#WIB – Q&A With Debbie Gebhardt Founder Of Red Fox Connect & Red Fox Insight
1. Can you please tell us more about your business?
I have co-founded and am acting as Managing Director for 3 businesses simultaneously at this time, so I had a hard time picking which one to tell you about! A brief summary: I am the MD of Red Fox Connect, a Digital Marketing & Design Agency, & also of Red Fox Insight which offers Qualitative and Quantitative Research.
I am the co-founder and MD of Starlight Media, an online voting competitions platform with a strong charity component. I am the CEO of NPO CheckKnowPrevent, which promotes the early detection of breast cancer, and I am currently applying to the board of an NPO focusing on HIV & TB. So let me tell you a little about each business
Starlight Media (Pty) Ltd is a for-profit for-good online competition portal that allows people to showcase what is precious to them while giving back to causes that are dear to them. We are currently running two regular monthly competitions, StarBaby & StarPet. People enter their baby or pet and by getting friends and family to vote through paid SMS, left, or Snapscan, they stand in line to win R40,000 worth of prizes (StarBaby) and R22,500 worth in StarPet.
The aim is to get as many people as possible voting for your baby or pet so that no one person spends too much – we want this to be fun after all! 50% of each month’s profits are donated to a charity chosen by the previous month’s winner. To date, we have donated close to R1.7million rand to charity. We have also run other short-term competitions, both with and without external partners, all with a charity component. We are compliant with the CPA, POPI, Privacy Act, and Competitions Laws.
Red Fox Connect (Pty) Ltd is a Digital Marketing and Design Agency comprised of a small team of hard-working entrepreneurial people who believe in creating partnerships and working together to create amazing outcomes for some pretty special brands. We built this company on the pillars of creativity, collaboration, communication, and transparency.
Our team is small but super talented & highly experienced! By working closely together we ensure that our clients, and their customers, receive high-quality results. Our services include graphic design – from logos to full brand identities right through to catalogs and mailers – as well as Web design, printing solutions, and social media content creation and management.
Red Fox Insight (Pty) Ltd is the brand-new cub in the fox den – a Consumer and Market Research Agency that officially launched this month and we have our very first brief coming in next week! We will offer a wide array of Qualitative and Quantitative research services across Africa, helping companies gain insight into their consumers and the markets in which they operate and enabling them to make data-driven decisions.
Both of the Red Fox businesses are independent subsidiaries of the Red Fox Group, which has two other independent subsidiaries: Red Fox Consult and Red Fox Create, which designs and produces awesome custom brand display solutions for some very special brands. A great benefit of the four companies is that we can refer clients to each other and share expertise where necessary, making us more agile, adaptive, and efficient – like foxes!
2. When, how, and why did you start your business?
Starlight Media came about in 2017 while my bonus daughter Roxanne (we both hate the prefix “step”!) and I were chatting about starting a business together, and our conversation drifted to ways in which people could have fun while giving back to society, which is important to both of us. We landed on the concept that is today Starlight Media.
We partnered with two tech-savvy, like-minded brothers, who did all our systems and web development, and the business became a reality. Starlight Media feeds our need for doing good while giving Roxanne and me an opportunity to spend time together and supplement our incomes. I believe it does the same for our partners James and Tim.
Red Fox Connect was born when my husband came home one night and said “One of my clients needs help on a global digital event and managing their digital programmes for the next year, so I recommended you!” Here’s the part where you say “How hard can it be?” Within days I had two fantastic partners on board with the necessary skills and a super premium client signed up for the next year.
Red Fox Insight came about as a result of a long working relationship I had enjoyed with two brilliant women, each specialists in their field – one with a Ph.D. in Psychology and the other a Mensa member. Husband again just planted a seed in my mind that his clients could really benefit from a really competent research team, and I leaped right in, calling Janine and Marilu on the phone the next day and setting about registering the company!
3. What is your role in the business?
I am the Managing Director and “face” of the companies and as my background is in Marketing, I’m pretty involved on that side too. I do most of the client recruitment for the Red Fox businesses, which is a lot of pressure to bear, and for Starlight Media I also deal with all the charities, which is a joy! I also ensure that we are compliant with all legal and regulatory matters and I like to think I lead my teams with enthusiasm and passion.
4. Where did you study and what did you study?
In a strange twist of fate, and thanks to TV programmes that glamourised the practice of law, I went to UCT to study for a Bachelor’s degree with the aim of going on to do an LLB. Lack of funds and a realisation that law was not all I thought it would be led me to leave varsity and work in Finance for a large corporate.
That’s where I was spotted by Mike Joubert, the man who is until today my mentor, who swiftly yanked me out of Finance into Marketing, and that’s where I’ve been ever since. Of course, since then I’ve done a bunch of courses in Marketing and Finance – all through the companies I’ve worked for.
5. How did you finance your business?
I used my personal savings to start Starlight Media but luckily it became profitable very quickly, so I was able to recover my initial investment within a few months. Bringing the tech team on board as partners meant that they gave of their time and no financial investment in tech was necessary – a decision I think has been the right one in so many ways.
