Not many people can immediately frame a redundancy as a positive opportunity, but Jackie Williams can, and did! And that business is…Ballroom Blitz! In her own words; ‘Ballroom Blitz offers adult dance classes, socials and events across the Wirral and Liverpool’ and is Jackie’s dream of a lifetime to run!
Prior to starting her own business Jackie worked as a Global Quality Specialist for industry giant; Unilever for almost 20 years but had always danced and had a passion for dancing and everything that it encompasses. ‘For many years I have been joking about retiring onto a cruise ship to teach Ballroom and Latin dancing! So, when my dance school offered the opportunity to qualify as a teacher, I took it!’
Coincidentally this coincided with Unilever offering voluntary redundancy and Jackie saw this as the opportunity she was waiting for; ‘to go and fulfil my dream and make it a reality!’ She told us that she is usually someone who is risk averse so making this decision was huge as the thought of not having a regular income was new and scary. ‘I got around this fear by taking a small part time job, so I had a base income.’
Now that Jackie had her idea she knew it was time to go and get some support and advice; ‘At first, I wrote down all of my ideas and possible venues for the classes and researched the competition that was out there. I also took the opportunity to get in touch with The Women’s Organisation.’ Jackie was paired with Senior Business Adviser; Claire Pedersen who helped her with all aspects of her business start up process.
‘At the start of the process I was extremely nervous as I was stepping out into the unknown. But the thought of this turned to be worse than the reality.’ With the support of Claire, and the courses that Jackie was able to access at The Women’s Organisation, with some hard work and a bit of time…Ballroom Blitz was up and running!
One of the hardest things for Jackie was finding a venue for these classes though, and she says that it took a lot more effort and was more challenging than she originally anticipated. ‘Through talking to lots of people and google searching I found the venues I now use, but since starting in July 2017 I have changed 2 of the 3 initial venues with positive results, so I’d say to others be prepared to change and be flexible in business!’
One of these changes is super recent, and Jackie let us know that as of April 16th 2018, 3 out of 4 of her weekly classes will now be held at Pensby Boys School; 'truly giving Ballroom Blitz an identity and a home!'
One of these changes is super recent, and Jackie let us know that as of April 16th 2018, 3 out of 4 of her weekly classes will now be held at Pensby Boys School; 'truly giving Ballroom Blitz an identity and a home!'
Starting initially with 3 nights a week the business has grown and progressed so much that Jackie now runs 4 evenings each week as well as having a number of private clients! She says one of the things that is unique about Ballroom Blitz is that; ‘It’s social! Through offering social Ballroom and Latin dance classes this makes me unique as usually there is lots of focus on medals and competitions. Whereas my passion and mission is to spread the joy of dancing for social pleasure.’
It’s great to see Jackie living out her dreams of dancing and teaching dancing as a full time job, and at The Women’s Organisation we were delighted to support her with this. When we asked Jackie how she felt about what she had achieved so far she told us; ‘Words cannot really describe how I feel! I am immensely proud and thankful. I feel truly blessed for all the support I have had and I’m excited about the future.’
‘This is the happiest I have been in all my life!’
And isn’t that amazing to hear!? If you want to find out more about Jackie’s business; Ballroom Blitz, you can do by following the contact links below…
And if you’d like to turn your dreams into a reality, like Jackie did, and start your own business or become self-employed, then get in touch with us! Call us on 0151 706 8111 or email hello@thewo.org.uk
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