2016 Was Not My Year

Instead of giving up straight away [like I should have] and starting a new dream, I stupidly decided to try again next year. So to fill in my time for my next try at NZBS, I decided I was going to work at my home and then do Camp America.

Within a week of the first job, I managed to pull all the ligaments in my ankle while trying to ride a sheep. Yes, I realise how very ‘New Zealander’ that makes me sound. So yet again my dreams were ruined, stupid sheep.  2016 was not my year.

Instead, I worked in a small local cafe, barristering and waiting tables for the rest of the year. During this time I felt the harsh eyes of old teachers and pupils, who obviously thought ‘is that all your doing with yourself?’.  In that cafe, I worked harder than I ever did during university or now [sorry Lainey].

I wouldn’t trade that year for anything, I learnt what it was like to do hard work, work long hours for average pay, to commit to something and it helped me to see the true benefit of upskilling. I grew up hugely.

The second interview with NZBS was another flop, as I failed to prepare yet again. But this time plan B worked out, I got accepted to Massey’s Bachelor of Communications.

My Graduation

Compared to the one short year of commitment to NZBS, graduating from Massey University seemed light-years away. After three short years, and six months of re-employment reality, here we are, graduation day.

Unfortunately, I may never get to graduate traditionally, thanks COVID-19. But as my past shows, failures, plans changing and sheep riding, lead to weird and wonderful things, you’ve just got to trust in the process.

My graduation wasn’t what I expected. So instead of using my three years of study to walk across a stage and shake hands with a stranger, I’m using it to badly photoshop myself into a graduation gown. Now that’s a true reflection of my achievement, right?

Happy Graduation to all my fellow class mates and thank you to all my family, friends, lecatures and businesses like Rocket Fuel Design for all your engcoursgement and knowledge thoughout the years – Kate x

The post My Graduation appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

As a child, I was no different from others in wanting to be a vet or something that is WAY harder than you believe as a child. I then spent most of my teenage years set on being an Interior Designer, that did not pan out the way I always dreamt of. Now here I am, my 3rd year out of high school with the intention of becoming a Social Media Marketer. This is the story of how I arrived here.

My university experience has been anything but straight forward, through this experience I have learnt many things, positive and negative. But I am coming into my last year with knowledge, strength and durability because of it.

I began my University experience at Victoria University of Wellington studying a Bachelor of Design, I had moved from Palmerston North to Wellington to pursue this degree as it is not available at Massey University in Palmerston North. The move was a big deal for me as I had resided in Palmerston North with my immediate family my entire life, that in itself was a huge learning curve. 

My First Year At University

A Bachelor of Design at Victoria University of Wellington requires you do 4 compulsory first-year papers before you can move on and specialise in your second year.

These papers, in summary, were drawing, graphic design, the theory of design and hard materials design. The only paper that I had a good grasp on before studying was the theory paper as that was the area I wanted to specialise in. I felt that I was not going to be creative enough to pass the other courses. To my surprise I quickly realised I was far more creative then I originally believed.

I suspect the many years of structured NCEA courses gave me very little free reign in being creative and now I had the opportunity to be as creative as I wished and created all that I wished. 

Practically, I learnt how to use various Adobe software’s different drawings techniques and how to operate skill saws and various other machinery that you would find in a wood workshop. I also learnt how to confidently and successfully present my design work to a small group and lecturers, this was extremely intimidating for me as I have always struggled with confidence and having something I created be critiqued in front of my peers was something of a nightmare to me.

I knew that I had to present to pass so it was just another learning curve I had to face and with each presentation, I gained confidence. 

Moving Home

At the end of 2018, I decided that I much preferred Palmerston North as a place to live whilst studying and also decided that I did not want to pursue design as a career but rather as a hobby. I had been doing a few different business papers at Victoria University of Wellington, including marketing. I decided that a Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing was a more viable and enjoyable career option for me, an option that still gives me the opportunity to be creative as well as academic in my work. 

