In the lead up to the August 2023 Geelong Small Business Festival where Maree Herath will be presenting “Leading in Hard Times”, hearing a bit about Maree’s journey could just entice you to attend the event!

Many in Geelong know Maree Herath, Director of boutique recruitment and HR firm, Harvest, but just in case you don’t … we’ve asked Maree to share her story, her pathway to leadership, and the road to the Geelong Business Leader of the Year Awards. 

We’ll unpack what impressed the Geelong Business Excellence Awards (GBEA) judges and what saw Maree receive this highly coveted award amongst the Geelong Business Community.

The Journey of Humble Beginnings

“I would be the first to say that I wasn’t necessary born a leader and my journey has just been that of quiet achievement,” says Maree.

While more extroverted in her youth, Maree persistently and consistently goes about her business today.

She was born in Geelong to a postal worker and kindergarten teacher. She was raised in a lower to middle class family and attended school at Newtown Primary School then Matthew Flinders Girl Secondary College. She loved her sport, particularly tennis, which saw her pursue her first passion with vigour. Maree practiced and played regularly, and this was the start of her learning the benefits of ‘putting in’.

Not given a great deal of pocket money, Maree wanted to have her own funds and at 12 years of age Maree was peddling the streets of Geelong delivering papers in the early hours of the morning. Once she was 16, she gained a retail check-out job which she balanced with sport and school.

Exodus to Melbourne

Maree’s father pursued politics and became an eminent figure in Geelong’s spotlight.

“This was great…for him,” Maree reflects. But not for her. So, she left her hometown to forge her own identity and completed a science degree at Melbourne University followed by a business degree at Monash. She worked in hospitality, again to give her the funds for living in Melbourne while doing her second degree. It was here that she was presented with a job opportunity by a customer who worked in quality management, quality standards and document development for accreditation to ISO quality standards. Maree had studied the subject and soon she was leaving hospitality for her first small business role as Quality Consultant.

“I made my first pitch for an Award,” Maree laughs as she reflects on her nomination for the highly prestigious Australian Young Achievement Award. “At the time, I thought what I had done was big”, she smirks.

Whilst not a winner, as part of her application she was required to present testimonials of her work which came from the quality consulting work with various clients, her previous hospitality work and work done through a recruitment services firm, then known as Morgan & Banks (now Hudson).

What her nomination did, was put her name in front of this firm. When the company did its intake of bright aspiring recruiters, Maree was on the list!

But recruitment didn’t come easy to Maree. She was young, still green and didn’t know what she didn’t know. She was almost terminated many times, but she learnt that behind the business of recruitment was activity. And that’s what Maree committed to; to doing the work. She was determined. “They won’t be able to fire me” and it was true. Not only this, her constant dedication to her clients and work saw her rise in status and she received a national award by the company.

Leaving Victoria

At 27 Maree, who’d been pushing it hard, took her belated “backpacking” break and met her husband to be in France. He lived in Perth so on her return to her company she swiftly asked for a transfer. Now, there were no positions in the Western Australian team. However, the State Manager sat on Maree’s table when she won the national award. He created a position for her in the Perth office. In Perth, Maree progressed to Divisional Manager. She also got married but was restless and the company paved another opportunity for her to move to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was challenged. Its economy had been hit after the collapse of the World Trade Centre and the US economy. Maree found a way and opened new markets. Because of her work she was the only consultant in Hong Kong to receive a Star Award for her work in Asia. Then babies came and this charted her return to Australia.

Perth and Geelong

Maree was in family mode with three children, but she continued to work throughout her children’s toddler years. She moved from big to boutique, but it was her homecoming to Geelong that surprised all. What drove Maree out, had her return; her father.

“After Dad fell on ill-health, he needed someone close.” Maree laments.

Maree had learned the value of family while in Asia and returned to support and care for her Dad.

It was in Geelong she started Harvest. “I had no choice,” Maree comments. She could not secure a job in Geelong at the time – even with 15 years’ experience – so created one with a “start-up”. And, as she had done times before, she built client relationships which saw her gain traction in the market.

“It was definitely not plain sailing,” Maree reflects of steps forward and back and a big step back when she grew her Perth office only to be hit with the commodity crisis in 2013/2014. “We were tumbling down the cliff.” Urgent action was required. The Perth office was closed and Maree honed her focus to Geelong. She also did this amidst juggling her Dad on one side and young family on the other.

The Leadership Journey

Key milestones included:

  • Finding her tribe (the Geelong Business Club)
  • Committee appointments
  • Continual professional and personal development – leadership courses, a Cert IV in training, the AICD Company Directors course.
  • Proactively seeking out mentors
  • Writing a book “Bodysnatchers” and then going beyond her BAU.

Beyond Harvest’s core business Maree instigated:

Persisting through adversity (2022)

“It felt like the world was crashing down around me,” Maree states.

Her entire recruitment team departed in early 2022. The Geelong Business Club’s Executive Officer had also left while Maree was President. Maree had two choices, to call it quits OR continue the charge. Maree forged forward.

To her credit, Maree:

  • Rebuilt her team
  • Continued the transformation journey of the Geelong Business Club
  • Gained clarity for her firm, Harvest, penning “The Harvest Vision”
  • Invested in and developed a digital fundamentals course on the back of the research she had conducted
  • Gained board roles,
  • Stepped onto the Committee for Geelong’s Strategy and Policy Committee as well as G21’s Economic and Cultural Development Pillar.

In October 2022, Maree was titled the Geelong Business Leader of the Year at the Geelong Business Excellence Awards.

To the Geelong Business Excellence Award…

“I pitched for the Business Leader of the Year Award based on my work at the Geelong Business Club,” Maree comments.

“I felt that was where I had contributed to an organisation and to the Geelong region’s business community.”

Most nominees for the award would use their primary leadership role as the podium on which to pitch, Maree used her extracurricular activity.

During her tenure on the Committee and as President Maree played a key role in the change to the Club making it more inclusive, developing the Club’s vision, values and mission, establishing a governance framework, remaining relevant in COVID, providing strong CX focus, establishing a committee skills matrix and being a servant leader to the members of the Club.

What the judges recognised

Maree through her determination and focus presented herself as:

  • A successful small business leader – now 13 years in operation at the helm of Harvest
  • A leader who gives over and above for her community (HR Managers, teams and people with HR remits)
  • The deliverer of HR trends via The Geelong HR Index
  • Someone who commits to continual training and development
  • Someone who has served the Geelong Business community over the years

Maree reflects that, over and above, looking for opportunity and learning to pitch has helped her throughout her career journey.

“Speaking to my customers in hospitality saw my first commercial position gained. Nominating for the Young Achiever Award saw me enter the recruitment industry with Australia’s largest recruitment firm. Gaining the national award gave me recognition and an easy transfer to Perth. Putting my hand up for Hong Kong saw me gain an overseas posting. Overcoming adversity and continuing to learn has seen me ride through the tough times. Contributing where I can throughout my life has seen me recognised many years later with board and committee appointments that influence Geelong’s economic prosperity. And, pitching for the Geelong Business Excellence Award, not for my business (which I had not received an award for after pitching in 2011 and 2013) saw me attain this prestigious mantle of the Business Leader of the Year amidst the Geelong Business Community.”

Maree represents a leader whose key traits of focus, determination, commitment, contribution and resilience in addition to her thirst for continual learning saw her a worthy leader.

Perhaps you are this leader too? 

Nominations for the 2023 Business Excellence Awards are now open.

 

Maree Herath

With over twenty five years working in recruitment, Maree has significant global experience recruiting for some of APACs leading brands across Melbourne, Perth and Hong Kong.

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