How the gig economy is changing the future of work – Brittany Earl

Brittany started her career as a lawyer at Haigh Lyon Lawyers but soon realised that being a lawyer was not for her. It was at this point she began to brainstorm business ideas and eventually had the inspired idea for Joblist. She progressed the concept of the platform and then pitched the idea to two friends, Gerard, a lawyer, and Taylor, director of a software company.

After just under a year in the market, Joblist has more than 10,500 registered users, with hundreds of new users joining each week. Brittany aspires to make Joblist a household name in New Zealand and has many other business ideas in the pipeline that she is keen to share with the world.

What is your morning routine?

I would love to say that I wake up at 5am to go to the gym, read the paper and follow it up with a green smoothie and peanut latte, but it’s just not true.

My morning routine changes daily. I do generally try to meditate, exercise or do some journaling but I just go with what I feel I need most on a daily basis.
So nothing is constant really, except coffee.

What hours do you work?

24/7.

I’m just joking, but I think to some degree when you have a business, you are always thinking about it to a certain extent, even if it is happening in your subconscious.

In terms of day-to-day hours. This varies greatly depending on what we have going on. Sometimes I have ideas at 3 am. Sometimes I am at the beach at 3 pm.

I try to keep a balance so as not to burn out, although, I feel I have room for improvement in that regard. It can be hard.

What do you do in a typical day at work?

No day is overly typical at Joblist HQ which is good; variety is the spice of life and all that.

However, my co-founder, Taylor, and I usually start with a coffee meeting to debrief on life and then set our plans and objectives for the day.

From there, it is largely both hands on the day-to-day operations together with oversight of what we have going on; be it platform development, funding, customer service, marketing, PR and big picture ideas for growth and how we can get greater awareness for Joblist.

Why do you think a lot of businesses fail to seize the future?

Fear? The ‘adapt or die’ mindset is very easy to understand, but very hard to implement. Taking the leap of faith can be a hugely overwhelming undertaking. When businesses are doing well is there really a need to change it? It’s often hard to tell until it’s too late.

Combine this with the rate at which technology and industry are changing the landscape of how we work, it is no surprise that businesses get left in the dust. Being a small organisation, we are able to adapt and change direction quickly, but for larger businesses this can be almost impossible.

What should businesses do to start opening their eyes to the future opportunities?

Being open to adopting change is a big start. If in three years time there is going to be a technology that makes your business obsolete, now is probably the time to start thinking about either building that technology or getting creative about how it can be used in a positive way.

Over the next 5 years, what industries in New Zealand do you see having the most exciting opportunities?

The gig economy, of course.

I also think industries that make use of current and emerging exponential technologies have endless potential. I would love to see technology used in ways that created more joy for people. This also rolls into social good.

I think that businesses generally are starting to recognise the importance of doing good, in a genuine way. I believe this approach of being is going to have a huge impact on traditional industry in the next five years.

What process do you use to work on complex problems?

Meditate. Surf. Generally walk around the office and play with my 1990s ProYo. Then, when the time is right, a big old brainstorm and springboard session with others.

What are the most important traits and skills for potential employees?

From personal experience and my interactions with people in business and the world generally, I would say that good communication skills are key.

I would also say the ability to listen and consider feedback. Together with just generally having the ability to leave your ego at the door or at least to be aware that you have one – so self-awareness.

For me personally, all of these things are a constant eye-opening work in progress. I definitely wouldn’t say I’ve nailed them.

Being willing to constantly improve is a great start – as being around people who are doing this is refreshing.

What is the biggest hurdle for your business?

The biggest challenge for Joblist is acquiring job listers. Accordingly, our primary objective is to drive brand awareness across a large audience and increase our user base. In turn, this will drive the volume of traffic to our platform to increase our user base which will drive listings.

You can meet Brittany when she speaks at the M2 Success Summit on Wednesday 24 July 2019, about “How the gig economy is changing the future of work ”, learn more by clicking here.