Where did I start my career?

… in the sales of toilet rolls. As a young single mum, I was determined not to be labelled and wanted to create a great life for my son. So I quite I literally learnt from the bottom up. If selling toilet roll was what it would take, that’s what I would do and I did. Over an 18 month period I learnt all about sales and achieved great success in the company, until the death of my father.

At this point I was propelled into the SME world, naively thinking having a business degree meant I knew what it took. I was wrong and unprepared for the real world of business. All I knew was how to sell toilet rolls and here I was taking on a printing business just as the printing industry was starting to decline. It was a very steep learning curve for me, we quickly had to diversify into the digital era and develop new areas of business which included digital Advertising & Marketing. Over a decade we grew a strong, young and dynamic team and over the years we flourished. I married and had 3 more children along the way. In 2013 the company was sold in a MBO.

The sale gave me finical leeway and for many years I had a burning desire to turn some old handbag designs into reality. After 18 months of planning, designing and manufacturing we were ready for market. I never envisaged these designs would become a brand but they did. Launching a Brand is a tough gig and not for the faint hearted but again with a great team behind me we reached global sales within the first 12 months. We appeared on catwalks, were worn by celebrities and written about in the media. Building & growing a fashion brand was once again a steep learning curve but I believe if you’re not growing you’re dying.

This lead me to ActionCOACH, I decided after all the learning I had done it would be a crime not to share my knowledge and help other business owners. ActionCOACH gave me the platform to do so. Over the last 6 years I have mentored and trained people from start ups through to SME and corporate, including Board level & Executive Coaching. Having worked with so many different teams I have the unique ability to build report quickly with people of all walks of life and believe that this is an integral part of me as a person. Over the years I have exceeded over 10,000 coaching hours and helped dozens of businesses to establish, grow and flourish. I have worked in a diverse range of Industries including Tech, Finance, Law, Construction and many more. This has give me a vast inside knowledge into the best structures and solid foundations for high growth in any business. I believe the fundamentals of businesses are they same…like the chassis of a car but what you build on that chassis determines the performance of the business and how it can sustain continuous growth. Coaching is both a huge privilege and a commitment to help people achieve beyond their goals. For a business to truly succeed I believe that development has to come in two halves. Not only do we need to concentrate on the business model (Transactional) but also the development of the people within the business (Transformational) This is when the magic really happens.