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As a part of the Morning Lazziness sequence highlighting empowering girls who’re making a exceptional impression with their concepts, I had the pleasure of interviewing Raffy Sgroi.
Raffy Sgroi is a enterprise chief, coach, and advocate for values-driven entrepreneurship. Because the founding father of Sage Recommendation, Raffy is on a mission to assist companies thrive by integrating goal, tradition, and technique at their core.
Raffy honed his strategy by years of hands-on expertise operating Automotive Mechanical Providers, her family-owned commerce enterprise in Canberra. Beneath her management, the corporate navigated pandemic lockdowns, financial fluctuations, and workforce challenges, all whereas pioneering The ToDEI Manner: a framework created by Raffy that embeds variety, fairness, and inclusion into on a regular basis operations.
Raffy’s dedication to sustainable and people-focused practices has earned Automotive Mechanical Providers nationwide recognition throughout a number of classes, together with variety and inclusion, sustainability, and customer support excellence. Crucially, Raffy demonstrates that value-driven companies don’t simply “do good” however they outperform, even within the hardest circumstances.
Past operating a profitable enterprise, Raffy brings this real-world experience to different entrepreneurs as a enterprise coach. She doesn’t supply one-size-fits-all options; as an alternative, she works carefully with leaders to translate their values into sensible methods that drive development, resilience, and long-term success.
Via Sage Recommendation, Raffy champions companies that final, foster thriving communities, and lead by instance.
Recognized for her pragmatic strategy, strategic mindset, and unwavering perception within the energy of goal, she conjures up leaders to align their enterprise ambitions with their values; proving that profitability and principled management should not mutually unique.
On this interview, she talks concerning the obstacles she’s overcome, the milestones she’s achieved, and the knowledge she’s gained alongside the best way.
What impressed you to begin your online business, and what drawback had been you enthusiastic about fixing?
A deep need to create actual change, significantly in industries the place inclusive management is commonly neglected, is basically what drove me to begin Sage Advice.
After many years as an entrepreneur and enterprise strategist within the automotive sector, I noticed firsthand the dearth of management growth and restricted variety, particularly when it got here to feminine illustration in trades and different male-dominated fields.
I began Sage Recommendation as a method to progress a tradition shift in the best way Australian small enterprise house owners view, strategy and reap the rewards of inclusive management.
Commerce and service-based industries typically current distinctive exterior and inside challenges for ladies and people with ‘invisible disabilities.’ Many carry a perception that their voices aren’t related in these environments, when in reality, they’re important and furthermore, may be extraordinarily advantageous to a enterprise’ backside line.
I’ve seen too many small enterprise house owners wrestle to implement inclusive practices or entry significant management growth. That hole, coupled with my very own lived expertise, is what really motivated me.
So, Sage Recommendation was born from this intersection of ardour and experience. I’ve personally skilled preliminary reluctance from colleagues to embrace me as a feminine chief within the automotive sector. I’ve endured preliminary reluctance from some colleagues and staff to embrace inclusivity – particularly as a result of some are merely not sure of the right way to navigate inclusivity in a means that’s suited to their operations.
I began Sage to supply extra than simply generic consulting. I present tailor-made, sensible methods that empower leaders to construct numerous groups, foster inclusive cultures, and implement insurance policies that permit each worker to thrive.
My objective is to assist companies develop stronger by the facility of inclusive management and to help a brand new era of leaders who perceive the worth of variety at each stage.
How has your online business advanced since its launch, and what key choices have helped drive that development?
Since launching Sage Recommendation, I’ve made deliberate choices to make sure our development is constructed on impression somewhat than quantity. A important selection was steering away from a cookie-cutter strategy to teaching and consulting. Each enterprise has distinctive challenges, so my focus has all the time been on creating tailor-made methods; whether or not meaning versatile office insurance policies, inclusive recruitment practices, or management packages that drive each cultural and business outcomes. The truth that referrals stay one among our strongest development drivers tells me this strategy resonates.
Focused advertising has additionally performed a task. In a saturated subject, I’ve focused on industries the place I carry many years of sensible expertise, historically male-dominated trades and companies. This relatability has allowed Sage Recommendation to chop by and set up real belief.
