Feisty, brassy, principled, self-made, sharp speaking, and now "Dragon". She's been described as a feminine version of The Mad Butcher and a more glamorous version of Michael Hill. She oozes her brand, its business philosophy and staunch position against New Zealand's largest company. She is Annette Presley, Chief Executive of Slingshot Internet.
Behind the scenes, Presley has two children, is a mentor for the YWCA Future Leaders programme, and is involved in charities ranging from Preventing Violence in the Home through to Kidz First hospital. She is the Patron of Dress For Success and is on the advisory board of Women in Technology. There's plenty of depth to the brassy blonde we associate with the Slingshot name.
From her beginnings as a computer programmer in 1980, she set up her own recruitment company in 1988. Four years later she and partner Malcolm Dick had the business bug again. They moved to Australia to set up Call Australia taking it from a backyard operation to a company with a turnover of $100 million. In 1998 they sold out and moved back to New Zealand.
By now they were start-up gurus. In 1996 they created CallPlus which has grown to become New Zealand's third largest telco. If that's not enough, Presley marked the start of the new millennium by creating New Zealand's first free internet provider, I4free. This short lived venture was replaced by the Slingshot internet company she's best known for today.
It is perhaps not surprising, with this obvious abundance of drive and ambition, that Presley regularly undertakes motivational speaking engagements. This is where you'll likely hear her say, "Feel the fear and do it anyway" and "If you're not failing, you're not learning. If you're not making mistakes, you're not risking. And if you're not risking, you can't succeed".
Presley is noted for her regular public battles with Telecom. She skilfully positions herself as the underdog in David and Goliath style encounters that help reinforce the Slingshot brand as a gutsy little company succeeding despite the odds. When the media comes knocking, Presley's always available to comment on telecommunications industry issues. She's a business person who understands the power of PR, and her name and image are now synonymous with the Slingshot brand. Even her distinctive Kiwi accent helps add down-to-earth credibility - just try to imagine a Slingshot ad without Presley front and centre wearing an eye-catching suit!
When, in May, the Government was forced to hurriedly announce its decision to require Telecom to unbundle the local loop Presley was ready to capitalise on Telecom's misery. She was eagerly courted by media as an expert commentator and then launched one of her most audacious moves to date - lobbying to replace Telecom's own high profile CEO Teresa Gattung in the top job.
The Slingshot website features a petition for supporters to fill out calling for Presley to take on the Telecom CEO role. She's on the record as saying, "Well I would certainly love to have a crack at it." Presley also says she'll do it for "a pittance compared to how much they're paying their current CEO". There's even a downloadable letter of application to the former Telecom Chairman Roderick Dean. It's certainly ballsy marketing, but entirely consistent with her approach which demands that she not only represent the brand - she is the brand. Presley is Slingshot.
Just three months earlier, Presley again made Telecom the target of a blatant publicity stunt when she and a group of protestors handed out hundreds of loaves of specially made Slingshot bread outside Telecom as "... a graphic demonstration of the fact that Telecom is making too much 'bread' from ordinary Kiwis." 35,000 loaves were also sent to schools, universities and to other areas around the country.
And now Presley is about to break new ground again with the launch of New Zealand's version of the internationally successful Dragon's Den - a television programme that invites budding entrepreneurs to pitch to a panel of wealthy self-made business people with the object of enticing them to invest their own cash in a proposed new venture. Presley is one of five recently announced New Zealand dragons on a judging panel which also includes businessman Barry Colman; reality TV queen Julie Christie; businessman Sir Bob Jones and property developer Paul Webb.
But the small screen is a mercurial beast which has a nasty habit of exposing any weaknesses. Could it be, in the world of reality TV, that Presley faces her biggest challenge to date? This latest incarnation of Annette Presley as internet queen, turned dragon, may call for more flair than substance, but this Slingshot sharp-shooter has proved she has both in equal measure. There's no doubt we're about to see a whole new side of Presley as she shares her unique combination of business knowledge, marketing savvy and personal style with the next generation of budding business kiwis. (But don't expect Telecom to be put on hold). |
