Our Story
What drives us is our passion for business and our ambition to support business owners and their teams to be the best at what they do. We don’t shy away from the tough questions and believe that anything’s possible with a growth mindset.
We are the only Business Growth Centre with programmes and professional coaches available across the wider Bay of Plenty covering planning, leadership, sales, governance, marketing and business coaching.
We work with business owners and their teams across the central North Island including Rotorua, Tauranga, Kawerau, Whakatane, Taupo and Tokoroa to:
- Build a Growth Plan for the organisation
- Strengthen their leadership and culture
- Develop local or national marketing strategies and implementation
- Build good governance
- Embed a sales culture
- And build exceptional business capability.
We have a growing client base winning awards, growing revenue and increasing profit.
Our Values
GROWTH
Grow ideas, people and organisations.
ACHIEVEMENT
Make things happen
SUCCESS
Strive to be the best.
STRATEGY
All actions have a purpose and link to long-term goals.
EXPERTISE
Improve throught know-how.
DYNAMIC
Embrace change in ideas and how we do things.
The reason behind our name Firestation
We often get asked why we called our business Firestation, and it isn’t a simple or quick answer.
Our Firestation brand launched in May 2015 and was an amalgamation of four different brands. We had Flair Marketing (marketing work), Flair Consulting (business consulting), Flair Space (coworking) and McGarvie Business Coaching.
Since a lot of our clients were using multiple facets of what we offered it made sense to put it under one name and one brand. And it was going to make our lives a lot simpler too.
So, then we had to decide on a name. Originally Darren wanted FireHouse. He wanted a name that conveyed a haven for business owners (and he is also a little obsessed with the colour red and flames). But it was too much like an existing nationwide business growth centre. After many iterations, vetoes, and discussions we landed on the name Firestation.
And it fit. Because we are a safe place for businesses to shelter when things are tough. We help them during a crisis. But we also work with business owners to maintain their business just like firefighters backburn in the cooler months to prepare for the next season.
Meet our Founders
Rachael McGarvie
Rachael McGarvie is the co-founder and chief marketer of Firestation.
After many years working in a range of organisations as a senior marketer, Rachael decided to set-up her own marketing consulting business, Flair Marketing in August 2012.
Her marketing acumen has been gleaned from 25+ years’ experience in strategic communication working for and with a broad range of public and private sector organisations in New Zealand and Australia.
Rachael has worked with small businesses, large corporates, local government and non-profit organisations. Including Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Bank of New Zealand, Cardmember Wines and as an Account Manager in various direct marketing companies working with clients including Firestone, Lancôme and many more.
What makes Rachael different to so many marketing consultants is that she has worked as a marketing specialist within businesses and local government organisations. Rachael understands business. She knows the importance of meeting business targets, knowing her target audience, ensuring marketing is effective and meets budget and time constraints. She’s been at the ‘coal face’ of business, and can create fabulous strategic marketing and communications that meets business needs.
Rachael’s love of hard work, positive attitude and intuitive understanding of stylish marketing is the driving force behind Firestation’s marketing services.
Darren McGarvie
Darren McGarvie is co-founder and chief coach of Firestation.
He has had a long and successful career helping businesses develop by working in a number of corporate positions, primarily in the financial services sector. These roles allowed him to work with a broad range of business people from farmers to entrepreneurs to large corporate entities and local government.
Throughout his working life he has started businesses in IT, construction and entertainment industries, allowing him to understand from a personal perspective the challenges of entrepreneurship and sustaining successful businesses.
Darren’s passion for entrepreneurship, business education and successful business leadership is the driving force behind Firestation. It is also what motivated him to help establish ‘Rotorua X’, the fastest growing business networking group in the Bay of Plenty.
He has a successful governance track record. This includes being founder and inaugral Board Chair for Rotorua X Charitable Trust as well as being on the board for Tarawera Ultramarathon, Puma Darts Group, Bay Venues and Te Pae Tawhiti.
His business acumen has been recognised with receiving many awards for his professional abilities, including Chamber of Commerce Emerging Business Person of the Year and the Institute of Directors Aspiring Director Award.