“No two client sessions are exactly alike. The complexity of people and the transformation of their lives feels like a worthy problem to solve.”
When Janine Barr of Genratec started 28+ years ago there wasn’t a thing called ‘coaching for personal/professional development’. When Janine told people she was a coach, they asked “What sport?”.
Janine says that her entire working career has been about making a difference with others. It’s what drives her more than anything else. It was very much about doing what she loved, with others. In the beginning, Janine and the team asked themselves the question “What if we took generative coaching, integral development and ontological (the metaphysical study of being) distinctions and applied them to business, what kind of leaders could we create for a brighter future?”
Genratec, based in New Zealand (but serving clients in NZ, Australia and the USA), provides a 6-month transformational leadership development initiative, designed to empower business owners and executives with advanced generative coaching and integral leadership capabilities for unparalleled personal and professional growth.
Janine’s client results looked like: buying a multimillion-dollar company, getting engaged, going from a staff of just over 300 to a staff of 800, growing teams and retaining key talent, investing strategies, property acquisitions, client growth planning, health and self-care priorities, downsize and upsize businesses, finding joy in relationships again….no two client sessions are exactly alike, which she really enjoys. The complexity of people and the transformation of their lives feels like a worthy problem to solve.
Janine recently had someone return to coaching with her after an 18-year gap and says “I felt very humbled that he felt he’d gained such value that he wanted to pick it back up when faced with some of life’s challenges.”
Janine has been a member of the HerBusiness Network since 2016. She has met her business bestie within the community and says “I am so grateful for this connection as we have supported each other through many life and business trials and tribulations. Her wisdom is fabulous (as well as her dress sense)”. Janine says that for her, the HerBusiness Network is all about connection, relationship and partnership from other powerhouse businesswomen.
Janine likes to ‘Pay it forward’ through mentoring and photography for non-profit events such as ‘Startup Weekend New Zealand’ and ‘Climate-X New Zealand’. And when not coaching people to live an extraordinary life, Janine gets to do other cool stuff, like raise her teenage son and sell her artwork around the world.
Who’s your favourite entrepreneur and why?
I hate to be a clique but I have long admired Suzi and PJ with what they have created in PowWow Events and now HerBusiness. I think they epitomise the saying ‘work hard, play hard’ and have created a business that not only makes a difference in their own lives, but also the lives of many, many others. I think that’s a noble pursuit for one’s life.
Why did you start your business and what gave you the idea?
My entire working career has been about making a difference with others. It’s what drives me more than anything else. When we started Genratec (28+ years ago, but under a previously named brand), there wasn’t a thing called ‘coaching for personal/professional development’. When I told people I was a coach, they asked me “what sport?”. It was very much about doing what we loved, with others. We asked ourselves the question “what if we took generative coaching, integral development and ontological distinctions and applied them to business, what kind of leaders could we create for a brighter future?”
*Ontology is the metaphysical study of being, generative is the capacity to design a context for the way you want your world to work and integral is a developmental model. Combined, we’re basically asking the question “who are you being in this moment?” …. but slightly more technical ;)
What do you enjoy most about running your own business?
Autonomy. I’m sure I’m unemployable nowadays! I love the capacity to shift or make changes that are mine to succeed or fail at. Oh! And holidays on my planning schedule, not someone else’s. Sometimes I will get the opportunity to attend something like the Her Business Growth Retreat and I love that I don’t need anyone else’s permission but my own to attend :)
What three pieces of advice do you wish you’d been given when you started?
- Become an expert at marketing to grow the size of your business.
- Know the financial levers to make small consistent changes. I look back in horror at some of my financial decisions 20+ years ago, things I would never sign off on nowadays! E.g. Spending $100K on branding!
- Take more risks. You will fail. It’s a normal part of business but it won’t kill you. But maybe…just maybe, if you commit, you could fly!!!!
What advice would YOU give someone thinking about starting a business?
‘Life balance’ is a nice to have, but be prepared to do the work and that’s going to pull other commitments out of shape until you get what matters most to get it to the next stage….but…when you look back it will be totally worth it. Every inch. Every struggle. Every win or fail. It will be worth it in the end. Your life is richer for putting your best endeavours to something that matters. Know your ‘why’. It will hold you in the moments of business compression and help you keep moving forward.
What skills and knowledge areas would you recommend those starting out in business get acquainted with quickly?
- Marketing and Sales – know how to sell your product/service, how to convert and how to deal with objections
- Understand how to read your financial numbers
- Understand every aspect of your business and then outsource pieces of it so you can grow
- Learn to speak with confidence in public
- Learn how to find talented people and have them want to be a part of what you’re growing… and keep them, reward them
What does your IDEAL business look like? Even if you’re not there yet, what would it look like if your business was ideal?
Bringing together a community of like minded people working in clusters for good causes. Building the leadership capacity of individuals such that our collective futures grow/increase/improve. Creating great thought leaders to solve the issues we all face in these very uncertain times. A business that allows me to utilise all my talents and that also allows me to take great holidays to beautiful destinations – ideally as a business expense ;) I want a million-dollar a year revenue in my business with a team of 35+ coaches who are licensed and trained to deliver my programmes, generating passive income for all of us.
What problem does being a Member of the HerBusiness Network solve for you and your business? And, how?
My business-bestie is here in HerBusiness, Dianne Irving. I met her at REACH in Hawaii in 2017 and we’ve been meeting online weekly/bi-weekly since then. I am so grateful for this connection as we have supported each other through many life and business trials and tribulations. Her wisdom is fabulous (as well as her dress sense). Why am I talking about this? Because that’s what I got from being a HB member; connection, relationship and partnership from another power house businesswoman. Most of the amazing women I am connected with in my life are my clients, so getting to create a collegial partnership is invaluable for me.
Learn more about Janine and Genratec.
