Our pioneering Head of Women’s Enterprise has been shortlisted for the First Women Awards in the public service category. The First Women Awards recognize women who are trailblazers and pioneers in business and women whose achievements and individual actions have helped and are helping to remove barriers and open up opportunities for others to follow.
It is certainly an honour to be recognised along with some of the most pioneering women in British business and public life today (including Freesat managing director, Emma Scott, the “first woman of free TV, Chief Constable and Julie Spence, president of the Association for Women in policing).
GWIIN (Global Women Inventor and Innovators Network) recognises the good work that organisations are doing for the benefit of many women inventors and innovators. As a result, this year they are selecting a few organisations and presenting them with the GWIIN Organisation ‘Special Recognition’ Award. Make Your Mark will receive one of these along with 10 other companies from all over the globe! MYM receives this award for the invaluable support and assistance that we provide many exceptionally creative and innovative women.
A pat on the back for the Make Your Mark Campaign team & Spark: The National Women’s Enterprise Ambassador Network!!!
The Independent on Sunday published a ‘Happy List’ this weekend - encompassing the top 100 people who who make Britain a better and a happier place to live.
There is a diverse list of people on there, including I might add, two very odd entries; Thomas the Tank Engine and Simba (a dog). They are clearly not PEOPLE which I thought was the point of the list.
Anyway withholding those errors there are some good people on the list including entrepreneurs Sophi from Divine Chocolate, Sam Roddick of Coco de Mer and Andrew Thompson of Sign Now. And not forgetting my own personal hero David Attenborough (I love ‘im I do).
I’m well chuffed today! Intrigued? I’ll tell you why…
It started off as a day like most others. I woke up, used snooze five times, fell back to sleep, got up with 15 mins to get ready for work, ran down to the station… got into work and turned on my computer.
And guess what I found? The email of all emails, a golden nugget in a sea of ’spam’, what every entrepreneur wants to hear, a lovely webby delight… I’ve been named as an ‘up and coming young entrepreneur’ on the 98point2 website (thanks guys!).
At Make Your Mark, we’re very interested in what exactly spurs people on to become entrepreneurs. Is it nature or nurture? Are there certain qualities that all or almost all entrepreneurs have in common? And how might these typical features have changed? As this article suggests, some of the assumptions people might have made 25 years ago about the features of a ‘traditional’ entrepreneur-type figure look totally outdated now. (Not that I’m suggesting that ‘typical’ entrepreneurial 35 year old, male, only-child engineering graduates whose fathers owned hardware shops aren’t relevant. If you are reading this and you are an entrepreneurial 35 year old, male, only-child engineering graduate whose father owned a hardware shop: keep up the good work!)
Recently I was hugely honoured to have fronted the ‘IDEAS MASH UP’ competition for MAKE YOUR MARK…
The clever team at MAKE YOUR MARK took one of the success tips contained in my latest book ‘IDEAS MAN’ and turned it into a thrilling contest where students from around Britain had to combine two (normally separate) ideas together to create a brand new, and very exciting, business concept. The prize for the winning entry was a whopping £2,000, more than enough to get most ideas to the next stage so that they can attract a partner or the investment to launch to market.
At the weekend I was asked to participate at The Enterprise Show, Leeds, which was an event hosted by Business Link as a ‘one stop shop’ for people with a business idea, to attend and get all the information they need to get their business off the ground.
As a Make Your Mark Ambassador, I’m often asked to do things like this. This is me at the start of the day:
Video 1 at the shows
During the course of the day I was so busy speaking to the people who stopped by my stand, that I completely forgot to do any video blogging, so this is me ’rounding up’ at the end!
Last night I popped along to the first ever enterprise master class at the National Enterprise Academy, a skills academy established by Peter Jones and backed by the government. We heard a great talk from Make Your Mark Ambassador David Hathiramani from A Suit That Fits.com. It was really inspiring stuff, and I came away from the event totally convinced that, as David said, “there is no better time to ask your parents for a loan” and start grabbing opportunities in enterprise. Whether I can convince my parents is another matter.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is proud to support the launch of Diaspora, the non-profit music foundation that will aim to ensure equality in music exists for everyone at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green on Tuesday 31st March 2009.
