Natalia Scheidegger leads 3rdmill as CEO, steering the technology services company to assist small and medium-sized businesses across Australia. She ensures comprehensive support in all technology aspects, ranging from infrastructure and networking to cybersecurity, web hosting, and development. Under her guidance, 3rdmill has become a reliable partner for businesses seeking robust technological solutions.
With a decade of experience in the IT industry and a solid background in corporate strategy, Natalia excels in infusing strategic thinking into her clients' technology challenges. Her expertise enables her to identify and address complex issues, providing tailored solutions that drive business growth and efficiency. Her leadership at 3rdmill exemplifies a commitment to innovative and practical technological advancements for Australian businesses.
Q: Could you provide a brief background about yourself, your family, and your business?
I am the only child of two Brazilian immigrants. I was born in Sao Paolo but moved to Australia young, where I had the privilege of watching my father build an IT services business from the ground up. I chose to do civil engineering at university instead. However, after a year in the industry, I left to join the corporate strategy team at Deloitte, where I was exposed to a broad range of business problems and classical training in strategy. Life had other plans for me — in 2014, after my father suddenly passed away, I joined the IT business he started. What began as a labour of love to help my mother during a difficult time became my life's passion – helping SMBs in Australia solve their business problems with technology.
Q: What inspired you to embark on the entrepreneurial journey?
I used to think entrepreneurs were born, rather than made. I’m living proof this isn’t true – I was on a journey down a very different path when I stepped into my father’s entrepreneurial shoes. There were definitely some difficult moments in the beginning where I doubted my ability to pull it off, but these days I relish the challenges being an entrepreneur provides. There’s never a dull moment, and that’s what keeps me coming back each day to do it again.
Q: What aspects of being an entrepreneur do you enjoy the most?
As a mother with a young son, these days, the best thing about the work I do is the flexibility to be there for my family when they need me – daycare pickups, early morning coffee dates, and bike rides along the Yarra are all part of my weekly routine. But even before I was a mother and wife, 3rdmill gave me the opportunity to explore my true innate strengths and design my life and my day around them.
Q: What are the significant challenges you have encountered as an entrepreneur?
Too many to count! Cashflow, staffing, growing too fast, not growing fast enough – every textbook problem you can have I’ve endured in some form. These days the biggest challenge is time – there’s not enough of it to spend on the business, my family and myself in enough quantities to feel like I’m doing any job well.
Q: What motivated you to join EO?
A chance encounter with an EO’er whom I had reached out to for some tech advice. During our first phone call, he knew immediately he was speaking to a fellow entrepreneur and recommended I look up EO. I think I signed up less than a month later! I haven’t looked back since. EO has been my lifeline during the biggest and most formative years of my entrepreneurial journey. 3rdmill – and I – would not be the same without EO.
Q: Can you share a valuable lesson you've learned from your own experience or another entrepreneur or mentor?
Running a business is a lot like parenting. The moment you think you’ve got it sorted, they grow out of it into a brand new phase that comes with a whole different set of problems and you’re left wondering if it ever gets easier (P.S.: it doesn’t; you just get more resilient).
To know more about Natalia, listen to her episode on the EO Business podcast on YouTube, Apple or Spotify.