Women Entrepreneurs Inspire the Next Cohort of Future Leaders at Conference

This morning The Women's Organisation welcomed women from across the region to our Women's Business Start-up Conference. 

Joining the conference to share their story and offer advice to budding entrepreneurs were local women in business Claire Morton of Ell&Dee NLP Consultants and Ruth Hartnoll of JnR Agency.

Claire Morton, Jenny Wallwork and Ruth Hartnoll

Ruth had come through the Enterprise Hub programme around a year and a half ago to set up her digital marketing agency and has already grown it to the point where she is currently recruiting her second full time staff member to work alongside her team of freelancers. 

Claire Morton joined us fresh from winning the 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award at Merseyside Woman of the year for her NLP and training business.  Having run Ell&Dee for 3 years now Claire has grown an impressive clientele of corporate and private clients for her business, setting up a second business Ell and Dees Garden to offer therapy and retreats. 

Hosted by Jenny Wallwork from our training and development team the morning offered women the opportunity to consider what is involved in getting a business off the ground and evaluate if self-employment is the right fit for them.

Ruth started the event off sharing how early on in her business development she had to take the tough decision to split with her business partner.  Her advice is "If you are thinking of starting a partnership, make sure it is with someone you trust and also someone who has a contrasting skillset to you."

Ruth Hartnoll from JnR Agency

Ruth emphasised that networking has been a big part of her success and advises that in business "You get back what you give".  Ruth recommends going to sector specific events that aren't necessarily aimed at you, for example being the only web developer at a property conference can have networking benefits. 

Ruth's parting advice is to know your audience when considering pricing. 

Next up Claire shared how she took the leap from corporate world to self-employment and has had to tackle imposter syndrome, even as recently as last week sharing "in the week leading up to Merseyside Woman of the Year I literally couldn't sleep.  I had imposter syndrome massively thinking someone is going to find me out that I'm blagging it".  But having deservedly won the award as Entrepreneur of the Year she is grateful for the opportunity and realised that how she felt isn't how others see her.

Claire Morton, Merseyside Woman of the Year Entrepreneur of the Year 2019

Claire also believes networking is key for her business and says "When I go networking I go looking to help others.  If you help them, they will more than likely help you.".

While Claire admits starting a business is challenging due to all the different hats you have to wear, business development, accountant as well as the person delivering the service, Claire wouldn't change the decision she made.  She advised "You've only got one life.  You need to do what you love."

After a quick break to top up on pastries Jenny brought the women back together to 'think outside of the box' coming up with innovative ideas. A quick chat through the pros and cons of self-employment we looked at why businesses might fail and what support is available through Enteprise Hub to give your business the best chance of success.

Feedback from the budding entrepreneurs attending included:

"Fantastic Kick Starting event to starting my new business"
"Enjoyed the event. Felt very welcomed and lots of valuable/useful info and the contacts and friends." 
"Thought provoking"
"Great speakers sharing their experience and success story"
"Really enjoyed the meeting. Very informative. Given confidence to start a business."
"Lots of useful information for people at different levels. Friendly experience"
"I really enjoyed coming and listening to different women in different careers" 
"I struggle with my confidence and self worth and it has been a refreshing day"
"Really glad I came. I made new contacts, found out something new and now feel ready". 
"Great event. Really positive to know there is support and what I want to do is possible"

If you are a woman living in the Liverpool City Region who is thinking about starting a business, or have recently gone self-employed, get in touch with our team to find out how you can access free advice and training through Enterprise Hub.  Enterprise Hub is part funded by European Regional Development Fund and free to access.

Call 0151 706 8111 or email hello@thewo.org.uk

'Just Get Started!' - Social Media Experts Share Tips and Stories on Boosting Online Followers!

It’s reported that 3.2 billion people use social media, making it clear to see that if you want to get your voice heard, you should probably be online. With that in mind, we rounded up some of Merseyside’s most savvy social media users to come and share their tips on how to get ahead and start building a following online at our event 'Building Your Social Media Influence'

Hosted by The Women's Organisations Training Co-ordinator, Bernie Cox, our panellists included; Head of Communications at Sefton Council, Nicky Speed, Producer and presenter, Ben Osu and Founder of multi award winning blog 'Mini Travellers', Karen Beddow. With the room full of people ready to start conquering the world of online communication, we eased our panellists in with the question on everyone’s mind.

