Mentors: Why Gold Coast boss has taken on 16 interns in three years

The winner of our ‘Mentors’ category built her business the hard way. Now she’s determined to make the path a little easier for those following in her footsteps.

Mentors winner Larissa Rose. Photo: Kit Wise.

GOLD Coast boss Larissa Rose has taken out the ‘Mentors’ category of the 2020 Harvey Norman Gold Coast Bulletin Women of the Year.

The director and senior environmental manager of Glowing Green Australia may have built her business the hard way, but she’s determined to make the path a little easier for those who want to follow in her footsteps.

“Glowing Green Australia is an environmental consultancy company I started on the Gold Coast about 11 years ago,” she says.

Larissa Rose is director and senior environmental manager of Glowing Green Australia. Photo: Kit Wise.

“I was in my economics class, in my masters, about to have my third child when I came up with this business model of environment consultancy work that could fit around me and my kids.

“One half of Glowing Green Australia is all the environmental consultancy stuff to do with legislation and development codes and the other side is around environmental education.”

Larissa, a specialist in renewable fuels who has successfully lobbied the government to change legislation, has led environmental education programs in Queensland schools and taken on 16 interns in the past three years.

She works one-on-one with environmental students from Gold Coast universities, as well as media students who want to learn to handle sustainability themes.

“(My work) helped me understand that there were significant gaps between course work and industry, and also the importance of having a leader who can help you navigate that,” Larissa says.

“As I took one or two interns I could start to see some of those gaps that get to the core and heart of what mentoring really is.

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“Yes they’re learning practical skills, how to write environment reports or deal with industry, but the other part is around them learning to map out their goals, taking ownership of their life and having intention.

“My interns get what I call a toolbox, spending time on personal development and learning how to crystallise and map out where they’re going – these are really powerful soft tools.”

Larissa says 80 per cent off her interns have been female.

“I put my heart and soul into it because I know I need to help provide a pathway for those girls coming through to go, yeah, you can totally do your own business,” she says.

“Yes it’s not always fun and cute stories on Instagram – I’ve had moments when I feel like I’m crawling through the trenches – but I think it’s important we help those women understand they can own their space, especially in a masculine-orientated world.

“I hit so many barriers, especially in renewable fuels, and I had to deal with my own insecurities thinking I wasn’t good enough.”

It’s a two-way street. Larissa says mentoring has helped her develop her own leadership skills.

“Even if you’re a CEO or a boss, you don’t know everything. Transparency and being vulnerable is the most powerful thing that you can show your staff because that helps build a team,” she says.