Meet Joanna James, a pioneering entrepreneur in Design, Construction, and Banking. Featured in Entrepreneur and Disrupt, she's Australia's youngest female architect and builder, known for creating the world's first 'Bio' home. Joanna mentors leaders, serves as CDO for FBAA, and is a 5x best-selling author advocating for women's advancement.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your family?
I am fortunate to have grown up in Sydney Australia during a time when innocence meant you could walk home safely from school and play in the streets until nightfall.
I am the eldest girl in my extended family so as such always felt incredibly responsible and was a classic type A overachiever.
My father worked his way up to high level corporate CEO positions and demonstrated the virtue of hard work and discipline.
My mother’s virtue was her kind and loving nature always caring for me and my sister.
Being the eldest grandchild I was a bit of a tomboy, known to go fishing and diving, riding horses and driving tractors, yet always a sensitive soul at heart.
Have you had any formal training or family business?
All my training past University where I completed an Architecture degree has been on-the-job experience across varying industries.
The Journey of life has taken me down several pathways in parallel throughout my career.
How did you come up with the idea for your business, and what was the process of turning that idea into a reality?
Finance was his background and I left architecture to design and create the business systems, processes and management over 21 years of its growth.
It's important to understand that there are varying roles in any company and each part has an integral part to play in its success.
How have you grown as a leader since starting your company, and what have been some of the key lessons you've learned along the way?
It’s challenges that test your character over time.
Still, if I were to choose one fundamental shift I’d say that over the years I have moved from needing to exert my authority when I was younger to elevating others as I grow wiser.
Can you tell us about a time when you faced a major setback or failure in your business, and how you overcame it?
My major setback was moving through a divorce.
As a family business with a long history, it was excruciating to move through maintaining my sense of personal self as I left behind what had been the professional focus of my world for over 2 decades.
All this at a time when the business was under threat in the marketplace and required dedicated focus to stabilise the company through COVID-19 and ongoing.
How do you stay motivated and focused on your goals, especially during challenging times?
I like to break things down into a clear plan of smaller milestones.
I am a big fan of working to 90 day cycles, weekly targets and daily outcomes.
How do you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business?
I don't believe in balance, it's a fallacy and sets people up for disappointment as in reality balance is just a split moment in time, a point of transition.
I work in short term sprints sometimes work is more predominant and sometimes it’s personal or family needs.
What are your plans for the future of your business, and how do you see yourself evolving as a founder and leader?
Currently, I am focused on leadership at an industry level so I am honing my skills beyond one business to many.
The Association has over 11,500 members who require support and representation as the CDO, my role is based on growth and value to these members.
If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Never do anything that you will regret later.
What's the most unconventional thing you've done to grow your business, and what was the result?
A few years ago we created a 4 level leadership program where members of different teams across the company would collaborate across departments and typical job descriptions ( ie outside normal reporting protocol).
It fostered a wonderful atmosphere for collaboration and innovation, and the projects and results were outstanding.
As a part of the team building, we all walked over burning coals.
What's the most important lesson you've learned from a failure, and how have you applied it to your business?
Embrace it, feel the failure, accept it fully then let it go quickly and move on.
The past is the past any residual energy attached to it will only hold you back from moving forward with the learning.
What's the most meaningful compliment or feedback you've ever received from a customer, and why did it resonate with you?
I once had a mentee say I had changed her life because I asked her one simple question during a business mentoring session.
She has since gone on to create her finance programs and just released her first book. It resonated because when we give selflessly to others, magic happens and I love that!
If you had to choose one thing that makes your company truly unique and sets it apart from the competition, what would it be, and why?
What sets The Finance Brokers Association of Australia apart from others is that it is the voice for finance brokers in Australia.
Focusing solely on representing what is best for brokers it fosters choice, independence and fairness within the industry.
Find Joanna James on Social Media:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/joanna.james.376
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-james-84a34b2b/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/joannajames_illuminate/?next=%2F
Hope you enjoyed reading Victoria Rennoldson’s story!
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