Lucy Cleary-Smith

In 2024, Lucy and her husband bought Colin Carr Agencies, a 30-year-old export business supplying government and industrial customers across the Pacific. Lucy says: “The privilege of having our own business is being able to be really honest about where we want to grow our capabilities, knowing it will directly benefit ourselves and our company. When Not An MBA came up, I jumped at the chance.”

“In terms of our business goals, our challenges were succession – what does it look like to take over a business with the founder’s name on the door? Colin is a wonderful man, so how do we retain his legacy, and also put our own mark on the business? How do we adapt effectively to the changing world, while respecting that history? What’s our strategy?”

Lucy also went into the programme wanting a professional circuit breaker. She says: “I knew I needed to reflect on my ways of working and examine how I could be more effective without it being at the expense of myself. I knew the way I was approaching work wasn't sustainable. Everything felt urgent and important, but I have finite time and capacity. I wanted to understand how to be more strategic in how I prioritised my day when inevitably urgent things crop up.”

“Learning how to articulate your qualities is really important.”

Lucy found Not An MBA’s sequence of leadership lessons helpful. She says: “The programme has been curated thoughtfully and intentionally. Each step creates a foundation for the steps that come next, and it gives you growing confidence when the exercises connect and build on each other.”

“You have to submit assignments each week to your class. That was mortifying initially because the first assignment was all about our leadership qualities. Doing a deep dive on myself to 30 strangers felt very vulnerable, but that was the strength of it. You can do the whole humble Kiwi thing where you don't take credit. But, particularly as a woman, learning how to articulate your qualities and how that makes you of value is really important. Saying this is who I am and putting it out there was really powerful for me, and I've realised I need to do more of that.”

Another thing Lucy enjoyed about the programme was the joy of finding like-minded people. She says: “We all came from different backgrounds, working in a wide variety of sectors, yet we were all facing similar problems. We like to think we're unique, but once we dig down, we’re remarkably similar. Alicia's gift is she can see patterns, get to the root cause of our challenges, and provide us with tools and a framework to move forward.”

“Alicia did a really good job at maintaining a supportive, positive environment where people could be brave and put themselves out there – we were coming to meetings more curious, switched on, and engaged. That gave us confidence to try out different ways to communicate and experiment with new ideas in our own workplaces.”

Curiosity builds better business relationships

Procurement is a key part of Lucy’s business, leading relationships across its international supply chain. She explains: “We work with a lot of amazing suppliers, we've built long-lasting relationships, and we really value those.”

“We were having issues with a supplier. Something I learned on Not An MBA was if an issue comes up, be curious, and you’ll come away with more knowledge. We had a meeting and I went armed with curious questions, very much wanting to understand, versus going in there saying please explain. Going into this sit-down with an open mindset, allowing our supplier to talk about what was happening from their perspective, we came up with so many useful improvements on both sides.”

“Our supplier had a whiteboard in the room, and I said: ‘Would you mind if we mapped out how we work together and talk about the pinch points?’ Having the confidence to take the lead came from Not An MBA. Mapping out our shared process was really effective. We’re now doing things we needed to do, and our supplier is too. Those insights might have been missed if we’d come in with a more win-lose mindset. Knowing how to work through challenges with curiosity means we've a much better relationship with this partner.”

“I’m going into projects with more confidence.”

The course has made lasting differences for Lucy. She says: “What’s really powerful is viewing things with a system lens. Now when things happen at work, and even in my personal life, instead of immediately jumping to believing it's an issue with a person, I’m able to take a step back and view things more holistically. How did systems and processes lead to this event? I've always been curious, but being able to apply that curiosity in a more intentional way is something I'm already finding very effective.”

“In terms of having more of a roadmap for our business, the strategy pieces of Not An MBA were really helpful. I led the development of our vision with really good, specific tools and now we've got this achievable vision, strategy, and roadmap. The power of Not An MBA is the practicality of the tools. And the beauty of the tools and frameworks is they’re not one-size-fits-all. You work out which parts you like and what works for you.”

“Since doing the programme, I feel I’m going into projects with more confidence that my approach will provide me with a more impactful outcome. I’m shooting for my goal with tools that allow me to be more disciplined. I don’t get thrown by the inevitable things outside my control.”

Not An MBA has helped Lucy examine how she currently works and how she wants to work. She says: “You reflect on what is going to best align with your own values and what is going to make you more effective. I always thought what made me good was I could find a solution quickly whenever there were challenges. The course taught me how to come at challenges without a predetermined outcome. That the value I can bring is in the questions I ask and the processes I work through. This programme is invaluable personally and professionally.”