Female business owners and the power of friendship

I have just returned from Ireland with friends walking near Dundrum. On my return, I started to reflect on all the people who have helped and supported me in setting up a business. It was also a similar time to my form group in Year 11 leaving the school and starting their exam in their final assembly I reflected on how far they had come in the last four years with me as a form tutor and also my school, university and childhood friends and how I have been supported throughout my career. I was initially inspired to set up a small business by watching the hard work put in by two friends Mimi and Emily. Mimi is a nurse and an artist and works day in and day out both in hospitals and then comes home and releases her creativity through her art (www.mimi-dickson.com). Mimi has inspired many small business starters as she started in lockdown on request for one of her pieces of art and has grown and grown ever since. Emily started up a fabric company and showed me the importance of networking and social media as well as being brave when starting up (www.pomily.co.uk). Emily works from home and uses her background in interior design to help her customer service. One of my oldest childhood friends Sasha took a risk in her stable job and decided to become an artist full-time and follow her dreams. Sasha showed me the satisfaction of building a business, the importance of branding, how she does her invoicing, all the events she attends and the power of Instagram and web design (www.sashacompton.com). I was very fortunate that Sasha took the time on a holiday in Wales to help me set up my website and talk me through how I wanted my brand to look as well as how to lay out my website with her expertise. I realised as a teacher very quickly these were skills I didn't have but starting up nor did I have the budget to spend thousands of pounds on it. My cousins have always been of huge importance to me and were behind me every step of the way. Laura sent me business templates and Helena read over my website with a detailed eye as an editor and gave me top tips. Aadit, a friend who worked in finances before deciding to drop everything and start a healthy Indian food company (www.atcha.co.uk) is constantly replying to my questions no matter how small and has grown his business over the years and always speaks about the joy of starting on his own gave him as well as everything he has learnt. The same week I came back from Ireland I went to a celebration of three sisters in business called Loan the Look (www.loanthelook.com). My friend Bea works in operations at Dash but spends evenings looking at the accounts and has given me endless advice on how to connect with parents. Loan the look promotes sustainable fashion and the three sisters have inspired me in working together and the importance of family.