Amanda Griscti and Jennifer Madz (pictured) are new to the online scene. Launching their site – Ms & Mrs - only last month, this dynamic duo were inspired to create a site that stockpiled the myriad advice and solutions women pass on to each other via friendship, business and everyday contacts. A sort of collective site for all things Ms (single women) and Mrs (married women), the focus of Ms & Mrs is on living a happy and healthy life. Amanda and Jennifer sat down with AWO to give us the lowdown on how this exciting project came to be.

Why did you start Ms & Mrs? [Jennifer:] As women do, Amanda and I often sat around the table discussing our life stories and trying to find solutions from experiences and advice given to us by others. What made us start Ms & Mrs was frustration from the lack of sensible, available information online for women from all walks of life – all in one place – like a resource portal. Often we would search online for hours on a topic and end up with not even one simple credible article that explained or lead us in the right direction.

I am not married (hence the ‘Ms’), am an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Sports Dietitian currently working in health promotion in schools. My input is quite obvious – healthy living (nutrition and fitness), looking good, weight loss and all things relating to the ‘single woman’. I also have a love for cooking and being creative in the kitchen so am always creating new recipes, usually inspired from the people I talk to.

Then there’s Amanda – the other side of the story - married (hence the ‘Mrs’), a business woman and mentor for young women new to the workforce. Amanda brings with her the domestic side of things – home and family-based information for the business woman with a family scenario.

What other career roles have you been involved in? [Jennifer:] Amanda was a Group Marketing Manager for a Travel Company before heading out on her own to establish Northridge Creations (marketing and graphic design for SME’s) and mybusinesshelp.com.au - a business blog that holds workshops and seminars to help grow your business. Amanda is a qualified swimming teacher and swimming coach.

I have always worked with food – both practical and theoretical. I have worked for hospitals, NGOs in health promotion, and in private practice. Two years ago, I also started up a cake decorating business which continues to run as a hobby more then anything else. 

What are your educational qualifications? [Amanda:] I have a Bachelor of Business (marketing and pyschology), a Master Communications Management (UTS), Diploma in PR, Cert III in Graphic Design. [Jennifer:] I have a Bachelor in Science (Biochemistry), Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics, Sports Dietetics Sports Dietetics Australia, Certificate III in Commercial Cookery.

What kind of information does Ms & Mrs offer? [Jennifer:] Whatever is relevant and in demand for women of all ages and walks of life. Health issues, family, home, cooking, looking good, business and more. I concentrate on providing realistic, credible information to do with health and fitness whereas Amanda’s home and family information is practical – tried and tested information. We are in no way limited to the topics we provide information on. We will cater to the demand and are growing daily.

Why is this information timely? [Jennifer:] There isn’t a website that acts as a resource portal for women. We aim to pull information from ourselves and other people and hold it in one place – so you know where to go each time you are looking for information. If we don’t have it, we will get it. And it will be credible information that works.  Too many sites are loaded with links to information that doesn’t work and we won’t be doing that.  Only tried and tested information that meets our standards will get a spot on the site.

What kind of attributes does one need to run a successful web-based business? [Jennifer:] Knowledge on a particular topic(s). You need to want to share what you know. You also need to have direction and be flexible – adapt to what your visitors and clients are asking of you. Then there’s the dedication to be constantly researching sites and visiting similar sites to see what others are doing and monitoring the types of people using them.

Who have you relied on for help? [Amanda:] I have relied on my support network, that is, my family and husband. I have obviously also relied on Jennifer as without her, this website would not exist. Together we provide a great mix of expertise and help each other out to achieve the same goal – to be a success.   

What facilities and resources have you used to help you cope with this business journey? [Amanda:] The internet is a fantastic resource for anyone in business. Obviously without our qualifications we wouldn’t be able to be as versatile as we are.  There isn’t a job either one of us wouldn’t be able to complete or know who to talk to in order to get it done. 

[Jennifer:] My current place of work is a great place for me to get the most topical up-to-date information surrounding nutrition in schools and food industry. I also have interaction with the government in advocacy roles and the food industry in product development. All of these interactions are what have perpetuated the Ms & Mrs concept and have helped with the development of its content. For the Ms side of things, anyway.

What kind of financial model do you operate under? [Amanda:] We have a partnership and re currently reviewing our finance model with a business analyst – which I would recommend to anyone going into business.

How do you budget, plan and project, financially? [Jennifer:] The advantages of a website business is the reduced overheads. Also, we are able to provide a lot of our resources from within e.g. Amanda is a designer/marketer and I am a dietitian. We both have ‘life experience’ that we share, which costs us nothing. As for our sub-contractors and outsourcing costs, we pay for those 50/50.  

What obstacles have you encountered? [Jennifer:] The biggest has been time. Website companies require a lot of time to get started and then constant monitoring and strategy maintenance to get people to visit your site. Also, being the Ms, I would like to get out there and live the single life a bit more to bring some experience in single life matters to the site. Amanda is an indirect obstacle in that she never wants to go out!  But at least she has the home and family experience developing up as the days go by.

What has been your greatest reward? [Amanda:] Having the website go live and people’s feedback on the articles and how relevant they have been to them. It’s great to see that the information we provide is being used by others and that it actually helps them.

What has been your biggest learning lesson? [Jennifer:] For me, the biggest lesson has been in internet operations. Not being a big IT buff, I struggled at the beginning to do anything bar a google search! 

If you could do anything differently, what would it be? [Amanda:] We would have started doing this a long time ago!

What achievements has Ms & Mrs recently enjoyed? [Amanda:] Website visits are growing rapidly, showing that people are interested in what we have to share.  We are also looking into making physical packs from the positive feedback in our advice provided. So expansion is an achievement.

Where is Ms & Mrs now headed? [Jennifer:] We have only just touched the surface; we intend on growing and being a nationally recognised and identifiable website portal and consulting service for women.

To check out the growing resources available at Mr & Mrs, head to http://www.msandmrs.com.au/. Learn more about Amanda’s My Business Help and her free mini-workshops at Sydney Womens Network lunches at www.mybusinesshelp.com.au.