7 December 2023
Women in Business, sponsored by Phone Plus
Business North Harbour’s final event for 2023 was a vibrant and uplifting couple of hours.
Tayla Jury from Hyundai New Zealand kicked off proceedings, sharing facts and case studies from the Hyundai Pinnacle Programme, created “to inspire and foster development in youth to help grow the next generation of global and community leaders”.
Read more about the initiative, including inspirational stories about participants and graduates, at hyundai.co.nz/community/pinnacle-programme
As Women in Business Event Partners, it was Joshua Millner from Phone Plus who had the pleasure of introducing the guest speaker, Natalie Tolhopf.
Nat draws on her own experiences – from a feeling-completely-out-of-place teenage apprentice chef to a successful business owner – to share the secrets of how to Become Unstoppable. She is refreshingly candid, realistic when it comes to the highs and lows, and her philosophy of “owning your own enoughness” clearly hit a chord with her audience.
Weaving “three big concepts” into her presentation, Nat encouraged attendees to embrace their expertise and not be overwhelmed by the dreaded imposter or perfectionist personas. Referencing organisational psychologist Adam Grant, she said that imposter syndrome is, in any case, a paradox.
“Others believe in you. You don’t believe in yourself. Yet you believe yourself instead of them.
“If you doubt yourself, shouldn’t you also doubt your judgement of yourself?
“When multiple people believe in you, it might be time to believe them!”
With self-deprecating humour, she went on to explain why “pedestalling” people is such a pointless exercise, and why sticking to your core specialities is always better than adopting a “menu mayhem” approach of trying to be all things to everyone.
She challenged guests to reflect on where they are now, and to take a moment to think about where they’d like to be. If we could operate from accepting our enoughness, what impact could that have on our lives?
BNH’s general manager, Kevin O’Leary, closed the formal part of the morning. Acknowledging Natalie’s highly enjoyable, relatable, and inspirational presentation, he sincerely echoed her sentiments, urging guests to recognise their enormous potential individually and collectively.
Natalie Tolhopf’s book Become Unstoppable is available to buy online.
