Humans of Coworking: Olivia Rogers

When it comes to organising an event, Olivia knows a thing or two. In this edition of Humans of Coworking we catch up with Tourism HQ's general manager Olivia Rogers, who works from Generator in Britomart. We chat about some of the exciting events Olivia is involved with and why she loves coworking. 

Olivia at Stanbeth House in Britomart

Tell us a bit yourself and what you are currently involved with.

TourismHQ is an experiential based Travel firm which has been running since 2012. I have been with the company coming up five years and have worked my way up to become General Manager. We host a range of different events up in the Pacific Islands mainly in Fiji and Vanuatu. Our most well known event is SPRING BREAK Experience, we fly in 200 keen Kiwis to FIji and put them on their own exclusive island for 5 days of fun. Complete with a private 98 ft party yacht, private sandbank party in the middle of the ocean, Cloud9 takeover, some of NZ’s best artists flown, in it is a guaranteed good time! We have seen SPRING BREAK double in size each year and we are looking to broaden our horizons in the future. Spring Break is an event we target towards the 27 – 35 year old market but outside of this we also organise an annual touch tournament in Fiji called Fijian Cup, Rock Island which is a collaboration with The Rock radio station, Awaken which we market out through JRF Fitness and we have a number of corporate clients who we facilitate through out the years for the likes of management retreats, conferences and incentive travel. Outside of TourismHQ I have my own freelancing business where I organise a range of different events for a large array of different clients, my most recent work is working alongside Institute of Golf organising their events and managing their marketing and social media needs. I love juggling hats and getting the most out of my days.

How did you first hear about coworking?

I first learned about coworking when I started working at ToursimHQ. I am extroverted and it suited me well as it is always a very social environment. I also find it is hugely beneficial from a networking perspective and it is great for getting business leads and meeting people you would perhaps not meet outside of the shared office network. I love the hustle and bustle that comes with it, how easily accessible it is to get coffee and how many amazing people doing epic things are all thriving under one roof.  

Olivia at Spring Break in Fiji

Run us through you recent escape to Bali... what was it like working remotely from a destination like Bali? Did you check out any coworking spaces there?

I recently spent 3 months in Bali and did the whole ‘escape winter’ scenario. To be COMPLETELY transparent, it was too long, I lost touch of things back in Auckland. My clients needed me as well as my team and there were many frustrations that came with it from internet dropping out and expensive phone bills. I’m a city girl at heart and the cruisey lifestyle wasn’t for me. I did check out a couple of shared office spaces though and they were awesome. Swimwear was encouraged, most of them had pools and onsite healthy cafes and they all had a great vibe. I was happy for the experience and learnt a lot… next time I would go somewhere that had more of a city feel to it. If you love a chill way of life though I would 100% recommend it. 

What are some of the benefits of coworking for you?

There are so many benefits of coworking, the people you meet being the main one. I have made life long friends, business connections and customers all thanks to coworking. I also love the events outside of work, the thriving environment, having a reception and IT team also is a perk! 

What would we find you doing outside of work? 

Outside of work I am super social and also love to travel. I am grateful I work in a career that gets me outside of New Zealand a lot. I also have an amazing group of friends that love getting away for the weekend. For me life is all about the people and I’m very blessed to have some of the best around me. Be it family hangs or catch up dinners my social and travel calendar is always stacked. I have recently started exploring hobbies to take up and so far on the list I have violin coming in at the top and hot yoga a close second followed up lawn bowls for the summer.

Generator Stanbeth House

If you could share an office space with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

An office space would be lonely with two people so the top three people I would share with would be Roxy Jacenko… shes an absolute weapon. Mid 30’s multiple hugely successful businesses, a Mum, cancer survivor, takes no prisoners and is highly respected in the industry plus she has a killer fashion sense. Next would be Gary Vaynerchuk, I love his inspirational chats full of profanities, his don’t give a f$*k what people think attitude and calls people out on their bull. Lastly Will Ferrell cos each office needs it in house joker to build the moral.

Any exciting upcoming events/festivals we should know about? 

Ha, we always have a load of exciting events and festivals coming up. All of our festivals sit within the shoulder season so we kick off this November with 7 international music festivals and our annual touch tournament in Fiji.Once we are back we kick back into sales for 2020 which is always our most crucial time of year. At Institute of Golf we are pushing hard with our Free Intro Golf Lesson promo and gearing up for a busy summer of Golf including a charity event in February which we see the likes of John Key attend. So that is also at the forefront of the next few months. To be honest all the activations and events I work on are exciting and different and that is why I love what I do. But seriously though… if you want some fun in your life next year then register your details at www.springbreakfiji.com if your golf is lacking and you want to spruce it up for all those client games in the lead up to Xmas then register at https://instituteofgolf.nz/home/ a load of business chat happens on the course! 

Spring Break Fiji

Keen to find out more about coworking at Generator Stanbeth House? Take a look at their listing here.

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