2022 CEO of the Year

CEO MONTHLY / CEO OF THE YEAR 2022 44 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 2 2023 6 Mar22259 Revolutionizing Parking: A Future Everyone Can Love! Founded in 2009 by dynamic father/daughter duo, Don and Shareena Sandbrook, Frogparking came about from watching a parking warden chalking tyres in the rain. Having been successful in other industries using cutting-edge technology, the pair decided to modernise the world of parking. We find out more about the firm as it celebrates Shareena being recognised as CEO of the Year, 2022 - New Zealand. Frogparking is a Deloitte Fast 50 company offering an end-to-end smart parking solution to large premium clients around the world. Remaining nimble in its approach enables Frogparking to be agile and future focused, whilst its parking technologies offer one-of-a-kind profitable solutions to customers, fit for their unique business needs. First in the world to produce solar-powered parking sensors, laser indoor sensors, and wireless parking guidance, the firm has a full, in-house hardware and software design team, and its unique platform also includes custom mobile apps, dynamic signage, and cloud-based data reporting software. But whilst it may be a highly innovative tech company, Frogparking still upholds its deep-seated family values. “As our culture is very much a family supportive environment, my leadership style is also inviting and encouraging – I will always have my doors open for communication with staff,” explains CEO, Shareena, who actively encourages a collaborative environment to nurture joint leadership throughout the firm’s internal structure. With a Bachelor of Business Studies in Marketing from Massey University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, and an Executive MBA from Waikato University, Shareena may be armed with the paper qualifications she requires to take the business far, but her skills extend much further. Shareena has an extremely strong customer focus, shaped around building sustainable long-term relationships and effectively communicating to shape the competitive advantage of the company. “With my extensive marketing background, I took it upon myself in the early stages of Frogparking to develop sales and marketing strategies and implemented them myself,” Shareena elaborates. “Although my time is mostly spent as CEO, my love for marketing results in a natural gravitation towards those activities. I see this as an advantage as I’m still very present in the sales and customer-facing environment and can ensure our direction remains customer focused.” Having such a large portfolio of corporate and business owners with high value parking assets, Frogparking must ensure that it stays ahead to keep its competitive advantage. One of its key differentiators is that it can offer a full end-to-end solution, something that no-one else in the world can offer, and which clearly sets the firm aside. What makes Frogparking truly stand out is the ability to customise its hardware to match what its customers need and want, enabling its clients to make smart business decisions by using accurate data analysis from its reporting dashboards, and caring about what its customers can provide to their own customers in turn. “We call our solution FrogOne,” says Shareena. “It’s the only solution that saves clients money in the long run and drives higher ROI. In brief, it’s one supplier, one dashboard, one system, and one aggregator. When we say we offer end-to-end, our product really does it all. Although it can integrate with third-party solutions, our customers don’t need to bring in other providers for a complete parking solution.” But it’s not simply clever technology that has made the company so successful, it is also down to the diligence of the team behind the scenes at Frogparking. “The passion and dedication that is reflected in our everyday successes and milestones is due to our staff and the hard work they put in,” Shareena enthuses. “Having such a strong working culture means that the passion for Frogparking’s success is contagious amongst our team. This helps us not only drive our business in the right direction, but it fosters longterm staffing connections.” It is Shareena’s dynamic leadership style that earned her success within the CEO of the Year Awards 2022. This award recognition comes hot on the heels of another prestigious accolade for Frogparking as it was recently recognised as one of the Top 10 Smart Cities Solution Providers in the GOVT CIO Magazine. Now, with the next 12 months firmly in her sights, Shareena has big plans for the company. “We are building our brand specifically focused on our US market, directly launching our world-first end-to-end solution, FrogOne,” she states. “The nature of FrogOne allows us to target the industry’s low hanging fruit which means our long-term goal to grow revenue to 50 million is inevitable as we look beyond the next 12 months.” And does Shareena have any plans to build upon her own career? Of course she does! Whilst Frogparking is always going to be her first priority, she is constantly looking to see how she can utilise her knowledge and expertise to give something back. She is also keen to fly the flag for women in business and wants to encourage like-minded females to push past the industry barriers that are all too often placed in their way. “It wasn’t always an easy path to get to where I am today, but it is very important to me that I continue encouraging other women to always advance in their own careers, no matter what the challenges at hand may be.” Contact: Shareena Sandbrook Company: Frogparking Web: https://frogparking.com/ Dec22156

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