Looking back I believe the main things I learnt outside of my discipline were about myself. I learnt that I could do anything I put my mind to and no one was actually there to judge me as I believed. I also learnt that the world is a lot bigger and a lot scarier than you imagine it to be whilst you are in the education system where you, often, do not have a chance to think or act for yourself but also that we are capable of fitting into that world with just a little push and determination.

Lastly, I learnt that Palmerston North is not as bad as I once thought it to be in high school, it is actually remarkably tranquil and I’m glad about the decision I made to come back.

Back To Business

Going into my second year at Massey University in Palmerston North was again a big learning curve as I had to navigate a completely different University whilst studying a different degree.

As I began studying business I struggled with the fact that I had changed degrees from something so full of practical assessments and creativity back to rigid compulsory business papers that I had no interest in whatsoever. These included finance, accounting and economics which I initially believed I would struggle with as I had not done maths or anything of the sort for about 3 years, but I once again proved to myself that I am more capable than I originally thought. 

Although I had to complete these papers I also began my second year marketing papers which were all around different areas of marketing, such as marketing research, social media marketing and consumer behaviour, which helped me to decide what I was wanting to specialise in.

I ended up learning a lot over this year in terms of disciplines as I was doing such a wide variety of papers, copious things that I have already abandoned but also copious things that interested me and stuck in my mind. Along with disciplinary learning, the main thing that unearthed and learnt was what I wanted to pursue as a career in a more specialised minor, which is Social Media Marketing.

Why I Made My Decision

I chose Social Media Marketing because of the modern, creative and open discipline it is. It gives me the opportunity to be creative and expressive whilst also providing a stable and intellectual element, the best of both worlds. Along with that, I also grew up with social media and it’s development into the platforms we know and trust today such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I have seen them evolve into the perfect marketing tools that they now exist as and can not what to see how they even further develop. 

All of the various changes for me were stressful and at times a nuisance as I have always been organised and rigid in my routine and plans, but it definitely taught me to be more flexible and understanding of myself. Thankfully for me many of my first-year design courses transferred over to Massey as electives so that, with the help of a summer paper, I was not put any time behind my original graduation point. All in all, I learnt equally as much in terms of disciplinary knowledge as I did about myself, my needs, my wants and my future path.

Choosing My Internship

I chose to do an internship through Massey University as it was far too valuable of an opportunity to pass up. Getting my foot in the door and experiencing a professional environment will give me that little push I need to enter the corporate environment myself after my studies. Being able to gain professional experience in the area of expertise I want to explore is an opportunity to figure out if Marketing is something I want to do in the long haul, and if so gives me the tools to be able to enter a job and know more about this area, practically, than other graduates. 

Along with giving me a boost on my CV I know that I will also gain experience and skills in many areas as Rocket Fuel Design, involves itself in many different areas of expertise, such as design, marketing, photography, website creation, etc.

Rocket Fuel Design was the organisation that I wanted to do my internship with as all of these areas are of great interest to me and most of these areas I have knowledge in that I would like to further expand.

Lainey is the most amazing “host” I could have asked for and her story of starting Rocket Fuel Design is as inspiring as it gets. I hope that one day, as my story continues, I too will be able to help and inspire.

The post Social Media Marketing As My Future Career appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

This article was directly taken with permission from Stuff NZ

Seriously, it’s My Business is a series where the Manawatū Standard profiles young Palmerston North people who’ve struck out on their own and started their own business.

A Palmerston North designer, entrepreneur and mother is helping fuel the dreams of other young creative women after her own took flight.

Rocket Fuel Design founder Lainey Te Whatu, 34, knows how hard it can be for young women to find their place in the industry, so is sharing her experience and resources to mentor at least one design and marketing student a year through the start of their career.

Te Whatu set up her design, marketing and social media company and took on the firm’s first client when she was eight months pregnant with her first-born, Andre, in October 2015.

She wanted to be her own boss and work from home by the time he arrived, so she could have the flexibility to take care of him and be there for major milestones , no matter what.

