Zoe's Story

Zoe Farrington is an Alumni Member of Vistage and this story relates to her time as a member.

Sometimes in life, we come across business opportunities that are too good to ignore. Zoe Farrington was working with the Great North Air Ambulance when she realised one of the biggest dangers in the event during a motorbike accident is a rider thrown from their bike — sometimes, a very long way.  

Zoe knew there was an opportunity to create an app that helps locate riders who have come off their bike as soon as possible. As she puts it, “trying to locate the rider within the golden hour is the absolute imperative”.

In 2015, Zoe and her business partner created the Realrider app. Bikers around the world now use it to stay safe and track their rides. Of course, it takes more than good ideas to create a successful business.

“I have been pushed to the limits. I think that without Vistage I probably would have thrown in the towel.”

Zoe scaled her new business quickly, with the Vistage peer advisory group supporting her along the way. The journey from app launch to business success proved Zoe’s determination and passion - and highlighted the value of support from her peers. Through Vistage, she met other like-minded business leaders, to work through the issues and challenges she was facing. 

Zoe explains, “I guess my biggest reasoning at the time [for joining Vistage] was that I wanted to sanity check and validated some of my business decisions. It was important to me that our board saw us as being in control and credible. That whole journey and learning have definitely come through being part of Vistage. 

“Vistage has played an imperative role certainly in my business in the last 12 months. I have been pushed to the limits with various issues, and it has made me question if I am right for this business?”

Accountability to see actions through

Zoe dug deep, drawing on her strengths and the support of her peers, to drive change forward in her business, with the continuous support of her peer group. As a team, they helped Zoe with her business decisions and, importantly, held her to account to see actions through. 

Getting out of the day-to-day and focusing on leading, not just doing, is hard. But Zoe has learned to find a balance. “Vistage has helped me to achieve personal and business goals by actually forcing me out of the day-to-day and into an environment where discussing issues and holding each other to account actually becomes a priority.”