Danielle Owen Whitford journey

www.pioneera.com

Entrepreneurial journey told by two students

Story written by Prae Charernkitpan

“Throughout my 20 years of working in corporate I didn’t understand the concept of burnout until I experienced it myself. It was from that experience that I decided to start up my company ‘Pioneera’ and developed a software technology that is designed to detect the early stages of workplace burnout. Coming from a corporate background I understood the mentality of workplace hustle, and as much as I believe this is important, striking a balance is far more important to keep a productive workplace. The technology stemmed from the idea of wanting to translate the language that is being used at work to detect behavioural signs of burnout. I wanted to be able to provide early warning indicators which would enable users to understand their levels of stress and alleviate the increased possibility of burnout. This is because in the earlier stages, individuals have the incredible capacity to self regulate, in other words, manage emotions and behaviours. Oftentimes you get lost within the work you are completing, and this is a strong factor that contributes to workplace burnout. Although some levels of stress are good, there is a need to be able to find a balance on the spectrum of burnout and especially being able to catch onto stress levels before it becomes chronic. This is the stage where you feel both physical and mental pain and it is hard to recover from by yourself. This is where my innovation comes in, a third-party tool that utilises digital intervention which you can implement within your software, just like Grammarly, and gives you the space to self regulate. I am personally very passionate about this problem, after myself, and others I know, have experienced it. This expertise of the problem has helped me find a solution that others perhaps hadn’t considered. This is whereas an entrepreneur’s ability to really understand the pain the problem causes is key to people buying my product or service. I often say, “Are you a panadol or a vitamin?” A vitamin is nice to have but not essential, a panadol is needed when the pain is unbearable. People will not necessarily pay for a vitamin that will prevent the headache because they do not feel the pain. People need to be experiencing the pain of their problem, enough for them to buy the solution. Pioneera has been designed to reduce that pain, both in the short and long term.”

Story written by Julia Rawlinson

“It’s funny, I look back now, and I can’t help but think: ‘2016 really was the catalyst that changed my life.’ I had a very successful career leading large-scale retail transformation, dabbling in corporate communications and public affairs. I worked hard; I really did. But no one truly prepares you for when the “burnout” hits. That’s when it really sunk in for me and I realised that I had to make some serious changes to my life and to the lives of others. I took about a year off, recuperating and recharging before I decided to embark on generating the idea behind Pioneera. I never intended to be an entrepreneur. Yet, after my burnout, I became adamant and continue to be adamant about the fact that there are ways that we can help people not experience levels of chronic stress that’s going to kill them and kill their businesses – I mean, there is absolutely a solution to this. I’ve always been notoriously hard on myself but now I’m more disciplined, I’m realistic and I know how to balance and manage my energy. Being an entrepreneur is exciting. Initially, the flexibility and freedom of diving into the unknown is refreshing but you’re also balancing what you know versus what you need to learn and that can be tough. When I began my journey, I remember being asked: ‘are you a Panadol or a vitamin?’ It sounds odd, but it’s true. People need to be experiencing the pain of your problem, enough for them to buy the solution. Do your research, don’t overthink it. The core of the problem is important and how connected you are to that. When you look across Australia and internationally, the companies that are successful are usually those that are trying to solve a problem that they’ve experienced themselves. A little bit of stress is positive but when it becomes chronic, it can be harder to recover so that’s where Pioneera steps in to help people self-regulate and build longer-term patterns. We’re fortunate that we operate within an industry that’s growing at an exponential rate. With AI, Machine Learning and Natural-Language Processing, we can make sense and meaning out of data that doesn’t have any sense and meaning attached to it. You know, not all entrepreneurship needs to have a global world impact…but for me, I envisage a world with personalised, preventative healthcare so that the prospect of burnout is a distant thought.”