As Anthem celebrates 10 years in business, and in celebration of International Women’s Day, Executive Chair Jane Sweeney and Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Kerr reflect on their powerful partnership dynamic and the unapologetically female approach that has contributed to their success.
“Jane and I have been working together for about 19 years,” Carolyn explains. “We first met following a period of change at the agency I was with. She joined as our new Managing Director and I was immediately taken by her high degree of professionalism, vibrancy and zest for life. She had presence and demonstrated real bravery, and still does. That was inspiring, as well as her passion for producing stellar work. Jane is very family focused and fostered an inclusive ethos in the workplace, probably before many others thought of it as a workplace superpower.
Jane recognised potential in Carolyn. Sharing a passion for their industry, the two formed a strong connection. “Caro and I became fast friends,” shared Jane. “Caro’s strong work ethic and energy was palpable, and matched with her natural talent, made her an unstoppable force.”
Nine years on, both women felt passionate about the opportunity to fill a gap in the market and form an independent cutting-edge, leading integrated communications agency. As Jane was taking the leap, she felt Carolyn would be the perfect complement and asked her to be her business partner.
The pair value the force between women partners that has been observed and labelled by Betsy Polk and Maggie Ellis Chotas as ‘the powerful partnership dynamic’.
Bringing diverse skills and experiences, and each at a different stage in their lives, Carolyn and Jane have built Anthem on the basis of a partnership of trust and respect. They firmly believe their differences have provided opportunities to grow; they are always open to a healthy debate and bring diversity of thought to the agency.
Arianna Huffington launched Anthem when the agency was five months old, at a dinner event for a business audience in Auckland, kindly supported by ASB, stuff.co.nz, AUT University and Tangible Media.
“We like to think we’re a powerful partnership duo, in the way we build each other up, both professionally and personally. Jane has my blind-spots, and I’ve got hers, and we support each other instinctively when we know the other is vulnerable,” says Carolyn.
“Imposter syndrome is also inevitable, but I cannot dismiss the power of having a partner to reassure you of your value.”
The duo agree that setting up a business can be daunting and getting it to a stage where it’s a real contender in a given sector is no mean feat. Jane and Carolyn were acutely aware that only roughly a quarter of businesses survive the ten-year mark.[1] Jane talks about how they planned and changed direction to ensure they really met the market. “We regularly researched our clients and others in the market to see what they were looking for from a leading edge agency; we brought in advisors as we needed them; we attracted the best people and formed an agile team so we can draw on a vast range of people from all walks of life to assist our clients; we intuitively work to utilise each other’s skills, capabilities, and experiences to best advantage; and we have a mantra about finding joy and laughter in every day. If we don’t do that, we pull ourselves together and reframe.”
Business advisor Darleen Barton says that, in the majority of cases, women make the best business partners[2]. They discuss issues earlier, generally are open emotionally, are flexible, will compromise, and focus on creating a positive team environment. Jane feels these are all hallmarks of her working relationship with Carolyn: “I’ve always loved working with Caro and as a business partner she’s the best! I am constantly learning new things from Caro, and I love working on the business and developing opportunities for clients with her as we always come up with solutions together that are greater than the sum of the parts. We take advantage of the differences in our style and approach. We are always totally honest with each other, and neither of us is precious about pitching in to get stuff done. We share a strong work ethic and an unrelenting focus on team culture, batting it out of the park for clients and staying ahead of the curve.”
Both acknowledge there have been successes and setbacks along the way, but they’ve never lost sight of enjoying the journey and being grateful for the opportunity to co-lead “this gem of a business which is Anthem” as Jane puts it.
Carolyn and Jane in 2020, 6 years on from establishing Anthem.
Independently forging their own way into business, Jane and Carolyn had a unique opportunity to cultivate a work environment where all employees would feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Their leadership style focuses on providing enough guidance and parameters to allow the Anthem team to feel empowered to make their own decisions and embrace self-direction and personal responsibility. Systems and processes provide safeguards for quality, where team members are given opportunities to grow their expertise with the wider support of their colleagues and Anthem’s agile workforce.
Hopeful to inspire inclusion and the next generation of entrepreneurs, the pair encourage women to make the most of opportunities and uplift each other every day, to reach out to advisors and mentors who can help you take that leap of faith and support you along the way, and to analyse the learnings regularly in order to refresh your plans and inform your way forward.
Jane and Carolyn’s aspiration is for Aotearoa New Zealand to no longer need to spotlight the power of diversity, equity and inclusion or to agitate for more women in leadership roles or feel the need to insert “female” in a sentence to define a person who has succeeded. It is a given, the status quo and a proven societal norm.
[1] Stats NZ data from 2014 to 2023 shows that survival rates decline over time. For example, businesses established in 2013 had an 85% survival rate by 2014, but this decreased to 28% by 2023.
[2] https://nzbusiness.co.nz/management/why-women-make-best-business-partners