“The bank manager looked at me like I was nuts when I waddled in… She asked: ‘Are you sure this is a good time to be doing this?’ But it’s worked out really well.”

Te Whatu had been employed as a designer at other people’s companies for years by that point, always planning how to strike out on her own, but never feeling ready for Rocket Fuel to fire up.

Then she picked up freelance work so she wouldn’t go nuts with boredom during her maternity leave and the ball got rolling.

“Something clicks inside you when your pregnant and you’ve got to get everything done. Instead of nesting with my home, I did it with my business.”

Four years later, her business has grown and has a broad client base, both in Palmerston North and overseas. And so has her family, with the recent addition her 3-month-old daughter Hunter.

Now she is established, Te Whatu wants to help younger designers, particularly young women, make it too, starting with helping them find work where they can use their passion and training through Massey University’s internship programme.

“The top animation student from when I was doing my degree there was working in Burger Fuel afterwards. I always thought that was a bit stink.”

Third-year marketing student Kate Fisher, 21, joined Rocket Fuel in February and Te Whatu will be taking another young woman under her wing next year.

Fisher did so well that Te Whatu quickly offered her young protege a paying job.

Fisher said she’d always had a passion for design, and it was inspiring to learn from another woman who was deftly managing a design business and raising a family.

“It’s something a lot of women worry about being able to do, but Lainey’s found a good balance.”

Fisher plans to move home to Taranaki next year, and Te Whatu was providing her with resources, tips and support as she learns how to land her own clients.

The idea was to get Fisher ready and equipped to eventually head out on her own, but support herself by working full-time for Rocket Fuel from a distance in the meantime.

“It’s awesome, I’ve done other internships and haven’t got as much out of it as I have with Lainey.”

The post Rocket Fuel Design In The News appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

For many New Zealanders, this week is the third week of working from home. For Rocket Fuel Design this is not a new thing to us, we have been working from home since day one.

Although we too are feeling the difference in the atmosphere, as the current situation changes our working habits do too. From learning how to share and cope with the distractions of others again and a new routine of 1 o’clock TV updates, my working life has changed [not gonna lie, I’m missing having the house to myself and having more regular working habits]

Since working from home is something we understand well we are going to give you a few tips on how you can better run your home office. 

Create a routine

Set a time to start and stick to it
The bed often feels that much warmer and harder to get out of when you don’t exactly have time limits or people to see.

When working from home it’s important to pick a solid time to get up and get going. My suggestion is to have something to wake up for other than just work. Do some yoga or set a task to complete before you begin the day. 

That means you have to get up, get changed and get going.

Go for a walk before you start
Because you are working from home it is often hard to distinguish working time and home time. I like to separate these by actually leaving the house and ‘walking to work’

Most mornings before I start work I go for a quick lap around the block then walk straight to my computer and get straight into it. [Just remember to keep your 2m distances]

Set lunch/break times
Working from home can go two ways; you either feel like you have to prove something or you feel like you can chill. I’m the former.

This tip works for both types of people. Make sure to set specific times for breaks and lunch. This means if you’re feeling lazy you won’t just pop off for a snack or organise something and if you’re like me, it makes sure to give your brain time to rest and stops you from eating at your desk! 

Clean the room/house before you start
Remove all distractions from your office or even your house. If you are like me you need a clear place to think or you will find your mind wandering or frustrated by the mess around you.

Cleaning up your area or even your house before you start can help you focus and stop your mind from wandering to all the chores that you feel you need to do. Understandably this is a lot harder to do when you have children.

How to start your working day once you started
I find when you create a step by step routine when you start your working day, you start off right. 

Like I said before, while I already work from home I’ve seen my work habits drop a little bit. With all the new coming information and commotion around me, the way I normally start my working day has been less than structured. Causing the rest of my day to feel fuzzy and incomplete. 

Just like how you would in a normal office you need to wind up and down. Winding up normally would start by saying hi to you coworkers, setting your stuff on your desk, turning your computer on and making your morning coffee while it starts. 