“Do I have to be on every social media platform to reach my audience?”

In short, the answer was no with all panellists in agreement that it's more important to focus on finding out what social media platform is going to work for you and your business, from here you will be able to find where your audience are. For anyone unsure about what platforms to try first, Karen had a top tip

“Even if you don’t know if you’ll use that platform, I would still go on to register your username. If you decide to use it in the future, you will have an official username that everyone can recognise you by”

Successfully campaigning to bring the MOBO awards to Liverpool in 2010 and again in 2012, Ben shared some of his insights on how to make a campaign work.

“I worked tirelessly, constantly calling promotors” 

He spoke about social media playing a key element in his campaign

 “Social media can really compliment the work you’re doing. When I started campaigning, I used Facebook groups to get an audience together. At the end of the day, it’s all about engaging content. Once you got that in place, the audience will start to build itself”

At the heart of the Sefton Borough, Nicky spoke about how the community spirit influences her marketing team at Sefton Council. “Our biggest strategy for promoting our key messages is engagement. You need to be listening to what your audience wants. We work with different partners and organisations, so we like to share other people’s content and get involved in the conversation online”

The main message to come out of the night, JUST GET STARTED! Social media can take practice, but don’t be afraid to get it wrong!

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who attended our event and our guest panelists! a special thank you to Hala Saeed for taking photos of the event!

Feedback included:

“Really interesting, informative and funny! I have noted somethings I’m going to look at when I get home”

“Really informative! Picked up some great ideas & tips. I’ve been alerted to some things I was unaware of!”

“Fantastic, informative and well-chosen mix of speakers. Can’t wait for the next one!”

If you enjoyed Building Your Social Media Influence, we have TWO more networking events throughout summer. Join us on 17th July, 6-8:30pm for some Summer Collective, and on 21st of August, 6-8:30pm for Speak Out to Stand Out

Alternatively, contact us on 01517068111 or hello@thewo.org.uk for more information.

Building Your Social Media Influence

Being on Social Media is now more critical than ever if you're looking to build a following for your business. Social media is now one of the main forms of communication used to reach an audience and it's becoming more and more important to establish yourself online with a strong brand presence.

Here at The Women’s Organisation we are holding an event to help you build up your own social media presence. We have 3 social media experts who have worked over the years to build a successful following and establish strong relationships with their online audience. You will take home tips and tricks to build your following and be inspired to be the next social media influencer for your business!

Join us Tuesday 18th June, 6pm-8:30pm at 54 St James Street, L1 0AB

Our Panelists 

Ben Osu - Content Producer and Presenter

Ben set up his own community forum, giving young people of the city a voice and soon became a youth leader working with multiple agencies across the city on youth policy and service design and provision. After a social media campaign in 2009, Ben was successful at bringing the MOBO (Music of Black Origin Awards) to the city and back again in 2012.

Karen Beddow - Founder of multi-award winning travel blog 'Mini Travellers'

Karen left her full-time role as a commercial litigation solicitor when she had her children to concentrate on her Family Travel blog Mini Travellers. Karen has used her skills to create and then turn Mini Travellers into an established creative business, that has meant she can work from home and spend more time with her three children. Karen also has a social media consultancy Aster & Fern. 

Nicky Speed - Head of Communications Sefton Council

Influential communications leader Nicky Speed has over 18 years' experience in the industry, working in a variety of sectors from local government and higher education to housing, transport and health, with a proven track record in building organisational profile, reputation and brand.

Building Your Social Media Influence will be held at 54 St James Street on Tuesday, June 18, from 6pm to 8.30pm. Tickets are available over on eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/business-club-building-your-social-media-influence-tickets-59574071652

Business Club

The Women's Organisations Business Club is an exclusive women's only networking group which is open to female business owners.

Membership is open to female business owners only and is per individual not per business. Additional staff members can be booked onto individual events as you go. Our events will mostly be held at our flagship building, 54 St James Street in Liverpool but members are welcome to join from anywhere.

#GEW2018: In Conversation with Nisha Katona

Global Entrepreneurship Week is a time of international appreciation for the innovators and job creators who bring ideas to life.  

