‘Sustainability’ vs survival - reflections on 2 years at Cogo

Two years ago to the day, and also 72 hours before we entered a gruelling eight month lockdown (all schools, shops and offices closed for the foreseeable future), I was entrusted with running Cogo in the UK. I’ll never forget the company’s inspirational founder, Ben Gleisner, saying to me (with endearing conviction): “I’ve got to get back to New Zealand, but mate you’ve got this!”?

In more ‘normal’ times I probably would have felt huge apprehension and a little wobble in self-confidence about whether I could do what was required. I would have wavered between simultaneous elation; and fear. Thankfully, with the pandemic raging and the added responsibility of homeschooling two children aged 8 and 10, there wasn’t the luxury of time for reflection or doubt. Sometimes, the only way over is THROUGH and boy, did I have a lot to get through!

Flip flops and fart guns…

Years ago when I was grappling with two young children and a demanding full time job, a woman at work said to me that “Being a working parent is to flip-flop between being sustainable and pure survival mode.” Never in my wildest dreams did I think her words would be put to the test in my own life as they were about to be…?

One minute I was pitching Cogo to an investor; the next I was badly explaining the definition of a parenthesis to my daughter. My ‘working parent guilt’ was exacerbated by having to ask the kids to leave me alone while on (yet another) call;? hearing the kids sharing the new swear words of the day or having to apologise to my son for my sense of humour failure around his turning up with his fart gun mid new business pitch (yes, this actually did happened but thankfully no-one had the meeting on record!). I was simultaneously running ‘negotiations’ about giving each family member appropriate space during lockdown and also inserting myself into colleagues’ bedrooms, basements and kitchens because offices were closed.?

I am forever grateful to my local pub - the Wych Elm - who gave me their keys so I could pop in to get some quiet space for key meetings or thinking time. (Side note: can I get a medal for not dipping into the stock behind the bar?)?

I was a ‘Mum’ in survival mode and also ‘Manager’ trying to work at a sustainable pace.?

Progress under pressure

Quite ironically, all through that period of survival, the topic of sustainability (in its truest sense) grew across businesses and consumers.?

After hundreds of meetings, we began to gain traction with some of the world’s key forward-thinking banks like NatWest and Santander as they looked to embrace our solutions to help their customers and businesses measure and reduce their carbon emissions. We grew from a team of 6 to 80 across two continents. We’ve also signed seven of the world’s leading banks and continue to grow with passion and pace.?

The power of ‘us’

For me, my greatest test became my greatest teacher.?

Overwhelmingly, these incredible strides forward are the result of a team of passionate and driven change makers. Now, when I think about the issue of flipping between sustainability and survival mode as a working parent, I reflected on how it was the collective that got me through. I couldn’t have done any of this without continued support and empathy across the Cogo team in different time zones globally; a brilliantly passionate and supportive boss; an incredible working husband who shares the load equally with no protest and an amazing network of family and friends.

Crucially, this same notion of the collective is the key to solving the climate crisis. Cogo has built a business off the back of the belief that millions of small changes by hundreds of millions of individuals can have a huge impact and move us much further forward, together. Leveraging the power of tech, we aim to enable hundreds of millions of consumers globally to understand the effect their spending has on their carbon footprint and take actions to reduce their impact.?

Knowing what I do now, and looking back, I can still hear those same words, but they don’t invoke nearly as much trepidation. If anyone was to tell me now that: “Mate you’ve got this!” I would calmly reply: “No, mate, we’ve got this!”?

Because together, we really do…