Your Local Business Network - Redland City

01/09/2026

Do you know an exceptional Client Experience Partner?

One of our wonderful clients is expanding and looking for a superstar to join her growing Brisbane-based business.

This is a flexible, part-time role of at least 20 hours per week. It is mostly remote, with some Brisbane-based workshop support, client coordination, documentation and social media assistance.

We’re looking for someone proactive, highly organised and people-focused. You’ll see what needs doing, follow through and confidently keep a busy team accountable.

Interested, or know someone brilliant? Please send me a private message.
😊😊🎉🎉

07/08/2026

From to the Emerging Leaders of New Zealand’s cold storage industry. Business can take you to some wonderfully unexpected places.

Enjoying a relaxed coffee and lunch at Citron today while working my way through a rather special list of appointments.
We are currently organising sessions for the recipients of the New Zealand Cold Storage Association’s 2026 Emerging Leaders Award. These amazing young leaders were awarded their scholarships Sunday night in a packed room at

The NZCSA represents businesses across New Zealand’s cold storage and refrigerated logistics sector, an industry most of us rely on far more than we probably stop to think about.

What we particularly like about its Emerging Leaders Award is what it recognises.

It isn’t simply about someone having a management title. Nominees are considered for their initiative, influence, problem-solving, contribution to their organisation and their potential to grow as leaders. The finalists receive structured leadership development, with additional mentoring and development for the overall winner.

That sits very comfortably with the way Geoff Young and I think about leadership.
Good leaders aren’t created by simply giving someone more responsibility. They grow through experience, good conversations, stronger decision-making and the opportunity to understand themselves as leaders.

So, between coffees here at Citron, we are setting up the conversations that will begin that process........And I have to say, there are worse places to work from. 😃

Citron is right here in Wellington Point and delivers Mediterranean coastal dining with a truly relaxed Bayside feel.

so........Local Bayside coffee.
New Zealand Cold Storage.
Emerging Leaders.
Not a bad combination for a Friday afternoon.

06/08/2026

Settlement Strength, IRONWOman Spirit

When opened it wasn't because she wanted to build just another law firm. She wanted to create a different experience for people navigating one of the biggest financial (and emotional) decisions they'll ever make.

After years working in private practice, banking and government, Tonie saw too many clients treated like another file on the desk. She believed there was a better way.

Today, her firm is built around personal service, clear communication and fixed-fee pricing, giving clients the confidence to ask questions without worrying every phone call will add to the bill.

Tonie says one of the greatest compliments she ever receives is when clients return or recommend her to family and friends because they know they'll be looked after from start to finish.

What really struck me was how intentionally Tonie has built her business. She’s surrounded herself with great people. Her team includes a lawyer, a senior conveyancer and an admin specialist, each bringing their own expertise to the business.

It means clients aren't relying on just one person - they're backed by an experienced team that genuinely enjoys working together, while still receiving the personal service that inspired Tonie to open The Settlement Lab in the first place.

Away from work, Tonie's determination is just as impressive.

She has completed two full IRONMAN triathlons... or should that be IRONWOman? 😉
That's a 3.8 km ocean swim, followed by a 180 km bike ride and topped off with a full marathon... and yes, that's all in a row, on the same day!!!

Most of us would be looking for a lie down after the swim.

Tonie says the lessons from endurance sport mirror business perfectly. You get out what you put in, and success comes from consistently showing up, even when things aren't going to plan.

It's a philosophy that shapes both her business and the way she supports her clients through every property transaction.

If you're looking for a conveyancing and property law team that values relationships just as much as results, Tonie would love to help.

And if you happen to bump into Tonie at a networking event, don't just ask her about settlements. Ask her about IRONWOman.

I have a feeling you'll walk away inspired... and perhaps just a little guilty about counting the walk to the letterbox as your daily exercise!

08/07/2026

Are you sharing your “You-ness” ?

