Starting 'Caz the Painter' Was Her Way to Make Her Mark in "A Man's World" - Knowsley's Caz's Story

“They let me know it was a man’s world” said 24 year old Prescot resident Caz Jackson of her experiences of working on building developments.

Having trained to level 2 in painting and decorating, Caz found even getting a chance to interview for available work was tricky. “I felt like because I was a woman it was hard to even get my foot in the door. When I would call up about the work they would hear a girl’s voice on the end of the phone and would laugh.”

Even when Caz was given a chance of work, she felt real discrimination from her male counterparts. She said:

“They would really put me down and criticise me, which had a real impact on my confidence. I was even paid less than the men on site. They couldn’t believe a woman was capable of doing hands on work. Looking back now I remember that in reality when I looked at my paint work it was obvious real care had been taken, and theirs the gloss was just everywhere.  I took more pride in the job and it showed.”

Caz was then given redundancy from the firm where she had watched her confidence diminish:

“When I was made redundant it was the best thing that could have happened.  It felt like a golden key out of there and I knew I could do this by myself, set up my own painting and decorating firm to offer the good service I knew I had given but had never been credited for.”

Caz returned to college to complete extra training to Level 3 which further developed her skills in wallpapering and additional specialist techniques such as using gold leaf, coving installation, spray painting, wood graining and stencilling. 

She knew she wanted to set up a small business, but just needed some help to get things off the ground.  It was then Caz found that she could receive free support and advice from local women’s enterprise support agency ‘The Women’s Organisation’, so joined their Accelerating Women's Enterprise programme which is part funded by European Regional Development Fund.

She reflected “I came to The Women’s Organisation, went on some of their business workshops and was given a business adviser to help me.  They taught me where to look and what to do in order to get my business going.  The guidance they gave, the confidence building and just generally pointing me in the right direction was fantastic.  Having dealt with the negative comments before I needed to rebuild my confidence, learn to get organised and take responsibility for myself, and I feel like I have achieved that.  Reading back over my business plan I sounded so superior! That in itself was a real confidence boost and I finally realised I wasn’t the person those negative people had made me out to be.”

But Caz hadn’t always dreamed of a life of decorating. “When I was younger I really wanted to be an actor! But when I did acting I found that I gravitated towards painting the sets, and so I think from there I just really fell into this trade which is one always in demand, which I feel was a lucky break.  I’d love to work on sets professionally now, and who knows, maybe that will be the next stage of my business down the line.”

Confidence is no longer an issue for Caz who is gaining more by the day as she watches her business grow.

“At first when I was doing jobs for people I’d be saying ‘ring me if there are any problems’ and I would find instead I was being rung by people who wanted more work doing. That was a great boost” said Caz.

‘Caz the Painter’ is your local female decorator.  Professional, friendly service at your doorstep. In her words – “Caz the Painter do exactly what it says on the tin!”

For the first time in her life Caz is finding being a woman is a real advantage.

“I think now I am working for myself I can see to my customers being a woman makes me more trust worthy in their eyes.  The idea of hiring me is more inviting because they know I will be house trained! It’s a great feeling. But the best thing about working for yourself is having that freedom to do what you want and when you want. To choose which work you want to take on. I look after my nan a lot, so I can manage jobs around popping in to see her.”

To find out more about the services Caz can offer you can stop by and ‘like’ her facebook page www.facebook.com/CazthePainter88

And if like Caz you would like support to build your confidence and follow your dream of running your own business, why not get in touch with The Women’s Organisation today on 0151 706 8111 or email hello@thewo.org.uk

Photograph by ST84Photogrpahy

The Women's Organisation Awarded Health at Work 'Workplace Wellbeing' Charter Mark

We are pleased to announce that The Women’s Organisation has been awarded the Health at Work Workplace Wellbeing charter mark.  This is awarded to employers who can demonstrate their commitment to the health and wellbeing of their employees.

The framework has 3 key elements, Leadership, Culture & Communication.  For a number of weeks we have been working with our assessor from Health at Work to compile a portfolio of evidence to assess the organisation against the following elements:

•             Leadership

•             Attendance Management

•             Health & Safety

•             Mental health & Wellbeing

•             Smoking & Tobacco – related ill- health

•             Physical Activity

•             Healthy Eating

•             Alcohol & Substance Misuse    

Operations Manager Lynn Kelly said:
"We are so pleased to have completed this award successfully and show that our place of work is one to be proud of.  We value our employees greatly and this award demonstrates our commitment to their health and wellbeing."