During our annual celebration, we’ll be hosting an interview with true local entrepreneur turned celebrity chef, Nisha Katona. This will be followed by a panel discussion with more inspiring local women in business, to discuss their journey to success and advice.

Back in 2014, Nisha Katona was a child protection Barrister who chose to risk the roof over her head and all her security in pursuit of launching the first Mowgli on Bold Street. Nisha said: “We opened on a road that just had Leaf trading 4 years ago and my view was that even if we took the crumbs from Leaf's table, that would do. But this city of mine is a kingmaker. Liverpool with her open mind and open arms took this food and ran with it.”

Now, Nisha is the proud owner of six restaurants, has released three books, regularly films for BBC, ITV & Channel 4 and oversees a food-empire that just keeps growing.

Join us for this interesting event in partnership with Natwest when we will be quizzing Nisha on how she has built her food empire. If you are a reluctant business owner, suffering from imposter syndrome or buzzing with a passion for business and just wanting to know how to keep growing and developing – then this is one not to miss!

Join us on Wednesday 14th November aka 'Women's Entrepreneurship Day' 1.30-4pm at 54 St James Street.

Tickets are £5 for business club members and £10 for non-members. Your ticket cost will go back to supporting the valuable work of The Women's Organisation to support women's economic development.

This event is brought to you in partnership with NatWest!

Free NatWest business Accelerator programme lands in Liverpool

The NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator gives businesses the power to start, scale and succeed via 12 hubs and other satellite locations across the UK. More than 5,000 have already passed through the fully-funded programmes and as of 2017 more than 80% were still trading.

Liverpool is to become the first satellite location to host a bespoke Pre-Accelerator programme. The Pre-Accelerator is aimed at early stage businesses and entrepreneurs looking to validate their businesses or grow a customer base. The NatWest Pre-Accelerator is being run with the support of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

The programme focuses on the key driver to success – the entrepreneur themselves – guidance, support and challenge are provided by the bank’s trained coaches at a kick off ‘Ignition’ event to be held at First Ark in Liverpool on Tuesday 20 November 2018. Entrepreneurs then follow a rigorous but informative eight-week online eLearning journey.

The Pre-Accelerator is fully funded by NatWest, and the bank takes no equity in any business, so it’s free to any entrepreneur that wishes to apply, and they don’t have to be NatWest customers.

To find out more, head to the website: 

https://www.business.natwest.com/business/services/accelerator.html

We Got 'A Taste of Business' with Talks from Posh Nosh and our Enterprise Hub Team

Last week we invited serial food entrepreneur Anthony Zausmer to join us at 54 St James Street to share his pearls of wisdom with budding food and drink entrepreneurs.

With over 40 years in the industry Anthony has watched businesses come and go in the city region and has learned valuable lessons himself along the way of how to make a business sustainable. Pricing has been one of the key areas Anthony has had to reevaluate, and with business partner Hannah (owner of Fodder Canteen).  Having recently benefited from Enterprise Hub's Boost Your New Business programme for his latest enterprise Posh Nosh Catering Ltd. led Anthony and Hannah to reprice their menus realising they needed to value what they were offering more.

Anthony pictured with business partner Hannah in Fodder

Sharing some of his legendary meatballs Anthony encouraged those attending to get some real experience in the catering industry before taking the leap and going into business.

Training Coordinator from Enterprise Hub partner The Women's Organisation Bernie Cox also talked 'location location location' with Engagement Specialist Sabah Shams talking the attendees through the key legalities surrounding food and drink start ups such as ensuring you complete your food hygiene certificate, checking you have the right insurances and who else to inform about your business. 

Some of the comments from those who came along included:

"It's very useful"
"Really helpful"
"The talk from the guest speaker was really useful. Very enjoyable morning. Thank you"
"Fab information for those starting out"
"Lots of support and advice available. Such a brilliant service. Thank you"
"Lots of useful advice and contacts. Friendly delivery. A great free help to people thinking about starting up their own business"
"It's given my ideas of how to prepare to start my own business"
"I most enjoyed finding out about qualifications and training that would be useful and hearing Anthony's story"
"Excellent, very informative"
"Inspiring company - people optimisitc and forward thinking"
"It was and enjoyable experience getting to know some people in the same position"
"It encouraged me to do more research on the legal side"

If you would like to follow in Anthony's footsteps and find out about how to get started as a foodie entrepreneur then you can contact the Enterprise Hub for free advice and guidance via enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk or 0151 706 8113.

