Focus on your journey not the destination - with Sheree Rubenstein of OneRoof

Digital life has provided us with a huge opportunity to bridge businesses and life.We’re often networking remotely from home while growing our businesses and managing a family at the same time. It's a goal that Mums & Co shares in common with today's guest, Sheree Rubenstein, the founder of OneRoof, which started out as a coaching space in Melbourne and has morphed into a digital networking space for entrepreneurial women.

Sheree worked as a corporate lawyer before taking on the challenge of creating the OneRoof community. Her understanding of the startup space and how it feels to be a woman in the midst of building one in what is often a male dominated space.

What's the transferable skill between business and motherhood that has surprised you?

“I think one thing that's been a surprise, is that being a parent, forces you to slow down in certain ways. I mean, you can also feel really stressed and anxious a lot of the time.

But, it really forces you to slow down and to appreciate the journey that you're on. It's about the journey, not the destination. I think that really sums it up. It brings me back to the importance of being present and slowing down. 

I think in business, when you slow down, you actually speed up and you find nuggets of wisdom and ideas and creativity. It's just so easy to fall back into the hustle culture. Go go, go. But it's really about slowing down and observing and assessing and enjoying.

That actually leads you to incredible ideas and strategies and directions of taking your business.”

Can you please share your pitch with us?

“I'm the founder and CEO of OneRoof, a digital network for ambitious women. We are on a mission to increase the number and success of female leaders and entrepreneurs. In the last two years, since we pivoted the business, from being the leading co-working space in Australia for women to a digital membership,we've onboarded over a thousand women across the country and even globally, with a full suite of business support, we offer everything from masterclasses to business coaching.

Literally our goal is to be an extension of our members' businesses and to help them succeed and flourish. I'm also on the board of the Victorian Women's Trust and I am a mum to Goldie who just turned two and I'm due to have my second in June.”

What are the types of practices have you put in place to protect yourself against risk?

“I remember a friend and mentor saying to me, “You need to get comfortable with feeling completely uncomfortable all the time. You need to unlearn everything that you've learned over the course of your entire life, and you need to just be comfortable with scaling and testing and learning and making mistakes”. So it was obviously a steep learning curve. But I think I'm also much more naturally drawn and always have been more drawn to the entrepreneurial way rather than the kind of rigid, corporate, legal, risk averse way.

I'm happy to make mistakes and things not to work out, but my appetite for risk doesn't go to the extent of any financial risk. I surround myself with people who help me check and ask those questions around what is the worst case scenario of taking on this decision.

What are the risks? What happens if all of this falls over? Let's go through it and talk about all of that and see if you feel comfortable. It's not something you want to talk about but stopping and getting that advice and talking through those really uncomfortable scenarios that you do not want to think about, will be worth it.”

Personal development and lifelong learning, how important has that been to your career trajectory?

“I love putting myself completely out of my comfort zone. I love doing leadership programs and retreats and going away. Being in an environment where I don't know a single other person and I'm just thrown in the deep end and I have to swim because I have no choice and I'm always freaking out.

I just love it. I always love meeting new people. So I do a lot of it. It's harder, of course, when you're a parent or when you know you've got young kids. It's harder to get away and find time and do things. But I recently did, which was actually the first time I'd been away from my daughter since she was born.

I did a course up in Mullumbimby with Ana Rubenstein and it was the most uncomfortable experience, but also just incredible, like sitting around a fire with 12 other people sharing stories that you've never shared. Talking about your goals, your issues, your needs, your traumas and your family.

It was really profound and powerful. I think one of the first things I ever remember doing was my dad put me through a Dale Carnegie course when I was really young. After that, it just kind of set me up to want to always be doing things and going through programs and leadership and training and support."

‍Want to know more about how Sheree Rubenstein has realised that slowing down and taking the time to invest in yourself and your business will bring you closer to your business goals?

Do you find yourself getting caught in the hamster wheel of the hustle culture? Do you struggle with the thought of being in uncomfortable situations especially when it comes to business? How do you ensure that you are always learning and growing?

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