Making Moves on the Property Market: Tyrer & Hart Set up in Liverpool

For Liverpool residents Heather Tyrer and Antonia Hart Williams going into partnership had been something they had talked about for many years, so finally launching their business ‘Tyrer & Hart Property Specialists’ in 2012 was a dream realised!

They told The Women’s Organisation “We always felt our skills were very complimentary, having sufficient experience in the relevant sectors meant that opening our own business was the logical next step.”

At the time when Antonia and Heather contacted The Women’s Organisation for support they were not working, allowing them to focus fully on their business development. They were sensible in utilising lots of support in getting started to ensure their business would be an instant success.

“We sought advice from as many people as possible right from the start. The Women’s Organisation were very useful in helping us structure the business plan and helping us plan a strategy for rapid business growth. If we could advise other women out there in a similar situation to us we would tell them not to be shy of utilising outside expertise.  No one can be an expert in everything and your attention should be given to the business you know and excel in.”

Heather and Antonia didn’t ever expect setting up a new business to be easy, but even they couldn’t have predicted how well they overcame possible obstacles along the way.

“The barrier we faced in starting our business was lack of set up funds, but we have been lucky enough to grow the company organically without taking on any company debt through cash flow alone! We did receive £200 from The Women’s Organisation which helped towards smaller costs, but the fact that we have generated our own finances through hard work we believe has strengthened the business massively.”

The women credit their understanding partners as a great support:

“Starting a business takes commitment and it can mean working long hours and late nights. Our other halves have to be very supportive, and we are really grateful of that.”

Both partners threw their previous expertise into the business: Heather who’s from a marketing background and has worked within the financial and construction sectors, and Antonia who has always worked with property both as a Landlord, in lettings management and Estate Agency.  Their wealth of experience teamed with hard work has meant Tyrer & Hart Property Specialists have proven themselves as movers and shakers in their industry since starting out.

They said “The business is going from strength to strength primarily growing from word of mouth. Although we do plan to strengthen our marketing and brand awareness over the coming months, we have been lucky to not have to worry so much about this yet. We both feel tremendously proud of what we have achieved so far, and buoyed with enthusiasm for the future of the business.”

Both women are loving being their own boss telling us “The best thing about running the business is the autonomy it allows, and the sense of achievement in creating something larger than oneself. We plan to continue to build the business at an increasing pace, with a greater budget set aside to raise brand awareness.”

Tyrer & Hart Property Specialists are a lettings, and estate agency, who also offer a property finding service for investors. They pride themselves in being a one stop shop for all property needs including mortgages, conveyancing, insurance, maintenance and even removals. For more information on the services they offer you can contact them on 0151 270 2412 or visit www.tyrerandhart.com

If you are a woman in Liverpool considering setting up a business, then take Antonia and Heather’s advice and utlise the free support available through The Women’s Organisation by contacting 0151-706-8111 or info@thewo.org.uk

Liverpool's Sue Turned Her Idea into a Job for Her & Six Others!

Have you ever worked somewhere that made you think “I could run this company better”? For Liverpool resident Sue Crawford this was the start of her journey to setting up her own business.
Sue told us “I was doing all the work and having to share the benefits with other people. I knew I could do it better and earn more for myself if I was in charge.”

Having stepped back from previous role to give her chance to look at her options and start again Sue needed to make some decisions quickly. The opportunity was there to pick up local cleaning contracts where she already had connections, but Sue needed advice before taking the leap. She found out she could get some free advice and support from local enterprise support agency The Women’s Organisation, so gave them a call.

“I had an idea and people were saying to me ‘why don’t you just do it’, but I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision, or if I should look at other options” said Sue. “I remember one of the workshops at The Women’s Organisation, something that was said had everyone sat there thinking “Oh gosh that is me”. It was when we started chatting about women who have so much going on that they put off things they want to do until tomorrow. Coming to the workshop gave me courage to go out on my own.”

Sue was linked with a business adviser to put together a business plan to help her carefully weigh up her idea. She also turned to her family for support.

“My daughter has done a foundation A-level in art so she has done a logo for me and the other daughter has got it on the computer for me. I wanted my family to be involved so it’s great they were willing to help. They laugh though, of all the jobs that I’ve had they find it funny that I chose to run a cleaning business. They think I am fanatical about cleaning.”

In starting her business Sue needed to take on a full team to ensure she could meet the demands of the contracts she was negotiating so worked quickly to secure six part time staff and is taking on two more this year. This took a lot of courage, Sue knew where her strengths and weaknesses lay.
“My background is telesales, so that side of the business, marketing, admin and wages I wasn’t worried about. I had to learn quickly about the operations of a business and the financial side managing cash flow was new.”

