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I’m a member of Enterprise Nation, a fantastic organisation that helps tens of thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Over the last year, I’ve attended many of their monthly meetups and weekly online masterclasses, listened to their member podcast series, attended several of their meet the buyer/expert events, and even travelled to Paris with them on an export trade mission. Plus they’ve become one of my customers, buying my coffee for one of their own events. So when I received an email from them inviting me to Number 10 (Downing Street, that is), I was genuinely thrilled at...

(12 things I’ve learnt about starting a startup - part 2) In part 1 of the twelve things I’ve learnt since leaving corporate life and starting my own business, I wrote about the excitement, the flexibility and the amazing people I’ve met since venturing out on my own. In this second part, I continue my observations about the differences between corporate life and startup life, with another six ups and downs on this rollercoaster ride. Hold on tight… 1.     You have to make all the decisionsSome more irony for me here as when I used to manage a relatively large...

(12 things I’ve learnt about starting a startup - part 1) Corporate life had its moments; good and bad, more bad towards the end. But I didn’t appreciate how comfortable it really was until after I’d left: the guaranteed monthly paycheque; the free office with all the mod-cons; the multi-million pound budgets (of someone else’s money); the relatively little consequence when anything went wrong etc etc. Of course, all of these things become irrelevant on a day to day basis, when you’re battling with corporate politics, or someone’s over-bearing ego, or feeling unvalued for the meaningless work you’re slaving over,...

Origins - The roots of Mother's Day We all know that Mother’s Day is a time to give thanks to your mum. A chance to be grateful for all that she’s taught you, shown you,  and put up with over the years. It’s a tradition which allows us to take a moment to reflect, and be thankful – a positive and welcomed tradition. However, who really knows where the tradition of Mother’s Day comes from? Unlike the story of Christmas or Easter which is drummed into us from when we’re Primary school, the origins of Mother’s day are not well-known. ...