When working from home, try structure the first half an hour of your day with a to-do list. Soon enough this will come as natural as your old work routine which I bet you didn’t even realise you had.

This first half an hour will set the scene for the rest of your day, so make it count!

Eat lunch outside

Currently, we are in lockdown in New Zealand so cabin fever is a real thing. Something I highly suggest even more in today’s environment is that you eat your lunch outside while working from home.

Everyone knows how good fresh air, getting outside and getting some sun is for your wellbeing. Not only is having a few minutes good for you but it will also stop you from eating at your desk and not taking a break altogether.

And if your feeling ambitious leave all your electronics inside to truly soak in nature in and hopefully the sun too!

Bring in some greenery 

As I mentioned before nature is super important, so if you have any house plants bring them into your office/workspace too! They can help solve an abundance of benefits, they look great and give you something to watch flourish and grow.

And you don’t have any house plants perhaps order them online – your wellbeing is essential, right? [Maybe don’t – however, you could always go on a plant hunt instead of a teddy hunt and use jars as planters?]

Move around 

Change things up, you are working, living and sleeping in the same place during the lockdown, it becomes so it’s easy to become stuck for thoughts and idea. 

To counteract this I have two different seats a normal desk chair and an exercise ball. 

Exercise balls have loads of benefits, but most of all it allows movement and difference into my workspace without leaving it.

And on days when I really can’t focus, I’ll change rooms altogether. When you’re in an office space you move into different environments often from checking on a co-worker to having a meeting. 

And if you really need to, stop, make a coffee, have a breather and a walk around to get the creative juices going again. 

Two screens are best 

If you are still trying to brace life with just your laptop or desktop screen I applaud and pitty you.

Having two screens will make your life so much easier and will help to make your home workspace feel more like your office space. So if you can afford to get a second screen – do it now.

Kids verse Home Office

When it comes to working and parenting Lainey has copiousness amounts of experience. Lainey has had two children while running Rocket Fuel Design fulltime from home. And while she may believe her work-life balance isn’t always there she has a lot of tips and advice to share. 

So I’ll pass that whole other can of worms on to her!  

Thanks Kate, well I’m not going to lie, working with children around, particularly small children is tough. But I have picked up a few strategies along the way that have helped me to stay productive.

Be with the kids or be at work – don’t do both
I learnt very quickly that when you are working from home if your children need your attention, give it to them. Don’t try to split your focus between your family and your work. Focus on your family and be in the moment with them, then when they are busy with something else, that is your time to work. For small children, this might be nap time, for bigger kids perhaps it is homework time. You will achieve much more if you can commit to an hour or so at a time for your work when your children aren’t around that you will trying to split your focus between your children and your job. And trust me, you will feel better too, because there is nothing worse than feeling like you have been working all day while juggling children and having NOTHING to show for it at the end.

Set Priorities
The first thing you will learn is that you can’t do it all. My advice is to set a small list of priorities for each day and stick to those. Ignore everything else you can, and just knock out those few things that are really important.
Think about the tasks that if you don’t do them, they are going to negatively affect your life or your work, the other ones [like the housework] will still be there tomorrow – trust me!

Be Kind To Yourself
I am still learning this one myself! But I think it is really important. You need to acknowledge that you are doing a lot when you are working and raising a family and sometimes things aren’t going to be perfect. Again, if the dishes aren’t done, who cares, if you didn’t email that one person back, do it tomorrow. Don’t beat yourself up about the things you didn’t do. Celebrate the things you did. And above all else, enjoy this time with your children. It may sound cliche, but you will NEVER get this time back. 

Under this current environment don’t beat yourself up if you’re struggling to work from home – even the people used to working from home – like us are struggling.

Ask for help, look out for others and more important be kind to yourself, your children, partners, workmates and others. Don’t be afraid to reach out to any of us here at Rocket Fuel Design we would be happy to help and talk to you! And if you have any tips for us that we have missed, we would love for you to include them in the comment below.

