At Work With...Rosanne Gray | CEO at In Kind Direct

1.Tell me a bit about yourself? (Where are you from? What you do?)

Life for me started in Scotland, so I am very much a born and bred Scot. Although the accent has long disappeared sadly, but the minute you put me back in Glasgow it can quickly come back!

I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and business people.? I remember putting buttons on gingerbread biscuits ?to sell in our coffee shop at the back of our book shop in the centre of Glasgow.

Understanding how important it was to put the buttons? in a straight line, so the biscuits would sell meant that I learnt from early on in life how important it was for our family to keep the business going and to have happy customers. The business wasn't about making money, it was centered on ?my parents passions of books and hospitality. This has been a thread throughout the rest of my life in seeing how business can really make a difference in people's lives.

From there I had the privilege of living in various different countries; be it South Africa, China, India.? I started my career in the world of Shell, committing career suicide (so I was told) when I made the decision to leave the corporate side of the business, to join the Shell Foundation. That was a fundamental decision, to step off the corporate ladder and go and explore a different route. But I am so grateful for that beginning of being in a global business and all of the amazing resources I had access to. ?From there I ?set up various social enterprises, worked in a tech start up and now find myself, running a wonderful charity in the UK.

How did the IKD opportunity come about?

IKD is one of those amazing hidden secrets. When I found out what we did, I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about IKD! We work with charitable organisations and companies to ensure that everyone has access to the products they need to keep clean and well.

It's a really great practical solution.

Tell us a peculiar fact about you?

My ideal holiday is a week swimming between tropical islands! There is nothing better than being able to switch off, immerse myself in the ocean with the rhythm of my stroke and let my mind wander.

2.??How do you motivate yourself to give your 100% at work? What gets Rosanne out of bed in the mornings?

It’s a real privilege to get out of bed in the morning and have ?a job that I absolutely love. Every day I ?can see the impact IKD has on people’s lives. That for me, this is a huge driver, along with a little person demanding I get out of bed at 0500!

We often talk about an organisation’s purpose, but I had never thought about my own purpose! Lockdown was a great opportunity to reflect on my individual purpose and what gives me energy. For me it boiled down to ‘transforming lives’. With this new understanding of what gives me energy I find if I can make the connection with my purpose, whether it is analysing our finances, recruiting a new team member or engaging with our charity network I am really motivated if I can make the connection back to transforming lives.

3. How did you decide to pursue the career that you are working in today? What was the pivotal moment?

I smile at this question as I have never really thought about this as a career. I see it as a new chapter, a new challenge, a problem to be solved. I am always excited to find an entrepreneurial, innovative solution to the next challenge. I have been ?privileged enough to be given opportunities, ?to be presented with problems that people have been willing to take a risk on me to be part of the solution. Feels like a slowly unfolding book and I don’t know where the next chapter is.

3.1 How did you get into the philanthropy field in Shell?

I learnt about ?Shell Foundation when I was working in ?South Africa for Shell. A role managing a programme called Breathing Space opened up and I made the move back to London to take up the role. Such an interesting programme as we were tackling the challenge of indoor air pollution – world’s fourth largest killer, predominantly women and children inhaling smoke from open fires.? So many people in the world are using wood as main energy source. We invested in a new business called Envirofit that designs and manufacturers improved cooking stoves.

4. What are you most proud of in your career journey so far?

I would like to think it is about the different teams and people who I have connected with. Through the different organisations that I have been part of setting up and growing, hopefully it has given people opportunities to find places they can thrive in, and they can find a place where they can be themselves, have impact and have fun. Realising that using business thinking and entrepreneurial approaches is good and is business at its best.

5. If you could start all over again, what would you do differently?

I have reflected on this quite a bit after having my little girl. I went through quite a traditional education route; I went to school, I went to university, I got a graduate job. I travelled a traditional path. ?I don’t know whether for my daughter that traditional path is necessarily the best path in the world that is changing around us today. Especially with the challenges we are facing, pace of environmental change and technology. I don't know if that traditional path is keeping up with the changes. I hope in my parenting journey, I will encourage different pathways for her that don’t necessarily follow the route that I took!

6.?What do you think is the most important attribute a leader should have in today's generation?

Two words come to mind when I think about people I have learnt so much from; Vision & Vulnerability. It's holding those in tension, because I think a leader compared to a manager is able to create that vision and often makes the impossible possible. When I worked for Richard Branson at Virgin, he was one of those people whose vision really inspired me. Creating a safe place in the workplace where I as a leader show up and be honest about what's happening and where I am at, creates a culture and an environment that I think enables everyone to be authentic in themselves. But if you don't create that vision at the same time, then you don't take that organisation forward as you could.

7. Lastly, how do you find balance in your role as a CEO as well as a parent?

I’m new to being a parent and having watched others do the juggle for many years I am learning how this new season is going to work well for our family. In many ways having children makes it easier to walk away from the screen and have a clear time that you need to stop. It was very easy before having kids for work to creep into all hours of the day! When you love what you do there isn’t that divide between work and non work and I am getting used to having to say no to some of the evening events and networking opportunities. The balance can be found, but just as I think we might have worked it out, we are into a new phase of doing life with a small person, they are certainly keeping me on my toes!

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