Marina Pitisano always had a heart for helping budding professionals and seasoned veterans explore different careers. She always had a keen eye for determining strengths and weaknesses which gave way for a successful career and now, thriving business that allows her to continue doing what she loves.
Marina is a Career Coach with over 20 years of experience in Human Resources. Her expertise expands through different industries including Manufacturing, Arts, Government and Banking and Finance.
I love the flexibility and freedom in running my own business. I enjoy creating products that help people achieve a life they love. I enjoy being able to keep learning and challenging myself. Having a destiny of my own design is what running my own business means to me.
She is also a Professional Member of the Career Development Association of Australia, a member of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a Mentor and Certified Professional (CAHRI) of Australian Human Resource Institute.
Her ability to coach professionals on their career moves encompasses a wide range of areas that have a valuable impact in career transition. This includes goal setting, career insight, CV and cover letter preparations, interview training, leveraging strengths and even navigating from career to business.
So in 2009, she founded Letz Create Your Career, a firm that helps professionals land their dream jobs and also assists aspiring entrepreneurs with realising the business they’ve always wanted.
Aside from her extensive professional history and her business, she is also driven to create connections between people. She has a talent for networking which greatly impacted her career and business life. Some of her achievements in this area are being Director of Business Network International (BNI) and Chapter Leader of professional women’s network, Heart Link Northcote (2012 – 2015).
Marina is still an advocate of networking through her “Networking for Success” mentoring program, training others so they can find the confidence and skill to become amazing networkers.
When we asked Marina about her favourite entrepreneur:
My favourite entrepreneur is Sir Richard Branson because he believes we can aim for the moon and achieve it. He is a man with a strong vision and through collaboration, strong communication and passion, he achieves what others believe is impossible. I wish I can also make the impossible, possible.
The advice Marina wishes she had when she started her business:
Say yes to all the opportunities and work out the details later — work things out later rather than before.
The advice Marina would give someone thinking about starting his or her own business:
- Have a simple business plan — know where you are going, who is your client, how do you attract them and what do you want to achieve financially.
- Build a tribe of experts — you cannot do everything. So, ask for help and build a collaborative group that will help and guide you through all the different aspects of running your business — finance, marketing and IT.
- Believe in yourself and never give up the road won’t be easy but it will be exciting, scary, confronting but it will be rewarding and the best learning experience you will ever have.
For Marina, these skills and knowledge areas are essential for anyone starting out in business:
- Understand how to price your products and services.
- Understand the financial aspect of your business eg. cash flow, pricing, bookkeeping, costs etc.
- Marketing — understanding the marketing strategies that will work the best for your business.
- Selling — learn how to sell your product or service. In many cases, business owners have a great product but they do not know how to “close the deal” with their prospective clients.
- Networking — be able to get out there to meet people that either want your product or can help you in your business.
We asked Marina to identify the problems in her company that HerBusiness membership solves:
Firstly, HerBusiness gave me access to resources online for marketing, business planning and understanding your client to name a few. These help build my confidence as an entrepreneur.
Secondly, participating in the Round Tables has given me the opportunity to take time out of my business to work on my business and create my 90-day plan that keeps me focused and on track in my business. I have also met some amazing women that have helped me drive my business forward.
Thirdly, attending the Marketing MasterClass with Michelle Falzon and Suzi Dafnis has provided me with great resources to really understand my clients on a whole new level and has helped me shape my marketing messages and drive much better products and services for my clients.
Lastly, being a mentoree in the HerBusiness Mentoring Program has been invaluable in providing guidance with my business challenges, removing my blindspots and giving me a new perspective and insight on how to take my business to another level.
