Network for Enterprising Women - News

March Event

To Celebrate International Women’s Day
Network for Enterprising Women, Tyrone & Fermanagh
Cordially invites you to

“Looking Good, Feeling Great”

with Margaret Mc Crossan, Nutrimetics Naturally
on Tuesday 8th March @ 7pm
Members Free  Non Members - £5 

Venue:-
Omagh Enterprise Company
Great Northern Road
Omagh
Co. Tyrone
BT78 5LU

Registration is required, please book your place now to avoid disappointment – contact ciara@halo-marketing.com or 07736 518137
 

Welcome!

We at NEW would like to welcome 2 new members to the Network:

Rose Tierney of  Tierney Tax Consultancy - Monaghan and Sherrie
Scott of Creative Energy Works - Rossnowlagh

February Event - An evening of nurturing and empowering women

in February, we held an evening of nurturing and empowering women at Dungannon Enterprise centre. A massive thank you to our facilitator on the night, Sharon Jackson of Universal Mother. The evening proved to be interesting, fun but most of all relaxing, and the perfect opportunity to open our minds! Again, feedback was excellent. Thanks also to Dungannon Enterprise centre for hosting the event for us.

 

January Event - Yoga Laughter

Focusing on the lighter side of things, we held two networking events with a difference in January and February. We kicked off in January with a yoga laughter evening, which was the perfect tonic to beat the January blues. Facilitated by Jackey Ingram of Hollybank Centre of Natural Healing, and hosted at Happy Wrappers Gift Shop and Coffee Nook in Donaghmore on a cold and frosty January night, a bunch of ladies laughed the night away...sounds like something out of a movie!! We had a great turnout on the evening of both members and guests in a very informal gathering and the feedback from the event was very good indeed. As you can see from the photos below we all had a great laugh!!

 

New for 2011

We will be trialling a new approach to our events schedule in the New Year with a series of coffee clubs taking place either mornings/afternoons/evenings throughout Tyrone & Fermanagh – Kicking off in January.

January – Coffee Club - Start 2011 with our new coffee club and Yoga Laughter – Venue – Happy Wrappers Gift Shop & Coffee Nook - Donaghmore, @ 7.30pm. Further details to follow after the Christmas break.

February 8th – A Evening of Nurturing & Empowering Women by Universal Mother – Dungannon Enterprise Centre (details to follow)

March 8th – “Dressing for Success” – Omagh Enterprise Centre (details to follow)

‘Reach for the stars’ says Dragon’s Den, Sarah Newman.

 A number of ladies from our network were amongst almost 100 women from across Northern Ireland, who met recently in Lisburn at the joint BWNNI, of which NEW is part of.
The event, which coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week, featured successful entrepreneur Sarah Newman of RTE’s Dragon’s Den. She offered new inspiration about how to maximise business potential, and spoke about strategies and ideas to help grow business in today’s difficult climate.
Her advice included, “Bring others into your team who have the skills you don’t have and seek others to advise you on the weaker areas of your business. Networking is the perfect way to meet those people you need who have the complimentary skills and is an ideal mechanism for business growth.” Sarah inspired the audience with her own story and added, “Reach for the stars, as there is one with your name on it.”

From left: Janice Gibson, Teresa O’Loughlin, Shauna McCarney, Ciara Callan, Sarah Newman, Stephanie Benson, Ruth Daly & Brenda O’Hare

Urgent Announcement

We regrettably announce that the NEW Christmas Dinner has been postponed to a later date due to the current adverse weather conditions.  We will reschedule shortly so please watch this space for the new details.

December Event – NEW Xmas Dinner

Join us for a light hearted evening to celebrate Christmas.

A chance for all us busy ladies to take some time out and relax before the Christmas rush with a spot of YOGA LAUGHTER!

Venue: Quinns Corner, 175 Ballygawley Rd, Dungannon

Date: Wednesday 1st December, 2010

Time : 7pm for 7.30pm

Cost:  Four Course Christmas Dinner - £20/Members & £25/Non Members

Please book your place with Ciara Callan(details below) by 26th November

Ciara Callan(NEW CLO)
ciara@halo-marketing.com
07736 518137

A message from our newly elected Chair of NEW - Shelly McCaughey

 

Dear Member
It is with great honour that I write this piece as the incoming Chair of our Network. Firstly I would like to thank our outgoing Chair, Elaine Wylie, for her never ending hard work and commitment to the network especially through our period of uncertainty over funding last year. She’s a hard act to live up to!!! Thanks again Elaine.