Chaired by UKTI’s International Business Specialist for the Music Industry and Diaspora ‘fellow’ Phil Patterson, the event will involve a panel of representatives from music associations and trade bodies across London.
This panel has been selected from some of London’s best musical minds in response to the needs of an audience including upcoming artists, record labels and music organisations who have the potential to become leaders within the music industry.
Well, as for all the negative press and comments about recessions and credit crunches, at the Women in Business event attended by fourteen entrepreneurs and MP, Yvette Cooper in Castleford today there wasn’t a single moan or groan in sight, just positive comments and the most tremendous inspirational stories.
Each person around the table had a different tale to tell and what made it more interesting was that they were so varied and in some cases sparked off a round of giggles – from recession busting ‘oldies’ to decisions between marrying a rich man or getting a job – the job won!
A report on the World Entrepreneur Society’s 2009 Summit, from Make Your Mark Ambassador Vernon Kerswell.
I had the privilege to attend this event as a Make your Mark Ambassador. Dedicated to entrepreneurs, it was organised by the World Entrepreneur Society, held at the prestigious Goodenough College, London. The theme… “What keeps you awake at night?”
This event, now in its second year, was organised to bring together great minds to share, learn and celebrate enterprise. It was largely attended by entrepreneurs who had made it in their business. Executives rolling up for a prompt 9am start armed with their Blackberries and iPhones in hand, twittering as they went. It was also well attended by the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, some of whom had fledgling businesses and others who had just begun their journey. With a ticket price of £120 (£55 for students) it made this event even more exclusive, and for those just starting out, even in a recession, it was a good investment for those wanting to meet like minded people.
This week I popped along to see Make Your Mark in the Mall finalist Benjamin Allen. Benjamin, who, along with his dad, run Raphael. With two shops already established and running in Norwich and Lowestoft, Benjamin saw the Make Your Mark in the Mall competition as a way of testing the water for some new products.
Raphael currently source their products, which include jewellery and sculptures from Indonesia - visiting the country two or three times a year and sourcing producs from over 70 familes. Benjamin pointed out that by doing this, these families were given guaranteed regular work and paid for their work fairly.
You know what we need more of? Great people doing great things.
People growing a global economy through knowledge sharing, fair trade initiatives and investment in community enterprises abroad.
People boosting our own economy through innovation and smart use of technology, creating local jobs, solving everyday problems and growing their business at an exponential rate.
Social entrepreneurs helping us to care for an improve our environment, and giving communities new opportunities whether they’re on farms or in film studios.
Inspiring young people using their passion for music, cinema and technology to make an impact no matter their age.
It’s 9:30 in the morning in Kansas city and I am sitting between Virginia from Argentina and Jolia from Singapore. This is the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, generously hosted by our Global Entrepreneurship Week co-founders, The Kauffman Foundation.
Hosts of last November’s Global Entrepreneurship Week joined together from far and further away, battling the elements to make it to this truly global gathering. The storms have followed us from Chicago to Kansas City but the wind and the rain have been no match for the thunder and lightening unleashed by the 60 nations united in this room - 25,000 events and over 3 million participants during one Week - a stunning achievement by any standard, but when it comes to inspiration (for me)- it’s all in the detail.
I am a Make Your Mark Ambassador and I was invited to speak to the fashion students yesterday at the Leeds College of Art!
Being a women in business, I am often called upon to deliver talks to schools when they have an Enterprise programme or to take part in a Business Studies class. The fashion students wanted to hear about my career path from when I was at fashion college (I went to the London College of Fashion) through my PR career and ending up running my own business. They are doing a Case Study on my business to see how my creative background has influenced my current role and how creativity plays a part in commercial business.
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