Enterprise Hub is part funded by European Regional Development Fund and offers a one door access point to expert business start up advice for anyone living in Liverpool City Region.

Mark Russell & Ruth Hartnoll Help us Raise The Ranks on Google

Having a website and social media page is great, but is it really any use if nobody is seeing it? Building your presence online should be high on your marketing priorities, and getting to grips with SEO can certainly help to build that presence. To set the record straight on SEO and content we decided to invite some expert marketers along to our September Business Club ‘Raise the Ranks on Google: Your Easy Step Guide to Being Visible Online’ 

We were happy to welcome Mark Russell from bmirco and Ruth Hartnoll from J&R Agency to come and deliver some SEO and content magic at the event. Mark, specialising in micro businesses has 5 years’ experience in the digital marketing field and Ruth, who is the founder and director of J&R agency, works to empower small businesses to think bigger.

We had varied audience, ranging from marketing consultants to interior designers, established businesses to people thinking about going into self-employment, and they were all ready to delve into the sometimes-complex world of SEO. First up, we welcomed Ruth to the Business Club stage!

Ruth Hartnoll

Talking about the important relationship between quality content and SEO, Ruth took us through some of the DO’S & DON’TS of producing good content to help boost Search Engine Optimisation and of course, we spoke about that top position on Google

 “I see people obsess with reaching the top search result on Google, but they have to remember that’s sometimes it’s better to be third or fourth as some people find these results more trustworthy, and you’re still on the first page”

Surprising, and definitely worth focusing on! She also spoke about the importance of blogging, and focusing on long form content that outranks short form much to the dismay of our budding writers! 

"Articles over 1800 tend to do better for SEO, always try and focus on the long form content for your blog and website"

Next up to speak, we had Mark Russell, who started his presentation by telling us to “forget the algorithm” and focus on the long-term SEO goals instead.

Mark Russell

“You have to understand what question people want solving, not just now, but what they wanted solving in the past and the future”

Helping us to break down all that SEO jargon, Mark took us through on-page, off-page and local SEO that will be key to building your SEO strategy. We then touched upon link building, a task that can be difficult to start. “Link building can be hard, this is why you have to build relationships offline so you can join together for content, help share each other’s website and offer out guest blogs”

We’ve certainly took away some amazing hints and tips from the event, and we had some great feedback from our audience:

“This was really good! I got loads of useful information on things I didn’t know already”

“My first time at a Business Club event! I’m very impressed with the amount of information and help I’ve been given. I will be coming again!”

“Very informative! I’ve got some new insights and tips that I had not heard of”

Mark & Ruth

Thank you to Ruth and Mark for giving us such SEO and content wisdom! And thank you to everyone who attended Septembers Business Club. If you'd like to contact them, you can use the links below: 

J&R Agency

Website

Twitter 

Facebook

bmicro

Website

Twitter

Facebook

If you enjoyed ‘Raise the Ranks on Google’, we have more exciting networking events throughout this year....

Join us on 14th November, 1:30-4pm for 'Unleash the Entrepreneur Within: In Conversation with Nisha Katona'

 Join us on 6th December, 4-6pm for seasonal spirit at 'Festive Networking'

Tickets all available via eventbrite or alternatively, contact us on 0151 706 8111 or hello@thewo.org.uk for more information.

“Leaving Feeling So Positive About Moving Forward!” – An Inspiring Business Club at #LoveYourBusiness!

In the spirit of Valentines Day, we had a mission to help our Business Club members love their business.

Every business owner knows what it feels like to feel bogged down in paper-work and a to-do list as long as your arm. Starting a business is not an easy decision and usually includes long hours, big decisions and asking yourself “have I made the right decision?”.

Well, we think you have. Turning your passion into a business reality is something that deserves applauding, so make sure you constantly remind yourself WHY you started in the first place.

We recruited the help of two amazing women who had a business idea and made it happen. Irene Afful and Marissa Rooney both became entrepreneurs through sheer hard work and determination, and a little guidance from The Women’s Organisation.