The post A Guide To Working From Home appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

Day One

The team and I had a video meeting to discuss the needs of our client’s during this time and how we could best support each of them. Plans were put in place to make contact with each business owner and discuss the next few weeks. I attended this meeting from the kitchen as my home office had been hijacked by Mr Te Whatu for his work purposes and the living room floor was “hot lava” and the couch cushions were barriers, I suspect to keep baby sisters out.

After trying unsuccessfully to put Miss Hunter to sleep, Andre and I took her for a walk to try a different approach. I took him a secret way to avoid the parks because try explaining to a four-year-old that the park is “closed” when they can clearly see that it is not. We found a few animals and hunted some Pokemon before returning home with a *still awake* baby.

Lunchtime, then a bit of time in the garden because you never know when you might need those veges that you haven’t watered in a while!

Finally got Hunter to sleep! Success, time to get some work done. Email campaigns and social media updates for some of our clients regarding their COVID-19 approaches and essential services. Managed to make contact with some businesses and plans are in place for them. Hunter’s awake so away goes the laptop – wow juggling kids and work is tough!

Hubby finished work, so off to the park for some family time!

Dinner was Pizza Hutt as we farewelled takeaways for the near future – not such a bad thing.

Put the kids to bed and then a bit of planning for tomorrow’s workload.

Day one. Check!

Week One

As we settled into home-life, I knew it would be important to keep the kids [particularly Andre] stimulated or boredom would set in and no one would be happy then. So every day I am making sure we do at least one thing that is really focused on them. For many, that may not sound like much, but as a mum working from home [and dad working from home too] it would be easy to try and focus on that and not do anything special for them.

After touching base with each one of our clients to check in and see what support they need, I have tasked Kate with updating all our client content to suit the new world we have found ourselves in and together we have come up with strategies for each of them. I also had a rather large design project on, so needless to say there have been a lot of late nights getting this done, because as I said in our latest blog – A Guide To Working From Home, when you are with the kids, focus on the kids, so there isn’t a lot of work happening during the day.

I also volunteered Rocket Fuel Design to take the Social Media Management lead for a group called ShieldsUp, which brings together 3D printers from all over the country to supply face shields to our front line medical teams. I thought this was such a great innovation and although it is proving to be a lot of work, I am really proud to be a part of it.

I braved the supermarket for the first time, that was CRAZY weird, particularly when the power went out and the whole place was pitch black, not going to lie, I was scared!

I’ve also started running again, so who knows, this year might be the year I finally complete my marathon goal, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, at this stage I can run around the block!

I think one of the things I miss the most is not having to cook EVERY meal, I mean, I enjoy cooking, but breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, I want a break.

Week Two

I’m actually shocked by how fast that seemed to go! It feels like only last week, we were heading into this and now we are over halfway! I can’t help but have a big sense of pride when I see New Zealand being praised all around the world for how we are “beating” the virus.

I think the highlight has been teaching Andre to ride his bike without training wheels, he picked it up so quickly and now there is no holding him back – proud mum moment.

One of the biggest challenges this week was Andre seeing his friends riding their bikes outside and wanting to join in. How do you explain to a four-year-old that no he can’t play with his friends? He seems to be really missing his friends and has started talking about going back to daycare. He’s handling it really well, but every now and then you can see it getting to him.

I too have started missing some of the things I took for granted. Mostly my friends, I miss the in-person catchups and Dee and I find ourselves calling people for video calls whenever we can. With Easter and my birthday coming up, it is hard, like everyone else, we can’t wait to have a bit more of our freedom back.

The post Self Isolation Sanity: The Great Lockdown of 2020 appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

A few weekends ago I [Kate] climbed to the summit of Mt Taranaki. For most of my life, I have lived in the beautiful town of New Plymouth, where Mt Taranaki sits proudly over. Admittedly where ever I travel and wherever I have lived I often find myself searching for it. 

