The Orange Journey…

Most of you will remember how Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz, skipped along the yellow brick road.  And you may also remember that her journey was full of pitfalls; ups and downs, fun, adventures and quite a few scary moments.

That’s pretty much how I would describe my own career and perhaps you feel the same way about yours?  Having messed up my education first time round (I was much more successful at it in my 20’s) and made quite a few bad decisions as well as some good ones along the way, combined with many sharp career turns, I thought it might be a good way of reflecting that complicated trajectory and do something that completely consumes me – wanting to support others to reach their potential and bring the best out of them, particularly if they want to start a business or begin a new career.

So first of all, by bringing together an amazingly talented and friendly bunch of men and women that I have been lucky enough to meet along that orange road, I have introduced the Championing Women free networking forum to support women through their careers. Click here to find out more.  I have been lucky to spend the last 9 years working with most amazing and committed team you could ever meet.  It’s an astonishing story of grit and determination to grow community support in troubled economic times and whilst thousands of community projects are shutting down, Groop are building them back up.  We were able to step up and work with Local Authorities during the pandemic by providing the technology to track and communicate the food and prescription drops that volunteers and staff delivered – that was quite a shift from our software’s focus.

And why orange? Well, why not! Sometimes decisions should not be agonised over. This was one of them.

Remember: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Sally

‘Sally started helping me when I had just opened my business a few years ago. I was young and had never done anything like it before but Sally put me at ease and gave me the confidence to purse Nicola Davis Crafts further.
Not only was Sally a brilliant mentor who was always brimming with fresh ideas for me: whether it be venues to sell at, ideas for new pieces, or ways to expand my business, but she became a close friend who I could always turn to if I needed any advice: business or personal.
Thank you Sally!’