Seriously, it’s My Business: Entrepreneur and mother helps fuel the design dreams<\/h1>\n

This article was directly taken with permission from Stuff NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

Seriously, it’s My Business is a series where the Manawat\u016b\u00a0Standard profiles young Palmerston North people who’ve struck out on their own and started their own business.<\/em><\/p>\n

A Palmerston North designer, entrepreneur and mother\u00a0is helping fuel the dreams of other young creative women after her own took flight.<\/p>\n

Rocket Fuel Design<\/a>\u00a0founder Lainey Te Whatu, 34,\u00a0knows 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.<\/p>\n

Te Whatu\u00a0set up her design, marketing and social media company and took on the firm’s first client when she was eight\u00a0months\u00a0pregnant with her first-born, Andre, in October 2015.<\/p>\n

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 ,\u00a0no matter what.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Te Whatu had\u00a0been employed as a designer at\u00a0other people’s companies for years by that point, always planning how to strike out on her own, but never feeling ready for\u00a0Rocket Fuel\u00a0to fire up.<\/p>\n

Then she picked up freelance work\u00a0so she wouldn’t go nuts with boredom during her maternity leave and the ball got rolling.<\/p>\n

“Something clicks inside you when your pregnant\u00a0and you’ve got to get everything done. Instead of nesting with my home, I did it with my business.”<\/p>\n

Four years later, her business has grown and has a broad client base, both in Palmerston North and overseas.\u00a0And so has her family, with the recent addition her\u00a03-month-old daughter Hunter.<\/p>\n

Now she is established, Te Whatu wants\u00a0to\u00a0help younger designers, particularly young women, make it too, starting with helping them find\u00a0work where they can use their\u00a0passion and training through Massey University’s internship programme.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Third-year marketing student Kate Fisher, 21, joined Rocket Fuel in February\u00a0and Te Whatu will be taking another young woman under her wing next year.<\/p>\n

Fisher did so well\u00a0that Te Whatu quickly offered her young protege a paying job.<\/p>\n

Fisher said she’d always had a passion for design, and it was inspiring to learn from another woman who was deftly managing\u00a0a design business and raising a family.<\/p>\n

“It’s something a lot of women worry about being able to do, but Lainey’s found a good balance.”<\/p>\n

Fisher plans to move home to Taranaki next year, and\u00a0Te Whatu was providing her with resources, tips and support as she learns how to land her own clients.<\/p>\n

The idea was to get Fisher ready and equipped to eventually head out on her own, but support herself by working full-time for\u00a0Rocket Fuel from a distance\u00a0in the meantime.<\/p>\n

“It’s awesome, I’ve done other internships\u00a0and haven’t got as much out of it as I have with Lainey.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seriously, it’s My Business: Entrepreneur and mother helps fuel the design dreams This article was directly taken with permission from Stuff NZ Seriously, it’s My Business is a series where the Manawat\u016b\u00a0Standard profiles young Palmerston North people who’ve struck out on their own and started their own business. A Palmerston North designer, entrepreneur and mother\u00a0is helping fuel the dreams of other young creative women after her own took flight. Rocket Fuel Design\u00a0founder Lainey Te Whatu, 34,\u00a0knows 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\u00a0set up her design, marketing and social media company and took on the firm’s first client when she was eight\u00a0months\u00a0pregnant 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 ,\u00a0no 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\u00a0been employed as a designer at\u00a0other people’s companies for years by that point, always planning how to strike out on her own, but never feeling ready for\u00a0Rocket Fuel\u00a0to fire up. Then she picked up freelance work\u00a0so she wouldn’t go nuts with boredom during her maternity leave and the ball got rolling. “Something clicks inside you when your pregnant\u00a0and 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/rocketfueldesign.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1572146545463.jpg","yoast_head":"\n