Usually, the first question I get when I say I live in Taranaki is “ have you climbed the mountain?”. Embarrassingly I have to say no. Terrible right!? So many tourists and outsiders come to my region and conquer the summit. It’s been sitting in my own back yard for years, but I’ve just been too lazy and scared to do so.

We all have silly reasons for not doing something we want to do. But this year is the year I do what I say. I’ve made a conscious effort in 2020 to create personal and professional goals that are obtainable, but at the same time will push me out of my comfort zone. My climb up Mount Taranaki has changed my mindset on how and what goals I set.

In the lead up to climbing the mountain, I almost talked myself out of it countless times; saying the track we want to take [via Symes Hut] will be way too hard, we haven’t trained and we don’t have the right gear. Fortunately for me, I have a partner who always jumps right in and practically forced me to follow through with the climb. 

Unlike my unruly partner, I can be a very calculated person. I like to think from e.v.e.r.y side and situation possible [I’m a debater personality, apparently that’s what we do best]. Thinking from every angle leads me to often play the devil’s advocate, overthink and find all the worst [and best] possible outcomes. 

On contrast to Lainey who I believe just goes all in [read her story here], frequently, my “debater” personality can lead me to never start anything at all or lose interest. Therefore, many of my ‘big idea’ personal and professional plans quiet often never see the light of day. But not this time.

The Climb 

I had many, many situations where I could have given up on this hike. One of the biggest being spraining my ankle not even quarter way into our clumb. This meant getting back down was going to be extra hard.

Being a future thinker and hobbling with a big fat ankle, I feared and thought more about the climb back down than up the mountain. Although don’t get me wrong, I definitely was regretting the climb up while I was trying to find invisible paths in the dark and sliding down metres of track that I just attempt to climb [we decided to climb it at 4.30 AM in the morning to see the sunrise].

All while I soaked up the amazing rush, achievement and views from the summit of Mount Taranaki, I couldn’t help but think about getting back via the loose scoria track. I feared it so much. Anyone who has been on scoria before will understand this is  E.V.I.L stuff. So hard on the knees and calves and you will have multiple bruises and cuts but the end of it…

Waking up at 4.30 AM and climbing the rest of the way to the summit with a sprained ankle was rewarded a stunning sunrise! Too bad the north side of Taranaki was clouded over.

The Help

Just as we made it down off the easy stuff [the hard rocks] and on to the scoria, the best thing happened. 

WE FOUND A HIKING POLE!

Literally just as the scoria starts there was one perfect hiking stick. What a sign of support from the universe. This thing that had my stomach tied in knots the whole hike up, that almost stopped me from climbing in the first place was consoled in an instance. I had done all the hard work, pushed past the fear, pain of a sprained ankle and anxiety, gone full face into it to be rewarded with what I needed to get through.

The view while climbing down on the rocks before we reach the scotia was amazing. We stayed the night in Symes hut [the tiny white dot on the front right side of Fanthams Peak].

The Lesson

The point is, often life and work situations will be hard and confronting. Just like a 2518 metre mountain looming over you. But the best thing you can do is push yourself, know what you want and trust that when your at the most vulnerable state that the universe [God or whatever you believe in] will provide for you. 

At the last moment, a solution and a helping hand [stick] was provided for me. So my lesson has been learnt. Even in the hardest moments of achieving a goal, where you feel anxiety, fear and are totally out of your depth, just do it. Take a leap of faith and someone or something will be there to guide you through the hardest part. And yes that might just mean complaining 200 times that you’re scared to go down the scoria so that everyone around you knows that you need help [because remember if we don’t ask or tell anyone, who will know].

My mindset when it comes to hard and confronting goals have changed, instead of backing out at the start when I know something will get hard. I am going to put my trust in myself, others around me and the universe.   I will let others know when I’m feeling out of my depth and trust the process doesn’t want me to end in failure but to succeed.

If you settle and never attempt to cross that slippery scoria – the hardest and scariest part of your journey/goal – you will never know that you can achieve it.