For those of you who don’t know me, here is a brief account of my background, business and involvement of the network. Starting in the banking industry almost twenty years ago straight from school, I later moved to private business and continued to work in the financial departments of various enterprises also gaining knowledge and experience along the way on compliance and audit especially within ISO9001 remit. My last employer encouraged personal development so I decided to embark on my BSc in Business Studies which I thankfully managed to achieve a First Class Honours in – better late than never!!

Once I had completed this, things started to change in the business I was working and an opportunity came up for early retirement so I took the plunge into the life of self employment – I figured I would always regret not trying something for myself. My skill set meant the obvious role for me was as a Virtual Assistant specialising in bookkeeping and payroll so I could offer support in whatever way was necessary to the many small businesses in the locality, so in 2007 Fultus was born. It was early on during this period that I was talking to a fellow network member on another subject that she mentioned the Network for Enterprising Women which I joined right away. Since then I’ve been continuing Fultus along with starting a second business – I know, a glutton for punishment!! A business model was shown to me towards the end of 2008 which I thought had mileage so I though why not! And from there, Happy Wrappers was created. Originally, it was to be solely personalised chocolate bars – now you see why I went for it!! – but very quickly I was asked for the bars to be made into gifts and gift hampers so now we have a fully functioning ecommerce site where people can buy our full range of chocolate bars, gifts and gift hampers. As this was very new to me as I’d never done retail before, as a business it’s been much more difficult than Fultus but as enjoyable and the support of the network has been invaluable during this time. The focused networking sessions which NEW run meant I have been able to pick up tips on specific subjects and the friendships I have built up mean I always have someone to bounce ideas off and I would encourage each and every member to do the same – take the benefit of your membership by attending the events and you never know what you may get from it.

Since joining the network, I’ve tried to get to as many events as possible and decided in 2008 that I could offer something to the committee. Last year, I took on the role of treasurer which was hard work but very enjoyable and now this year, I’m representing you all as your Chair. At the AGM we had lots of suggestions from the members of ways to go forward and we’re always open to ideas on how we can improve to suit our members better. We hope to continue this year pretty much in the same vein as last year with a few tweaks here and there with the events continuing to be focused to specific topics and then plenty of time to network before and after.

I look forward to supporting you all in my role – I’m always at the end of a phone or an email so please don’t hesitate to give me a shout at any time. And hopefully I’ll see you all at some event throughout the year.

Shelly McCaughey
Chair - Network for Enterprising Women.

Have you the aspiration to Grow? Compete? Succeed?

iFactory is a complete, bespoke innovation support programme aimed at small businesses in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. The project is part-financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG Iva Cross Border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
Providing up to 18 months of support the programme provides a complete business and innovation assessment and tailored technical mentoring, innovation coaching and R&D assistance to growing businesses.Places are limited. So hurry, apply now for your chance to innovate, grow and succeed in today’s marketplace.
Ifactory are also currently recruiting mentors, please see website for further details
For further information contact:
NORIBIC
T: +44 (0) 28 7126 4242 E: info@noribic.com

October Event - AGM

Our AGM was held on 19th October in the Valley Hotel. We had a very positive meeting with some new ideas for the future. As a committee we will be working very hard to drive the network forward into 2011 and beyond, and will keep you posted with developments in the coming months. The AGM slide presentation has been attached to this email for your information.

We did not receive any new committee member nominations on the night, but the door is always open if you would like to become involved at Committee level for the network, please contact Ciara Callan if interested.

The Committee roles for 2010-11 were decided on the night:

• Chair – Shelly Mc Caughey
• Treasurer – Brenda O’Hare
• Press Officer – Teresa O’Loughlin
• IT Officer – Amanda Boyd
• Michelle Clarke – Committee Member
• Mary Gervin – Committee Member
• Margaret Mc Crossan = Committee Member
• Ciara Callan – CLO including role of Secretary

 

Be brave, be bold and meet a "Dragon!"