Sue is loving being her own boss. “The best thing about running my business is having full control. I just want to enjoy working and doing a good job. It’s all about giving good customer service and getting customer satisfaction. If I can achieve that it’s the icing on the cake. It’s hard in this day and age to find a full time job, let alone one that gives you job satisfaction. I have a good bunch of cleaners, and it’s great to have them work for my company. I feel pretty good about how things are going so far. I haven’t really had proper time to reflect. From my point of view my background is phoning to go out and get another contract. As good as the contracts are I already have, I look forward to going out and prospecting again.”

Sue’s business Aquarius Facilities Solutions Ltd. offers commercial cleaning services. To find out more about her business you can visit www.aquariusfs.com or contact Sue via sales@aquariusfs.com.
If you would like to take advantage of the free advice and support from The Women’s Organisation then contact 0151 706 8111 or email info@thewo.org.uk

Sue’s advice: “If you are out there thinking about doing what I have done and set up a business I would say go to The Women’s Organisation, go on the workshops. It’s invaluable! When you are on your own it’s quite frightening. Having someone on your side, and meeting the other women is just great.”

Encouraging Community Arts Engagement is a Family Affair for Kathryn & Sarah

Running an art focussed business together had been a lifelong dream for Sefton residents Kathryn Wilson and Sarah McLaughlin.

They said “Being closely related, Aunty and Niece, we both have a long running passion for the arts and have dreamt about running this business together since the age of about ten! We felt there was a need for a service run by professional artists, which both the community and organisations can access. We wanted to provide preventative, educational and therapeutic services which would be available to vulnerable adults, children and young people.”

Kathryn is a practicing artist, last year she project managed painting a 48x16m high mural in Waterloo Marina near the Antony Gormley statues. She also gained a teaching qualification earlier this year, furthering her training expertise. More recently, Sarah had been voluntarily fundraising for a school in India and before becoming a full time mum in 2010 she was a support worker to young runaways, children in care and families in need of positive intervention.

Both have experience working in a rehabilitation centre in Liverpool as Art and craft tutors, in a one to one environment with ex addicts/offenders. Between them they realised they had the experience of both art and working with vulnerable communities in order to offer a top quality service that could make a difference. Having established their idea they knew they needed some help to turn an idea into a trading business.

“We talked at length with each other and our families then contacted The Women's Organisation and enrolled on a two day course,” they said. “This then led to being assigned a personal business advisor when we were ready. We felt extremely positive after the course and especially after each personal advisor session, as we were given excellent advice each time and set achievable goals, which we completed, moving the reality of owning our own company nearer each time.”

Besides both needing to juggle their responsibilities as a mum alongside their new business, they had to think their idea through carefully and make sure they had all bases covered. Cashflow and start-up finances were a big consideration: “We had very little finance to start-up, and not had much experience writing funding bids before. We are always learning and have been helped by the £200 start-up grant from The Women's Organisation, which has covered the cost of our CRB's and towards initial advertising. The adviser we were linked with at The Women’s Organisation specialises in Social Enterprises and gave us excellent guidance, which was tailored to what we wanted to achieve as a company.”
So far Kathryn and Sarah are enjoying being their own boss “We have more freedom and choice and enjoy the empowerment of being able to innovate and inspire future generations and families to communicate through positive creativity.”

Creative Balance CIC run educational, therapeutic and fun art workshops for all ages and abilities. Through creative workshops, individual support and events, their aim is to boost confidence, self-esteem and develop basic life skills. Creative Balance tailor make packages to suit individual needs and abilities and aim to make a positive difference through creative expression.

Things are going really well so far for the enterprising pair. “We are making a great start to our enterprise. The ‘Art Club’, for 3-12 year olds, has now been running for a month. The children don’t want to leave each week and the parents are signing up for more sessions. We have one primary school signed up to our ‘One to one’ support service, working with Looked After Care children. Also a local wrap around care provider in Merseyside contacted us after seeing us in a local newspaper to run workshops on their premises. We finished our first year of business on a very positive note with a well-attended 3hr Christmas workshop at Jets centre Waterloo. This year we are aiming to hold more workshops in the school holidays, anyone interested can keep an eye on our website for updates.”

Kathryn and Sarah are positive about their achievements so far and looking forward to seeing how this year will take them further forward. “We are optimistic the contacts and clients will increase as our reputation becomes more established. We feel very proud and positive in the steps that we have made in starting up the business, and are enjoying the process. We aim to expand on our achievements so far and look to establishing a bright future for service users of Creative Balance and ourselves!”