But next time I’m calling my mate who has a helicopter to pick me up and take me back down… R.I.P my ankle and calve muscles 

The post What I Learnt From Climbing A Mountain appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

Lainey shares how and why she quit her 9-5 job to start Rocket Fuel Design.

I always dreamed of running a graphic design studio. Even while I was still studying, I would brainstorm names and create logo designs. I did manage to take on one or two paid jobs, but I was never good at finding paid work or selling my services. The work I got had to come to me.

The development of the Rocket Fuel Design Logo started way back!

Once I completed my studies, I applied for a role as a graphic designer at a local real estate company. The work wasn’t exciting, but I considered myself lucky. Most of the graduates in my class didn’t land jobs in their field of study. I saw the top animation student working at Burger Fuel the year after we graduated, her dreams of Weta Workshop a long way from being a reality.

So I did my job with not a huge amount of satisfaction, while on the side I continued to dream of the design studio I longed to build. Then one day something happened. The Marketing Manager suddenly left. The box that I didn’t realise I was in, was pulled away and I was given the freedom to explore ideas right there in my job. I didn’t need my own business after all! 

How lucky was I, I had found a job I truly loved. I treated that brand like it was my own. At one point I even thought about asking the owner if they would let me open another branch of the brand in a different location. I guess the desire to build something of my own wasn’t completely gone. Just dormant. 

Then the meeting came. The whole team was called in for a very important announcement. We all sat there in anticipation, I was so excited to hear what it was! Then the words, “We are merging…”. The business was being sold and so was my dream job. So what did I do? I did what every overly sensitive young person does. I cried. 

So a few weeks later the business was sold and we merged with the other company that had acquired us. One big happy family. Well for those of you with blended families, you will know that a merger [of any kind] is anything but happy. 

Suddenly there were strangers at the coffee machine. 

Let’s just bypass 6 months of misery [as I think I might have signed a nondisclosure agreement]. I left. 

So what was I going to do now? What I really wanted to do was, you guessed it. Start my own business. But when you have a mortgage and bills to pay and no clients to speak of that’s a bit hard. So I took a role as a marketing coordinator at a tertiary provider. An exciting new adventure.

I hated it. When you’re passion is ideas the worst place you can be is a cog in someone else’s very large machine. I was stifled and I was stuck and I lost my drive. 

Then something marvellous happened. I got pregnant! And my energy and drive came back. So when my maternity leave kicked in and I had time on my hands, while most people relax and start to prepare for their new arrival. I started my very own business. FINALLY! 

I pitched to my first client. They told me I was overpriced. But I had calculated exactly what I needed to be paid to grow the business I wanted. So what did I do? I did what every budding freelancer does. I lowered my price. But I didn’t care. I waddled into the bank at 8 months pregnant and [much to the astonishment of the bank manager] I asked to open a business account. I was in business!

So I worked my butt off – all for the $100/month my client agreed to pay me [for those reading this outside of New Zealand, that’s about USD$50!] But I gained a bit of confidence and word got around and I managed to get a few more clients. Oh, and I had our son, Andre. 

Lainey at her graduation with her husband and newborn son, Andre.

I would work while he slept and I would take him for walks while listening to podcasts. I would watch training videos on business management while I rocked him to sleep. It was tough, but I was finally doing it. I was building my business. 

But I still had bills to pay, and those first couple of clients weren’t going to cut it. Remember I was only charging $100/month… So I returned to work, but I managed to convince my boss to let me cut down to part-time hours because I had a baby. Two, if you counted my business. 

So this is where things got hectic. I worked part-time and worked on my business while still being a mum and a wife. And I did that until I couldn’t do it any more. I talked through me leaving my job with my husband and in true Data Analyst style, he made me put together a business plan and 12-month financial forecast. It checked out. He agreed. 

I was free! 

And that is how Rocket Fuel Design began. 

Today Lainey continues to develop Rocket Fuel Design and has begun helping other students to pursue their dreaming in both design and marketing. She has welcomed her second child, Hunter and remains dreaming of bigger and better things for her company. 

The post How And Why I Quit My 9-5 Job appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.