On the similar time, enlargement has been key. Initiatives like Todei, our variety and inclusion program, together with on-line workshops, consulting, and networking occasions, have broadened our attain. From the start, I’ve prioritised constructing sturdy relationships, embedding inclusion into each program, and providing purchasers entry to a trusted community of Most well-liked Companions, with out hidden prices.
In the end, Sage’s development has come from delivering genuine, bespoke options that spark lasting cultural change throughout Australian small companies.
In your view, what really units your model aside in as we speak’s aggressive market?
What units Sage Recommendation aside is our holistic, values-driven strategy to transformation. We don’t ship surface-level variety initiatives. We embed inclusive management into the very DNA of an organisation, guaranteeing cultural and business impression that lasts.
My many years of multi-award-winning expertise within the automotive sector, mixed with my work as a number one advocate for ladies in male-dominated industries, uniquely place me to assist companies entice, retain, and empower numerous expertise. This sensible, lived expertise provides Sage Recommendation a depth of understanding many conventional coaches can’t supply.
Equally, we concentrate on equipping leaders with the adaptability, mindset, and instruments they should thrive in as we speak’s quickly evolving panorama – whether or not they’re senior executives, small enterprise house owners, or solopreneurs. Innovation underpins every little thing we do, and our packages evolve constantly with shopper suggestions and office shifts.
Sage Recommendation isn’t nearly enterprise development. Sage Recommendation is about constructing inclusive, resilient, future-ready organisations.
What has been your only advertising technique to date, and why do you assume it labored so properly?
My only advertising technique has been a extremely focused strategy, specializing in industries the place I carry many years of lived, sensible expertise; significantly automotive and different historically male-dominated sectors.
This area of interest positioning has allowed Sage Recommendation to chop by a crowded teaching market and construct credibility rapidly. By talking on to the challenges these companies face, our messaging resonates on a deeper stage, fostering belief and relatability.
Referrals from happy purchasers have additionally amplified this technique, proving that genuine, values-driven options paired with real business experience create the strongest, most enduring type of advertising.
How do you keep related to your perfect viewers and perceive their wants or behaviors?
Staying related to my perfect viewers begins with really understanding their world, as a result of I’ve lived it myself.
With many years of hands-on expertise within the automotive sector, I do know firsthand the challenges and dynamics of male-dominated industries. This background permits me to narrate on to my purchasers, talking their language and addressing points they could not even realise are holding them again.
I keep near business developments by sustaining energetic networks, attending commerce occasions, and constantly participating with enterprise house owners, apprentices, and leaders on the bottom. These conversations give me invaluable insights into shifting behaviours, office challenges, and alternatives for development.
Importantly, I pay attention – whether or not by shopper suggestions, workshops, or mentoring classes – and use these insights to refine Sage Recommendation packages.
My twin perspective as each a enterprise chief and a feminine advocate in trades helps me bridge the hole between strategic options and real-world impression.
What’s one branding transfer or marketing campaign that helped elevate your online business to the subsequent stage?
One of the impactful branding strikes for Sage Recommendation was positioning myself overtly and proudly as each an automotive enterprise skilled and a feminine chief in a historically male-dominated business. Fairly than presenting Sage Recommendation as a generic enterprise consultancy, I leaned into my many years of expertise within the automotive sector and my position as an advocate for ladies in trades. This authenticity grew to become the muse of our model story and helped differentiate Sage Recommendation in a crowded market.
By showcasing my lived expertise – by talking engagements, business partnerships, and media alternatives – we created a model id rooted in credibility, relatability, and belief.
This strategy resonated strongly with our perfect purchasers, who worth sensible experience and real-world understanding over textbook teaching. It additionally positioned Sage Recommendation as a frontrunner in driving inclusion and cultural transformation. That branding resolution elevated us from being “a consultancy” to being a trusted, values-driven associate for long-term enterprise change.
What does success appear like for you, not simply in numbers, however in goal or impression?
For me, success is measured not simply in numbers, however within the cultural shifts we assist create.
Having spent many years within the automotive sector, I’ve seen the necessity for change in how enterprise leaders lead.
Success is when leaders transfer past conventional, top-down approaches and embrace inclusive, values-driven management that empowers their groups. It’s about embedding variety and flexibility into the DNA of companies so that they thrive commercially whereas fostering environments the place folks really feel revered and supported.
