Maxine Wiggs by her own description is the head honcho and master networker of Resource Hub, you will always hear her before you see her… which made me smile as I have had the privilege of knowing Maxine for a number of years as she has held a number of leadership roles in the travel industry.

Maxine’s career experience has endowed her with refined people management skills, leadership credentials and an attuned strategic business mind. She is the driving force behind Resource, which offers assistance, help and support in a number of business areas – marketing, sales, HR / recruitment, PR / media & accreditation / awards, primarily for people within the travel industry. 

So Maxine, what was your motivation behind founding Resource?

I started Resource in response to my own experiences in business, when I desperately needed someone to plug into my team and fill a short-term gap. That might have been project-related, a consequence of someone being on extended leave, or even just being under the pump and wishing we had an extra pair of hands and not knowing where to go to find quality, trustworthy people.

Another large factor was that we had just added to our family and I didn’t really want to go back to corporate life, so Resource was born along with the birth of my son.

Tell us about your passion for empowering people in business

Resource is a people business. I believe that there are as many ways to get from A-to-B in business as there are people on that journey. There is no one best way to do things. I learned these things from my time at one of Virgin’s businesses.

• It’s OK to be yourself.
• You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.
• People have to be given a chance to do a great job.

More than ever before, staff want to feel like they’re doing meaningful work. And a potent way to deliver that feeling, is by helping them find their voices and unique ways to contribute.

What’s the key to a perfect work/life balance?

I actually don’t think there is such a thing as work/life balance anymore. I think it’s just called life, and we need to make the best choices in the limited time we have. And you need to commit to the choices you make at any given moment.
Put the phone down, play with your children or enjoy your coffee are my pearls of wisdom.

What has been your biggest business hurdle?

As the owner of a talent-on-demand business, the biggest hurdle has been building that pool of talent. I believe there’s a double-challenge here for Resource:

• Generally, people are still hesitant to cut ties with the familiarity of conventional employment structures—the regular pay check, 9-to-5 routine and the like—to take the leap into freelancing.
• Resource has a strong skew towards the travel industry. It’s the business world that I know best but, as an industry, there’s a bit of a talent issue as great people change careers mid-stream as the perks and benefits—that used to attract and retain brilliant people—dry up. The industry is changing, and I believe we’re losing our best people much faster than we can replace them. That obviously affects Resource, but also presents an opportunity.

What’s the best part of your job?

Every day is different.
One day, we’re planning events, the next writing RFP tenders or producing content and collateral, or designing websites and marketing strategies. It helps that we love our clients.

Favourite restaurant?
I’m such a foodie that this is a hard question to answer.
The best I can do is narrow it down to a couple of cuisines, and those would be Japanese or proper Indian.

Favourite song and why?
Happy birthday. Because if I’m hearing it, there’s a chance there will be cake.

Best piece of advice you’ve received?
When interviewing a prospective employee, if you wouldn’t choose to sit next to them at dinner or an event, don’t hire them.
It has worked a treat ever since.

What’s one thing you do every day for yourself?

Exercise – I love lifting weights. It’s now a regular part of my daily routine for mental and physical wellbeing.

To find out more about Resource-Hub check out:

https://resource-hub.com.au/

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