Small Business: Au Pair Link and My Food Bag co-founder

Photo / NZH

This week, Small Business editor Caitlin Sykes talks to Au Pair Link and My Food Bag co-founder Cecilia Robinson.

Did you always plan to have your own businesses?

I always sold bits and pieces when I was younger but they were things I enjoyed doing as hobbies. Being an entrepreneur wasn't discussed so it wasn't a clear career path for me. It was more something that happened when I met my husband. We're entrepreneurial and I think joining forces made us more so.

What set you on the path to setting up Au Pair Link?

I loved being an au pair and I would have loved to have been an au pair in New Zealand but there wasn't an agency here at that point. I was passionate about the industry and thought we could make a difference in New Zealand by bringing those young people in. We're proud of what we were able to achieve. Towards the end, we were bringing in more than 1000 au pairs a year, which has a big impact on other industries like tourism and the wider economy.

You ran Au Pair Link and My Food Bag at the same time. How was that?

It was stressful at times. We were running Au Pair Link, selling Au Pair Link, running My Food Bag New Zealand and living in Australia, setting up My Food Bag there. And we had an 18-month-old child. We had to be careful with managing our time and managing expectations with our teams. But Au Pair Link was much more mature when we started My Food Bag and we had a strong general manager in place, which enabled us to focus more on My Food Bag.

What was it like selling Au Pair Link?

It was emotional, but Au Pair Link had reached a stage where it needed someone to take it to the next level and we didn't have the time. It was functioning quite independently from us, but there were still a lot of tears with our team. It was important for us to have a buyer who understood the company and we found that. I'm just as passionate about Au Pair Link today but it's also nice not to be running it day-to-day. I can focus on My Food Bag and I don't have to feel guilty.

What characteristics do you think drive you to keep creating businesses?

The type of businesses my husband and I have chosen to create are about making a difference. I'm especially passionate about supporting working mums. That's what drives us. You also need to have emotional resilience to get through the ups and downs of business and I'm lucky to run the businesses with my husband and best friend. It makes things easier because we can always relate to what the other is going through.

myfoodbag.co.nz