MATTERS OF FACT

QUICKFIRE Q&A WITH PEOPLE WHO MATTER

Georgina Joy Read

COO

Founder of The Hatch and Hustle™ | Creator of PocketCoach™

In this Q&A with South African Business Matters, we meet Georgina Joy Read, Founder of The Hatch and Hustle™ & Creator of PocketCoach™. She shares her journey of developing solo entrepreneurs through the inner Work of entrepreneurship

You talk about bridging the gap between information and transformation. What does that mean for South African entrepreneurs right now?

Most entrepreneurs today are not short of information. In fact, quite the opposite. We are drowning in it.

And what is lacking is the follow-through from the information. So transformation can only really happen when information and action meet each other. Otherwise, nothing truly changes.

So that’s what I’ve based my business around, right in that space, to help entrepreneurs actually take the action they need in order to transform their business. And tools like Pocket Coach exist to be right there in your pocket, when you are stuck, when you are unsure of what to do next, to help you take action right at the moment you need to, so that you don’t lose momentum and fall backwards. So transformation will only happen at that key moment.

Information must meet action.

Many entrepreneurs say motivation isn’t their problem — it’s consistency. How do you help people stay on track when the excitement fades?

So consistency is not a personality trait, but rather it’s a design. It’s a strategy that you can use in your business. We love motivation, momentum, but they fade. And we need consistency to help us go the full distance of actually having a successful business.

So tools like Pocket Coach help entrepreneurs to stay on track, Help to build momentum when it is fading. Just take out your pocket coach, have a chat with it and get yourself back on track.

So consistency actually can be built into our daily habits and momentum can be built into our daily habits. And that’s really what we are after as entrepreneurs.

So motivation will fade, but your system will always be there, structured and supporting you when you need it.

We’re hearing a lot about AI in business and taking jobs — how do you see human coaching and AI working together, not against each other?

Yes, I think the future of coaching will not be either or, but a combination of both AI can give you access, quick, easy access, but we get meaning through humanity, through human interaction.

So a combination of both will be essential. So tools like Pocket Coach can give anyone access. Anyone with a smartphone can access coaching. And that tool is also trained on the human experience of coaching. But in the future, there’ll be a combination of that access and the coaches, the best coaches will be the ones who are able to scale their empathy with technology.

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You often say entrepreneurship is not about what you do, but who you are. How does that idea shape the way you built PocketCoach™?

Yes, the inner world reflects the outer world in entrepreneurship. So who we are as people, our habits, our shortcomings, the things that get in our way, all of that will be reflected in your entrepreneurial business as you go about your day.

The problems that you encounter will actually be problems that you have yourself and they are materializing in your business. The business is a representation, in fact, of who we are as people.

So, tools like Pocket Coach are built to be able to mirror what’s going on in an entrepreneur’s mind. So, if you need to shift a mindset or if you’re stuck on something and that needs to change, Pocket Coach can help you get through that moment right there and then, because absolutely, how we change our thinking internally will show up in what our business looks like, which is exciting because it does mean it’s all in your control.

We just have to make the growth leap or the growth step inside ourselves first, and that will naturally come out in your business.

If you could redesign how entrepreneurship is taught in South Africa, where would you start?

Yes, I’d start with accessibility and then also action. So entrepreneurs don’t need more lectures, I don’t think. But we need to provide better tools that help entrepreneurs take action right in the moment where they need it.

So tools like Pocket Coach do that. Anyone with a smartphone, it’s available in your pocket right as you need something, you can access the tool. And I think we need more of that. Entrepreneurs can read and understand theory, but it’s how to shift your mind in the moment that you need to, to make that transformational step. And I think the future needs to be more mobile, more practical, and more personal when it comes to education.

So, we’re not just reading a book and understanding theory, but actually, how do we take that action in the moment that we need to take action? And that’s what, yes, I think we need to see more of that.

“So consistency actually can be built into our daily habits and momentum can be built into our daily habits. And that’s really what we are after as entrepreneurs.”