On Thursday 18th November BWN NI are delighted to host a eveing of Networking, Inspiration and Dinner with Sarah Newman from RTE's 'Dragon's Den as the keynote speaker for the evening. Sarah is an excellent and engaging motivational speaker and a highly successful entrepreneur. She established needahotel.com many years ago which she sold in 2006 leading to her involvement in Dragon's Den. She's a private investor now looking for new business ventures and mentoring opportunities.

Sarah will be speaking about how to maximise your potential, find strategies and ideas to help grow your business in today's difficult business climate.


BWN NI are delighted to present Sarah Newman from RTE's 'Dragon's Den. Sarah is an excellent and engaging motivational speaker and a highly successful entrepreneur. She established needahotel.com many years ago which she sold in 2006 leading to her involvement in Dragon's Den. She's a private investor now looking for new business ventures and mentoring opportunities.

Sarah will be speaking about how to maximise your potential, find strategies and ideas to help grow your business in today's difficult business climate.

Network... Make new business connections

Learn... ideas to help grow your business

Be inspired... By Sarah's own story of building a successful business

Delegate Fee
Members: £25 / Non Members: £35 (includes dinner)
To book online please visit www.bwnni.com/events.html or call Margaret on 028 3083 7575 for further information.

 

September Event

 A fabulous day was had by all at our NEW flagship event which was held on 30th September in the Westville Hotel. Almost 100 guests attended “Inspiration and Motivation in Challenging Times”, and were totally inspired by a range of excellent speakers. Women from all walks of life gathered both North and South of the border; ranging from the self employed, those from the private, public and voluntary sector, those thinking about going into business and ladies who just came for a day out. There was a great buzz in the room from beginning to end. The day kicked off with a number of addresses from some of the most inspirational women of today. We were honored to have MLA Michelle Gildernew open the conference, followed by Aideen Mc Ginley from ILEX, Karen Wilson from Invest NI, and inspirational speaker and author, Veronica Canning. In the afternoon session, guests had the opportunity to attend breakout sessions of their choice. The feedback from the event was excellent and we would like to thank all our sponsors and those who helped to make this event happen and look forward to more events like this one in the future.

Above: Acting Chair Gabriele Tottenham welcoming everyone to the event.

Above: Minister Michelle Gildernew takes the podium first and reminds us that women are the backbone of rural Northern Ireland.

Above: Next Dr Aideen McGiney encouraging everyone that failure is often the path to success.

 

 

Above: Veronica Canning posing the question "Are you surviving or thriving?"

AGM

NEW is holding the AGM on 19th October in the Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown at 7.30pm. 

Member Benefits

We have secured an additional two excellent membership benefits for you to avail of:

1) NI Chamber of Commerce Membership – 15 months for the price of 12

The Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce (NICC) has over 1000 members from manufacturing, services, retail, distribution and the professions. Through their programme of trade activities, networking events, strategic alliances, the Chamber web site and Business First Magazine, they can reach in excess of 5,000 businesses in Northern Ireland.The Chamber would like to offer NEW members a special rate of 15 months membership for the price of 12.To avail of this offer please contact Oonagh O‟Reilly at Oonagh.oreilly@northernirelandchamber.com or visit www.northernirelandchamber.com for further information.

 

2) Private Healthcare Plan with Westfield Health for NEW Members

Voluntary cover from £15 per month

Check out :- www.health365.co.uk

In addition to the above, member benefits currently include:

• Monthly events with key speakers

• Joint events with other networks & organisations

• Networking at all events

• Information and support programmes with Invest NI

• Monthly newsletters

• Website with exclusive members section

• Advertising Opportunities available on Website and Ezines

• “Take the floor” – opportunity to promote your business at events

• Exhibitor opportunities at events

• Sponsorship Opportunities

• PR Opportunities

And we are continually exploring other possible benefits for our members.