To find out more about the services on offer contact Kathryn and Sarah at email@creativebalance.info or visit their website www.creativebalance.info
And if like these inspirational women you have a burning ambition you would like help to realise then contact The Women’s Organisation for FREE advice and support on 0151 706 8111 or info@thewo.org.uk

Victoria is Pleased with the Impact! of Going Self-Employed

Although no one in her family had walked the path of self-employment before, something inside Liverpool resident Victoria Symes told her this was an adventure she needed to try.

She said “I wanted to set up my own business as I am passionate about making a difference to society and felt I had a lot to offer. I also wanted the freedom to develop my own projects, so once the idea was there I knew I had to take it forward.”

Before establishing Impact! Fundraising Victoria worked in the fundraising and development teams of a number of organisations including the University of Liverpool, the British Film Institute and the Science Museum, London. She had always been an active volunteer in the charity sector including being a committee member for the Liverpool City Rotary Club, and when her previous work came to an end it was the perfect time for her to pull together all of her experience to launch her new venture.
Victoria heard that local women’s enterprise support agency The Women’s Organisation could offer support to women in Liverpool who were looking to set up a business, and decided to approach the organisation for some support.

“Initially I found the idea of setting up my own business really daunting” said Victoria. “I was lucky in that a lead for my first work came in through recommendations, but my next step was to develop a business plan and marketing strategy to help me establish my business. Although I am used to advising organisations on making the most of what they have I struggled to find the confidence to promote myself and really didn't know where to start! I think a lot of women struggle with this. The Women's Organisation were amazing - everything from developing a personal business plan to social media tips to encouragement, it was all a huge help.”

Victoria has now launched her business Impact! Fundraising which provides fundraising consultancy to charities, Higher Education and the arts sector. She can also help organisations develop strategic plans and put together funding bids to maximise their income from philanthropy, charitable trusts, companies and public sector funders. For start-up companies Impact! Fundraising offer help securing funding from the public and charitable sector.

Speaking of her progress so far Victoria said “I've been overwhelmed with the response so far and receive regular enquiries from new potential clients which has been really exciting. I don't want to take this for granted though so I'm continuing to work hard at developing the business. I love the independence of working for myself, the chance to create something successful and of course the opportunity to work with so many inspiring clients.”

If you are interested in finding out how Impact! Fundraising can support you then contact Victoria on victoria@impactfundraising.co.uk or visit www.impactfundraising.co.uk. You can also link up with Victoria on Twitter by following @victoria_impact.

“If one of my friends came to me now and said they were thinking of going self-employed, I would advise them to be confident in what they know and are passionate about, and to draw on the experiences of the people they know and organisations like The Women's Organisation for everything else!” said Victoria.

If you are a woman with a business idea why not take her advice and contact The Women’s Organisation for support on 0151 706 8111 or info@thewo.org.uk

The Womens' Organisation's WICED Building Wins Mayor's Award

The Women's Organisation's hard work paid off this month as we were once again confirmed to be an award winning organisation. This time it was the organisation's new £5.3m Women's International Centre for Economic Development (WICED) that prompted recognition.

The winners of the very first Merseyside Social Enterprise Awards were honoured at a ceremony held at Liverpool Town Hall, and The Women's Organisation were delighted to be nominated alongside other Merseyside based Social Enterprises nominated in 11 categories to recognise their contribution to improving the lives of local residents.

WICED was nominated for The Mayor's Innovation Award sponsored by Liverpool City Council. When The Women's Organisation were announced as the winners for their innovative building, Chair of the board Pat Shea Halson and Chief Finance and Operating Officer Helen Millne who went forward to collect the award couldn't contain their delight. When Councillor Nick Small (pictured above with Pat and Helen) presented the award to The Women's Organisation the support from the other organisations in the room was overwhelming; Helen and Pat were deeply touched by the response.

The development came about after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and campaigning. WICED is the largest dedicated centre for women's economic development in the UK. It boasts business incubation units for women led businesses, a sleek and modern conferencing and meeting centre, virtual office and hot desking facilities, as well as housing the women's enterprise services offered by the organistion. The project also included the development of an international research hub drawing on the expertise of leading experts on women's economic development from across the globe. The development was completed in January 2011 and has since welcomed thousands of budding female entrepreneurs.

To read more about the background of the development please visit our website.

If you might be interested in hiring our meeting rooms or holding a conference here please contact our team on venue@thewo.org.uk or 0151 706 8100.