Join us for another Start-up Stories panel event. This time we are exploring limiting mindsets and discuss with panellists how they found the confidence to unlock their potential and make the leap into self-employment. Panellists include:

Marie Gould – Mind over Matter and author of Blisscipline

Having worked in Further Education for the past 28 years – as a college lecturer and in more recent years as a Senior Leader – I know first-hand how building your career can affect your mental health. Stress-related anxiety, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, work/life balance, limiting beliefs, and organisational lack of vision and sense of purpose truly restrict the fortunes of a vast range of people. You’re not alone. Having encountered burnout myself, I am viewing redundancy as a fantastic opportunity to relaunch Mind over Matter on a full-time basis.

Lorna Evans – Time and Tide Business Solutions,

Featured in the Business Insider and finalist in the 2022 Business Action Awards – B2B Excellence.  Lorna is passionate about people and has over 20 years of experience mentoring & business coaching high-performing teams to be their best. Two years ago she made the leap and stepped out from the 9-5 to pursue a work life more suited to her love of the ocean and nature.  As a Freelance business owner, she has successfully pivoted her business more than once, can often be found working at the beach and has learnt that it’s ok to change your mind if the current business model no longer fits.  Leaving behind old corporate misconceptions and being free to grow in business is what makes self-employment exciting.  Lorna is an ICF Coach and brings a high energy, and flexible approach to coaching & mentoring for Startups and SME businesses to reduce feelings of overwhelm and find the confidence to focus on what matters most at work and in life. 

Darren Avery – Sole Solutions

At 42 Darren had a big career change.  After working as a fabrication welder for 25 years, he retrained to become a foot healthcare practitioner and set up his own business Sole Solutions in early 2020.  Despite the challenges of starting a business during a pandemic, Darren built up a substantial client base and by July 2020 had left employment to run the business full time.   Darren took part in our Start-up Stories panel event in late 2020, when his business had been up and running for just five months.  We revisit Darren to see how his business is developing and for him to share some of his experiences about his business journey.

Shannon Keary – The Lady Gardener

Shannon is a passionate grower from Devon who discovered gardening after being given an allotment out-of-the blue for Christmas in 2018. Four years later, she has launched a successful podcast, runs workshops across North Devon inspiring young people to get growing and runs the @diaryofaladygardener Instagram account. She has an RHS Level 2 in Principles of Horticulture, a first-class business degree and nearly ten years of experience in the marketing industry. In July of 2021, she took the leap to quit her full-time job in PR and Communications to launch her own business, setting up a flower farm and working as a freelance marketer in the horticulture industry.

Booking/Joining information

Zoom webinar – details will be sent to you 2 hours before the session via email.

The session will be recorded for BIPC Devon’s archive. You are free to leave your cameras on or turn them off as you prefer. There will be a chance to ask questions during the session, which you can do via video/audio or by using the Zoom chat function.

If there is anything we can do to help you access this session more easily, please do get in touch at bipc@librariesunlimited.org.uk.