Earlier this year Hotmilk Lingerie's director Lisa Ebbing was nominated in the 2021 New Zealand international business awards for the inspiring women leaders category and we are so excited to announce that she has been selected as one of the finalists. Lisa leads Hotmilk with an inspiring attitude and we could not be prouder as she grows her career and expertise. As part of her entry for the awards, she was asked the following questions, which sum up how empowering her leadership is within Hotmilk and her surrounding team.
HOW DO YOU LEAD GROWTH AND PROSPERITY FOR OTHERS?
I believe in family first. I encourage an environment where people can be the best version of themselves, without sacrificing family. It is a bit of work hard, play hard routine to be able to juggle it all, that’s the reality for families doing it all these days.
I don’t micromanage, our business is all about empowerment. I ask people to step up and take ownership over their areas which is a win-win for everyone. I do have high standards, but I work alongside everyone to ensure they’re reaching their potential, it might be that they need training, tools or mentoring.
Being a small business originally, I’ve had to do every part of the business so I know how things should be done, I lead by example with an insatiable work ethic and determination to grow and support a world-class team.
We also are constantly looking for small ways to give back, whether it's socially with charities and donating to givealittle pages or environmentally we’re all on a journey to improve what we’re doing at Hotmilk.
HOW HAVE YOU DEVELOPED THE MEANS TO BUILD ENVIRONMENTS THAT SUPPORT, UNIFY AND MOBILISE THE POWER OF DIVERSE WORKFORCES?
Diversity to us plays a huge part, more so in body positivity, accepting the human form in all its shapes and sizes, that plays a huge part in our work. We encourage and celebrate all our differences as women and that creates a bond in our team.
Our workforce has probably a different power to it too in that it’s almost all women and that means we do have to be strong, assertive, but supportive women. It’s a balance. We ensure we work with male influences too to ensure we are balanced.
Autonomy and not micro-managing I think goes a long way here for people to feel ownership over what they do and to feel empowered and appreciated.
HOW YOU LEAD FOR GREATER SOCIAL IMPACT
Baby steps. If you look at the whole, it can be overwhelming. We have created an environment where everyone is constantly looking for what next step we can take, we never stop seeking out ways to improve what we do or who we are.
We work with different charities locally and abroad.
We are constantly working on our factory relationships and what can be improved there ethically and environmentally.
We also look within our team and who has needs, as we all go through challenging times in our lives and our team is 100% there for each other.
Our product by default is there to help mums through this challenging time in their lives, we offer support and guidance and a product that lifts and empowers them.
HOW YOU HARNASS A GLOBAL MINDSET AND NEW BUSINESS MODELS FOR GROWTH AND IMPACT?
It is definitely a mindset to think bigger, think global, to be passionate about conquering the world. I’m saddened that more women don’t feel like they can. I’d love to one day, move to mentoring as I go through my own journey, as I think women still sell themselves short, and I’ve been guilty of that too. I join so many women’s groups but the questions are small, whereas the male-dominated groups are all about world domination. I want women to feel like that too, which is something I’m working on in my own journey.
I work with the team around each area of growth to ensure they are part of the future generation of ideas and avenues for growth and are on board. We have to think of each channel, each region as its own identity and tailor our approach differently and the power of our team fuels our direction.
I have had amazing help from NZTE/KPMG that has helped us develop our business model for growth and ensure we have the steps in place to achieve it. I’m an advocate for people asking for help early in their journeys, I wish I had, as it certainly makes a huge positive impact.
It is inspiring to see people on the world stage doing cool things from New Zealand and I love our ability to collaborate and leverage others learnings. Covid has forced us all to swiftly adapt our traditional business model and lean into the challenges and opportunities that this presents, locally and globally as a business.