Huge thanks to Alana from for sharing how to turn up online in an authentic way so we can tell our stories on “the socials “😊😊😊

Julie Bannister Sharon Justo John Daddo Print Local Shane R N Forman Peter Chalmers Ryan Somes

30/06/2026

28/06/2026

It is possible to love your Bank
Last week from Bank of Queensland - BOQ Cleveland branch borrowed our office for a meeting and left this beautiful message.

Julie has been in The Redlands forever and I recommend her knowledge and services to all of our clients 😊😊🎉🎉

Drop in and say hello to the team at BOQ today 😊

04/06/2026

“We are now in control of the business processes and finances.”

That line means everything.

Because for so many business owners, the hard part is not the work ethic.

You are already working hard.
You are already showing up.
You are already carrying the responsibility.

The hard part is trying to make clear decisions when you cannot fully see what is happening inside the business.

Deb and Greg from GMK Vehicle Safety Certifications have been working with Geoff and I for the past 6 months, and their words stopped me in my tracks:

“What we achieved during this time would have taken us 3 to 5 years on our own.”

That is the power of having the right support, the right conversations, and the right focus.

Not judgement.
Not fluff.
Not more noise.

Just practical business guidance that helps you understand your numbers, strengthen your processes, and lead with more confidence.

Hand on heart, this is why we do what we do.

Because when business owners feel back in control, everything shifts.

02/06/2026

They had a team of five.

But the owners were still the backup plan for everything.

That is where a lot of businesses get stuck.

The team exists.

But the owner still carries the wrong work.

I ran a time audit with a business couple.

They were busy.�
They were working hard.�
They cared about the business.

But they could not see where the growth work was meant to fit.

So we tracked where their time was actually going.

The result was confronting.

Around 80 to 90 percent of their week was sitting in low-value operational work.

Not bad work.

Just the wrong work for the owners to be holding.

The majority of the work could be done by people already in the business.

Some of it needed a clearer process.

Some of it needed to stop running through the owners completely.

That changed the conversation.

Because now they were not guessing.

They could see the bottleneck.

Try this.

List five tasks you do every week.

Mark the ones your team could already do.

Pick one to move first.

Then write down what “done properly” looks like.

That is how you start freeing owner time.

Not by dumping work on people.

By making the handover clear enough that everything does not keep bouncing back to you.

28/05/2026

Busy does not always mean profitable.

And I know that one can sting a little.

Because so many business owners are working hard, showing up, taking the calls, quoting the jobs, serving the customers… but still wondering why the bank account does not reflect the effort.

Often, the issue is not effort.

It is pricing.

Three habits I see all the time:

1. Taking any job just to stay busy
2. Absorbing supplier increases instead of adjusting prices
3. Freezing prices for years because you are worried customers will leave

But here is the truth — if your pricing is not protecting your margin, your business is paying the price.

Sometimes the fix is not a massive overhaul.

Sometimes it is a small, strategic lift.

A 2–3% increase.
A clearer quoting process.
A minimum margin rule.
A decision to stop saying yes to work that costs you more than it makes you.

Action precedes clarity.

Pick one pricing habit to clean up this week and watch what changes.

Because your business does not need you to be busier.

It needs you to be braver, clearer, and more profitable.

Which one do you need to fix first - 1, 2 or 3?

26/05/2026

Your calendar only tells half the story.

It shows meetings.

Calls.
�Jobs.
�Admin.
�Deadlines.
�Commitments.

It shows that you are busy.

But it does not show whether the work is worth your time as the owner.

That is the problem.

Low-value work often looks necessary.

It feels productive because it keeps things moving.

But busy is not the same as valuable.

And just because something needs doing does not mean it needs doing by you.

Try this for two days.

Split a page into two columns:

Urgent + �Important

Put every task somewhere.

Then look at the pattern.

What keeps dragging you into urgent work?

What important work keeps getting pushed back?

What are you still doing that someone else could handle?

This is where planning starts to get honest.

Because you cannot manage time properly until you can see what is actually filling it.