Irene Afful is Director of Ametrine Enterprise Solutions, Professional Coaching & Consultancy Services. If you haven’t heard Irene’s story, it’s pretty incredible and we recommend that you head to this YB news article to read about it in more depth!

A young girl growing up in Toxteth the same time as the Toxteth Riots, Irene experienced racial abuse from police officers. She later joined the force with a mission to transform its discriminatory culture and lay the foundation for a more diverse workforce. Irene did just that, eventually becoming Merseyside Police’s first black female inspector.

Now a businesswoman running her own coaching and consultancy venture, Ametrine Enterprise Solutions, Irene says “One of my ambitions was always to have my own business. I love working with people, supporting people and empowering people to achieve what they want to, seeing other people succeed gives me so much satisfaction.”

However, Irene doesn’t take nurturing her business lightly, “You can’t give 100% to your business if you don’t love yourself first. If you don’t look after yourself, you simply don’t have the energy to give to your business” – wise words from the incredible, Irene.

Irene left us with a quote from herself, “live your passion but .. make sure that you love yourself! Then you will love your business” – thanks Irene!

Next up was Marissa Rooney! Marissa has just began a bridal shop, Beautiful Brides Liverpool on Aigburth Road, specialising in fitting curvaceous women on their special day. Marissa told us all about her entrepreneurial journey, detailing the leap of faith she took into the unknown, “Fashion was the one thing I kept going back to. My nan taught me to sew and I was always creative growing up. When it came to starting a business, I kept thinking, ‘will I be taken seriously?’”.

Marissa contacted The Women’s Organisation, where she began working with our Jo, “the support network I had from The Women’s Organisation, meeting women every day at the bridal shop and at events like this, I feel like I’m in paradise. I’m surrounded by amazing women every day, and that drives my passion”.

It was clear to see Marissa’s love for her business, and that definitely left our Business Club members feeling inspired and motivated to push on.

We followed the talks with some 60-second pitches and lot’s of networking – and we mean LOTS – it was great to see so all of our attendees making contacts and arranging collaborative plans for the future. Comments from Business Club included:

“Most productive session I have ever attended! Left feeling so positive about moving forward”

“Great event! Really inspiring talks. Enjoyed meeting some great women in business”

“Brilliant speakers. Lovely to hear about other women’s struggles and stories around self-employment”

“Thank you very much for holding tonight’s networking. It was so useful to hear other people’s experiences and to have the opportunity to meet women with different businesses”

Thanks to everyone who came, and to our amazing speakers, Irene Afful and Marissa Rooney. You can find out more about Ametrine Enterprise Solutions and Beautiful Brides Liverpool.

Next up in the Business Club calendar is International Women’s Day! It’s going to be a big one – you can find our full agenda here.

To find out more about Business Club, contact us on hello@thewo.org.uk or 0151 706 8111.

Marking 21 Years of The Women's Organisation and our Collaboration with dot-art 🎈

2017 marks 21 years of The Women’s Organisation. Never one to shy away from a party, we celebrated this milestone alongside those who have helped us along the way. 

We were joined by a whole host of people, from clients to tenants, local businesses and local authorities, our Baltic neighbours and Board Members, partners to funders and anyone else that has played a part in our history and success.

The occasion also honoured our collaboration with local, independent art gallery, dot-art. Some of you may have noticed the artwork that has appeared around 54 St James Street, a flagship facility for women and business.

For the next 18 months, our lovely building will double up as an art exhibition, showcasing the work of local artists Joanne Thompson and Olga Snell. We were joined by Founder of dot-art Lucy Byrne, who championed art as an integral part of everyday life and detailed some of the huge benefits of art in the workplace.

As our guests headed around the building to view the artwork, the artists were on hand to offer an insight into the thought behind the artwork.

We also had a speech from CEO of The Women’s Organisation, the incredible Maggie O’Carroll. Anyone who’s had the pleasure of meeting our Maggie will know that she has a way with words and can capture the eyes and mind of every person she speaks to. And she certainly didn’t disappoint – on 21 years of The Women’s Organisation, Maggie said: “I really have no comment to make because I can't remember most of it". 

Our Chief of Finance, Helen Millne, made sure to grab the mic and acknowledge Maggie’s incredible leadership and dedication to achieving women’s economic equality.

