Business owner, leader, coach, and director.

Experience

I spent 10 years as an owner and director of DNA, a design consultancy that helps government and businesses design, innovate and deliver epic human-centered experiences.

As GM, I was responsible for a team of 50+ across Auckland and Wellington, for ensuring DNA was well designed to meet client needs and to achieve commercial and strategic goals.

My last role before establishing Running Mate was GM of Private Flight Ltd, an NZ-owned software company, with 25+ employees and a growing global customer base.

Needless to say, I am familiar with the complexities and bottlenecks that slow SMEs down, and how clear strategy and well-supported teams are key to pushing through the challenges.

I started Running Mate because I really like solving gnarly business problems.

Also, I love working with business owners and leaders … I like to help them build sustainable teams, market advantage, and processes that drive repeatable quality.

I also like coffee, running, kayaking, and my family.

What might we work on together?

Design a remuneration strategy that bolsters talent acquisition and retention without blowing out costs.
Run empathy with your client base to understand and optimise your product-market fit.
Embed new ways of working that align business goals with team and individual efforts and build a performance culture.
Review and optimise your risk identification and mitigation strategies to protect what matters most.

Run empathy with employees (past, present and future) to understand and optimise your employee experience.
Bolster your profit certainty with a review of pricing policies, terms of business, and forecasting tools.
Introduce tools that help your team GROW through learning how to leverage their strengths and achieve FLOW.
Coach your team leads on becoming effective and empathetic leaders and support people to thrive.

From my clients

“You have the ability to create trust in those around you. This is something you achieve by being you and it underwrites all your work. It comes with speaking the truth, and (vitally) empathising and listening at the same time.”

— Simon O’Shaughnessey

“Donna has the unique ability to enter your business and almost immediately start providing tangible help. Yes, real actual help at a senior level.

She hits the ground running and brings an objective perspective that is often missing from your business. This, combined with her good judgement, is her superpower. She is experienced and knowledgeable bringing with her many proven tools and techniques to help you scale.

Having Donna at your side really is like having a great mate to run with. She mostly runs alongside you, but if needed she gets in right behind you and gently prods and pushes you along. Even better though is that, when required, she will gently apply pace and get a few steps ahead of you, inspiring you to catch-up.”

— Louise Schofield, CEO, PreKure

"Donna has been instrumental in helping to establish our new PaperKite board. Without her incredible insight, focus, experience and humour this would have been a far less enjoyable and successful process!"

- Nic Gibbens, owner, PaperKite