Hi, I'm Anna

I'm a generalist, a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none, and I've stopped apologising for it.

I'm not an accountant, an HR specialist or a technologist, and I won't pretend to be. What I am is someone who sees how the pieces of a business connect: the people, the numbers, the systems and the customers, and knows how to make them work together.

Twenty years at senior level across multinationals, the public sector and my own business, now working with Canterbury businesses that have outgrown the way they work, or are ready to step up.

Anna O'Connell, smiling, in a black jacket

How I got here

My career didn't follow a straight line, and that's what makes it useful to you.

I started out in consultancies, working for clients and billing my time. I moved into large commercial organisations, working in marketing, customer insight and growth strategy for well-known brands. I then spent several years in senior leadership in the public sector, designing and leading large-scale change. Most recently, I co-founded a technology business, so I know what it's like to build something from scratch and wear every hat.

Now I bring what I learned in big organisations to businesses that don't need the bureaucracy but would benefit from some of the discipline. I'm happy to share the specifics when we meet.

About the name

Wollstonecraft started as a working name, after the Sydney suburb I used to live in, and it stuck. Only later did I discover my business shared its name with Mary Wollstonecraft, the 18th-century writer who argued, rather boldly for her time, that women deserved the same education and opportunities as men. I can't claim I planned it, but I'm happy to keep her company.

What I believe

You're the experts.

My job is to draw out what you already know and build on it, not to tell you how to do your work.

There's no single formula.

Every business is starting from a different place and heading somewhere different.

Light touch beats heavy process.

Do enough to make a difference, and no more.

Plans only work if someone keeps them alive.

That's where I'm most useful.

Things that might surprise you

  • Technology doesn't always make things better. If the process is messy, new software just makes the mess faster. Fix the process first, then choose the tool.
  • Hiring isn't always the answer. Sometimes the work needs rethinking before it needs another person.
  • Growth isn't always the goal. Sometimes the win is the same revenue with less stress.
  • Your best customers know more than any consultant. Including me. I'll help you ask them.
  • You might not need a rebrand. You might just need to say what you do more clearly.

The details

  • Bachelor of Commerce (Honours, First Class), Lincoln University
  • Twenty years' experience, in New Zealand and overseas
  • Private sector, public sector and start-up
  • Based in Christchurch, working across Canterbury and the South Island

Let's see if I can help

The first conversation is free, with no obligation.

Get in touch