Red Fox Connect started with a retainer client and had very minimal outlays other than laptops and software so needed very little upfront finance, and Red Fox Insight will be funded by a loan from the Red Fox Group until we find out feet.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
Average? Not a chance. I’m a night owl so my day starts with coffee at 8 and I’m at my desk from 9 until between 7 and 9 pm. I spend a LOAD of time in Zoom calls and on email, and on Starlight, in particular, that could involve chatting with charities, prize partners, or looking for new advertising avenues. I also monitor our performance every day through automated reporting and will course correct if we are having a slow month/week.
On the Red Fox side, I act as the client liaison between the clients and my teams, making sure briefs are clear and concise and sense-checking work before it goes out to clients. And of course, I have to leverage my network and reach out to new potential customers to keep us in business!
7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?
I work from home so it’s easy and hard at the same time. My husband is also a bit of a workaholic and tends to work when he gets home from the office too. I will often pop out during the day for a coffee break and he and I do that daily when he gets home. Before bed, we spend a few hours watching series and catching up on each other’s days.
I have 3 Maine Coon cats (one of whom is a little kitten), 2 gangster rescue cats (I swear if I shaved them I’d find them covered in tattoos), and a gentle rescue dog who keeps me company all day, which is great until they interrupt my Zoom meetings! My husband and I also try to get away for a weekend at least once every two months, with no laptops (we try!) and I take time out every month for a pamper day at a spa.
8. What drives you and inspires you?
I cannot imagine not working and being productive. I love creating plans and ideas and seeing them come to fruition. I love to feel I am making a difference, no matter how small, in the world. I want to look in the mirror and feel I’m accomplishing things that matter. I also love that I’m a Gen X partnered with seven Millennials and surrounded by a whole lot of Gen Z energy, so while I can sometimes be the voice of wisdom and experience, I’m constantly learning from them too. I never want to stop learning!
9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
I find chatting to other people often sparks ideas that you can then build upon with their collaboration – it’s also such an energising exercise. I do sometimes however wake up at 4 am with a lightbulb moment! My husband is also a great person to brainstorm with.
10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?
Almost all of our advertising for Starlight Media is done on Social Media but we are currently chatting to some exciting partners in the mommy blogging space as well as encouraging the companies we buy our prizes from to help drive our competitions. Red Fox’s business has largely come from Word of Mouth, but I plan to start leveraging Google Ads and Linked In advertising in the coming months.
11. What is next for your business?
Starlight Media: We continually strive to improve the user experience with our competitions, and of course, we’d like to keep growing them, which would mean even more for the charities. But the next big frontier is the African markets where growing economies alongside dire needs means opportunities for our competitions to flourish with the right partners in place.
Red Fox Connect & Red Fox Insight: I want us to be recognized as best in class for the services we provide and to be partners that our clients love working with. A meeting in a diary with our team should elicit an “Oh great, I get to see these guys today”! Already we are seeing repeat business, which is a sure-fire sign that we are delivering on client expectations. I want to grow my own knowledge significantly in the digital space, so I have registered for a Diploma in Digital Marketing this year (I know, how will I fit it in?!)
12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own businesses?
You are your own best friend and your own worst enemy. Self-doubt can be crippling and self-belief is the most empowering force in the world. Find yourself a mentor, and then pay it forward. And there’s no need to try and do it all on your own – be generous with your business ownership (with the right people) and it will come back to you in the best of ways.
Partners, as opposed to employees, are far more invested in the business. That’s not to say my businesses won’t grow to have larger staff components – it’s what we’re aiming for – but I’m glad I’ve got leadership teams in place in all my businesses that have got my back!
Short Bio:
Debbie Gebhardt, described as an exuberant and natural leader, is a veteran Marketing professional with over 25 years of experience, including 6 years as Marketing Director at Levi’s, 4 years as Chief Marketing Officer at NPO Shout it Now, and 10 years of consulting at an executive level.
She is also a qualified Executive Coach. Upon leaving Levi’s to consult full time, she was approached by NPO Shout It Now to lead their Marketing efforts in promoting HIV and TB testing amongst at-risk populations. Seeing an opportunity for people to have fun while doing good, Debbie partnered with 3 millennials (one of whom is her stepdaughter) to become CEO and Co-founder of Starlight Media, an online competitions portal that donates 50% of its profits to charity.
She also serves as CEO of breast cancer NPO CheckKnowPrevent, which has developed a range of attractive bras featuring instructions inside the cups on how to self-examine for signs of breast cancer. Debbie and her husband subsequently started a full-service Marketing and Research Agency, Red Fox Group, where she heads up the independent Research and Digital Marketing subsidiaries as Managing Director.
She also acts as Chief Marketing Officer for the group and continues to provide consulting services to various clients. Debbie has an innate drive that compels her to seek out opportunities to partner with like-minded people and organisations on missions to make the world a better place and to create tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives. It is in this space that she finds herself truly fulfilled, able to use her skills and expertise for good.