True success is forsaking stronger, extra inclusive industries formed by leaders who champion goal, equality, and long-term cultural transformation.
How do you personally outline success, past income and development metrics?
I outline success by the cultural impression and transformation we create.
Past income, it’s about shifting the best way enterprise leaders lead, that’s, transferring from inflexible, transactional fashions to inclusive, values-driven management that empowers folks and drives long-term change.
With many years of expertise within the automotive sector, I’ve seen the distinction when companies embed variety, adaptability, and respect into their DNA.
Success is seeing leaders embrace this shift, workplaces develop into extra equitable, and industries as soon as resistant to alter open up alternatives for ladies and underrepresented teams. That’s the legacy I’m most proud to construct by Sage Recommendation.
Are you able to share a problem or setback that in the end grew to become a turning level to your model?
Like many entrepreneurs, I’ve confronted challenges that examined my resolve and formed the route of Sage Recommendation.
One of many earliest, and most persistent, was convincing companies in male-dominated industries that variety and inclusion should not optionally available add-ons, however important to long-term success. Many leaders initially struggled to see the business and cultural worth, so I needed to be affected person, persistent, and evidence-based in demonstrating the outcomes.
My very own lived expertise as a lady within the automotive business gave me a singular benefit. I understood the boundaries firsthand, that’s, being underestimated, breaking by stereotypes, and consistently proving functionality.
These experiences grew to become a energy, serving to me join authentically with purchasers whereas highlighting the true impression of inclusive management. At this time, 40 per cent of the apprentices in my very own automotive servicing enterprise are girls, which is proof that change is feasible with technique and dedication.
One other problem was balancing the calls for of a number of companies whereas rising Sage Recommendation. This required self-discipline, clear priorities, and studying to lean on trusted help. Alongside the best way, I embraced setbacks as alternatives to refine my strategy.
The turning level has been realising that adaptability, resilience, and staying true to my mission flip obstacles into stepping stones for lasting cultural change.
What day by day habits or rituals preserve you centered, artistic, and grounded as a frontrunner?
I keep centered and grounded by beginning every day with clear priorities and reflection on my larger goal to drive cultural change in enterprise.
Importantly, I schedule time with my group to pay attention and alternate concepts; these conversations typically spark contemporary views.
These day by day rituals preserve me disciplined but adaptable, guaranteeing I lead with readability, creativity, and authenticity.
How do you strategy innovation and danger in your online business technique?
My strategy to innovation and danger is deeply knowledgeable by my many years of expertise within the automotive sector, the place adaptability and forward-thinking are important.
I deal with innovation not as an afterthought, however as an integral a part of each technique, guaranteeing Sage Recommendation evolves alongside the wants of our purchasers. I draw on my architectural coaching and enterprise expertise to analyse alternatives, assess potential dangers, and develop options which are each artistic and sensible.
I imagine calculated risk-taking is important for significant development. This implies testing new concepts by pilot packages, listening carefully to suggestions, and iterating rapidly to refine outcomes. It additionally means being prepared to problem the established order, significantly round management and inclusion, whereas all the time aligning choices with long-term cultural and business objectives.
In the end, my technique balances braveness and warning, enabling Sage Recommendation to drive innovation, ship measurable outcomes, and create lasting impression for our purchasers.
What recommendation would you give to somebody beginning a enterprise in as we speak’s fast-changing digital world?
My recommendation can be to begin with a transparent imaginative and prescient and be open to alter as you go.
The entrepreneurship journey is stuffed with sudden twists, so adaptability and resilience are key. Encompass your self with mentors and a robust help community, whether or not by teaching, strategic partnerships, or just having individuals who imagine in your mission.
Most significantly, belief in your self and your skills. As an entrepreneur, your ardour and dedication will in the end decide your success. All the time continue to learn, be prepared to take dangers, and don’t hesitate to ask for assist when wanted.
It’s additionally essential to know that true success comes from not simply making a living, however from making a significant impression within the lives of others, particularly in making a extra inclusive and optimistic work atmosphere.
The place can our viewers join with you and study extra about your work or choices?
Web site:
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