Maggie may be modest – but we’re happy to shout her amazing successes on her behalf. Maggie O’Carroll is an inspirational woman that has paved the way for equality and change in her own indomitable way. For 21 years, Maggie has devoted her time to levelling the playing field for women in all aspects of life.

From day one, our mission has been to ensure that women have a voice at the highest level, in business, community, political life, and in the wider world. At 21 years, we celebrate having impacted the lives of over 50,000 women, locally, nationally and internationally. However, Maggie reminded us that whilst we celebrate our success and the positive impact we have had, we still have an incredibly long way to go.

Thanks to all those who joined us yesterday and an even bigger thank you to every person who has played even the smallest role in the history and success of The Women’s Organisation. Here’s to 21 more …

The artwork is displayed throughout the building including at Reception, Siren communal areas and meeting rooms. So, if you pay us a visit anytime soon, please remember to take a look at the artwork and let us know what you think!

You can check out the photos from the event here.

An Inspiring International Women’s Day With The W.O! 💪

Wow! Wednesday was officially brilliant! Firstly we’d just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who got involved with all that we were up to on our favourite day of the year…International Women’s Day! Here’s what we got up to…

During the day, amidst all of the excitement that we were witnessing on social media, we had our own fun in the offices and asked the team what they ‘Be Bold For’ honouring IWD17’s campaign hashtag for the year. We had some great responses including ‘I will be bold for empowering and inspiring women’ and ‘I will be bold for others who can’t’ – Check out the rest over on our Instagram!

We also joined the Women’s Equality Party on the steps of St George’s Hall to clutch a ‘big cheque’ made out for £23.7 billion to the ‘North West Economy’ – which represented the amount that could be added to the region’s economy if women were able to work the hours they wanted to, at the same rate of pay as men. Take a look at what Tabitha Morton, the Women’s Equality Party candidate for Liverpool’s Metro Mayor has to say on this issue here.

Elsewhere, some of the team were out representing the The W.O around the city. Our trainer, Alison Blackhurst, headed over to commercial law firm, DWF to speak on 2017's International Women's Day theme, be bold for change! The Women's Organisation were pleased to recently become recipients of a DWF Foundation grant to widen women's participation in enterprising activity in the city region, and this event helped to launch the programme for the coming year which will see a range of industry specific workshops offered to those thinking about starting a business.

Alison hosted a proactive discussion to think about what it means to be bold and just how exactly we can be bold. Following this, DWF made a 'bold wall' where students could make their pledges for the future, pledges included;

"I am going to try and battle my anxiety with a councillor"
"I want to use my social media to spread positivity and challenge inequality"  
"Learn how to drive a car to give me better opportunities"
"I am going to qualify as a solicitor"
"Get a teacher degree"
"Do volunteer work"
"become more confident"

Feedback included "You were so inspiring and the interactive element definitely helped!" and "it was lovely to see the girls engaging and putting up some really personal and admirable goals onto the bold action wall!" - Thank you to DWF for hosting us! 

And in the evening – it was our big event! We were looking forward to welcoming over 50 women to 54 St James Street to celebrate International Women’s Day and hear from a panel of inspiring women. The event was fantastic, the panel (Irene Afful, Helen Lord and Rebecca Jones) shared with us their stories of success and were honest and open about the difficulties that they had faced and how they overcame them. Our host; Pamela Ball was incredible as usual and it a great discussion opened up.

Bernie Cox, Caroline Mitchell from UoL, Pamela Ball and Rebecca Jones

A full room of amazing women! 

Rebecca Jones, Helen Lord and Irene Afful

We had some fantastic feedback too!

‘It’s so amazing to be surrounded by so many inspiring women. You can feel the positivity in the room. Thank you The Women’s Org!’

‘It was my first time at The Women’s Organisation and I’ve got to say the enthusiasm, confidence and vibe in the room was amazing. Great things happen when the right people get together.’

‘What an inspiring evening! Couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day, than here at The Women’s Org.’

So overall, what a success! We always do have a fantastic time on International Women’s Day, but this year felt particularly special and important! 

We’d like to say a massive thank you to our event sponsors; University of Liverpool Management School, our panel and host and everyone who joined us to celebrate – You’re all fantastic!