Inspiring women to Step Aside and Rise
You contributed to the recently-published book Step Aside and Rise. What is it about?
It comprises 21 inspirational stories from female business owners around the globe. Curated by Business Coach Andrea Callanan, the stories tell of the challenges the women have overcome to succeed. Number one in seven Amazon categories, the proceeds from Amazon sales benefit the WONDER Foundation – The Women’s Network for Development and Educational Resources – a charity focused on empowering women, girls and their communities through access to quality education so that they can transform their lives and exit poverty for good. It’s good to be part of something that has such an all-round positive impact.
Was writing your story a daunting prospect?
Yes! But it was also real privilege. I come from a corporate background. I was in high profile roles, but I never felt that I quite met my potential. When you have children you have a massive identity shift; you have all these other expectations on you. I had twins and then another baby just two years later. Doing the commute, dealing with teams and office politics and being a mum was really tough. Realising that what I was doing was unsustainable – basically the same job in fewer hours and with more responsibility on my shoulders at home – I had to rethink. Work success was how I had always valued myself, so it was about coming away from that and setting up my own business.
But the timing of setting up on your own was a bit unfortunate, wasn’t it?
I left a stable job to set up alone at the start of the pandemic! But it has worked out okay. Doing the work you enjoy and living where you want to live is so important. I am Bognor born and bred and I came back here when I had my family. I’m very proud that my children are at the
school that I went to, and I am passionate about supporting local businesses.
What does Little Olive
Social offer?
I help e-commerce businesses with digital advertising. I don’t have a typical client, but I have done a lot with parenting products – having changed thousands of nappies in my time I have recently done a campaign with Huggies nappies – and I am especially passionate about businesses that have sustainability at their core. Helping people reach their ideal customers or clients and helping them to grow and scale is really rewarding. In the corporate world I really liked building relationships and mentoring, but they were seen as soft skills. Now, these are some of my strongest skills in running a successful business.
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What are your hopes going forward?
I hope the book will resonate with women and that it will inspire them to take action. I feel very grateful to have been a contributor and now I hope to write my own book. Doing more of what you enjoy is really important.
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Where can we find more information?
Buy Step Aside and Rise on Amazon or find out more about the WONDER Foundation at wonderfoundation.org.uk and Little Olive Social at littleolivesocial.com