Georgina Waterhouse
Georgina is the Founder of the W Agency, which provides content support to leading global luxury watch, jewellery, and hotel brands. She is also Co-Founder of dayze guides, a parenting platform and community that helps lighten the parenting mental load, especially during the 170+ dayze each year when the kids are not at school!
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
I run two businesses. The first is The W Agency, where I provide content support to leading global brands, mainly headquartered in Switzerland, including Breitling, Swatch, Hilton Hotels, Accor Group Hotels, Swarovski, and Montblanc.
As a proud Chief Family Officer (CFO) and working mum of two, I am also the co-founder of the dayze guides, a growing community and start-up based in Warwickshire that provides trusted guides on family dayze out, parenting hacks, gift guides, and Future Maker interviews. My ambition is to raise awareness about the 170+ dayze each year when children are not in school—a significant aspect of family life often overlooked. I want to help CFOs, predominantly women, to lighten the mental load when balancing career, family, friends, budget, and well-being during this time.
- How did you get into the industry?
By asking and believing that as a girl living in Leicester, the world was my oyster. My parents instilled in my sisters and me that hard work pays off and that “if you don’t ask, you don’t get!”
I started as an intern at Condé Nast by sending in a cheeky letter request, and from there, I emailed a local advertising agency and secured my first paid role and exposure to the power of words. I then spent time in the corporate and creative worlds (at a Birmingham-based law firm and ballet company) and then took a leap and moved to Zurich and landed against all odds at Swarovski’s headquarter, where I was lucky enough to be a native speaker and motivated enough to learn and hone my craft on the job. The people I met there over a decade ago continue to open doors to me today. I love Switzerland and consider it my second home.
- What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
AI stands as both the greatest opportunity and challenge in my field. My industry, along with almost every other industry in the world, will be impacted for the better and, at times, for the worse. My job for the foreseeable is to adapt, learn as much as I can, and see how and where I can bridge the gaps. For dayze guides, we are looking to leverage AI technology and pair it with the power of community, as both have the potential to help save parents their precious time and money.
- How would you describe your leadership style?
It has evolved over recent years as my tendency to gold-plate everything just doesn’t fly in the start-up or tech worlds. I’m lucky to be surrounded by a small yet trusted group of leaders and entrepreneurs I can lean on, talk to, and learn from, based both here in the West Midlands, in London, Switzerland, and Australia.
- How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
Your energy can make or break a room, project, or relationship. I try to bring as much positive energy as I can and make sure I really listen to a client brief or parenting challenge. Making people feel comfortable helps them to open up and share their ideas, feedback, and thoughts more readily. As does clarity, and my experience working with Swiss Germans has helped me with that a lot, especially when it comes to “putting the fish on the table”!
- What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
I know my strengths and my blind spots and have no issue bringing in those skils or people to help me navigate these to make my work more successful. I recently appointed duo accountants who have been game-changing regarding their support and advice. Small businesses are their niche, and they are helping me to lay the foundations for greater financial clarity and success.
- How has the past 12 months been for you?
A flipping rollercoaster! One that has taught my co-founder (of dayze guides) and I so much. We’ve weathered our fair share of challenges and gained first-hand insight into the gritty realities of start-up existence. My mantra for the next 12 months is “grow slow”. Moving too fast, or at a pace dictated by others, means you easily lose sight of what’s important, your goals, critical feedback, insights, and, of course, yourself.
- What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
I am focused on securing the right collaborations, partners, and tech in place for dayze guides and evolving my content business so that both are sustainable and making the most of the opportunities that are available to me today.
- What are the highlights of your career so far?
Working on the Swatch X Omega MoonSwatch project from its very early days was a real highlight, and I have Samira (former head of global PR) to thank. Also, seeing the dayze community grow from literally nothing and the feedback we get daily from parents, as well as being at the Houses of Parliament last year supporting the work of the single parent charity, Gingerbread.
- What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
Putting all my eggs in one basket. In the last year, it’s been focusing on pitch decks and securing investment rather than generating revenue and further building the community.
- What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
“The people that matter don’t mind, and the people that mind don’t matter”. Rosamund Dean, journalist and one of our dayze Future Maker interviewees, shared this and I now apply it to all aspects of my life!
Also, the best business book I’ve read (so far) is The One Thing by Gary Keller. Emmie Faust, founder of Female Founders Rise gifted it to me. It’s simple, short, practical, and already seems to be working (for me!)