Website & Ezine Advertising

Orders are now being taken for advertising space on our website, this is an opportunity to promote your business on the worldwide web for a fraction of the normal cost. Our Website is communicated via numerous organisations and mediums and could open many doors for your business. The rates are as follows:

• 3 months - £45 (min period)

• 6 months - £90 (5% discount for members)

• 9 months - £135 (5% discount for members)

• 12 months - £180 (10% discount for members)

Please contact Ciara Callan on 07736 518137 for more details. 

Marketing Opportunities:

At future events, all attending members will have an opportunity, if it is their preference to introduce themselves and their business. There will also sponsorship opportunities available, an excellent platform to promote your business.

Member to Member Section

Would be grateful if members could take 10 minutes to update your business profile on the site – why not include a photograph? We now have links on the website to Linked-In and Face book so take a minute to have a look at these, as well as sites to promote your business. We want to include on the website some testimonials about NEW – how members feel about the organisation, what benefits it brings, what it offers, what business it has brought you.

Special Offers Section

An opportunity for you to provide special offers for example discounts to other members, so please send them in.

Refer a Friend

Providing members with the opportunity to refer a friend to the network for free entry into a prize draw.
New members to the network
We would like to welcome the following new members to the Network:

• Bronagh Cushnahan - Dungannon

• Janice Gibson – EVO Marketing - Cookstown

• Michelle Mulligan – No 8 Jewellers & Allure Bridal Accessories - Cookstown

For further info on any of the above please contact Ciara on 07736 518137 or ciara@halo-marketing.com

Grow your Business

If you are interested in exploring ways to grow your business, Invest NI are currently developing their growth programmes. If interested please contact Ciara Callan for more details on 07736 518137

Member Profiles

This month on our Member Profiles page we are featuring Tanya Lafferty from Strabane.  Tayna is a Colour Me Beautiful Consultant – 'Time for Me'. Click here to read Tanyas profile.

 

September Event

Network for Enterprising Women Tyrone & Fermanagh Presents

"Inspiration & Motivation in Challenging Times"

Sponsors include:FPM Chartered Accountants and Derry Bros Shipping Ltd

"Harnessing the Power of Networking for Today's Women in Business"

Date: Thursday 30th September

Venue: Westville Hotel, Enniskillen

Time: 10 - 10.30 (Registration) - 3pm

What: We at NEW are very excited to be hosting this inspiring and motivating event for all business owners North and South of the Border.  We have a fantastic line up of inspirational speakers, representation from Stormont and breakout workshops packed full of relevant and useful information to apply in your business. Then of course there is also the vital opportunity to Network and make new business contacts across both sides of the border.


Guests Include: Veronica Canning - Veronica is an international author, motivational speaker consultant, mentor, working with corporate and entrepreneurial women, helping women leaders to build careers and businesses and beat the recession.  Veronica is the author of the book Shoeisms: Working Womans Guide to Take Control and Be the Sassy, Successful Woman You Know You Can Be


Dr Aideen McGinley OBE, - Aideen is the Chief Executive of ILEX and previous Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment and Learning. In 2000 Aideen was awarded an OBE and in 2004 became an Honorary member of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects and a Women of Inspiration Award in 2007.


Breakouts: You will have an opportunity to attend 2 mini workshops.  Choose from the following:


    * Securing New Business - growing your Business

    * The Busy Womans Guide to Work / Life Balance

    * Social Networking for Small Businesses

    * Motivating Yourself Out of The Recession

Cost: £20pp (24 Euro). Price includes 2 course lunch. (Pay by PAYPAL now by clicking on the Buy Now button at top of this page)

Or contact Ciara Callan on 07736 518137 / email ciara@halo-marketing.com

Spaces are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment!

Supporting Pretty n Pink Breast Cancer Charity

June Event

We had an excellent event on 23rd June in Blaney Spa, Fermanagh. This Business Showcase event was the first of its kind for our network and attracted over 20 exhibitors both members and non members across a variety of businesses, selling everything from cup cakes to curries, interior design ideas to tourism, pampering, styling, fashion, crafts, even marketing and accountancy consulting. Our chosen charity on the day was “Pretty n Pink”, a N.I regional breast cancer charity, whom we raised some money for.

The event was open to the public and we had a number of very satisfied customers according to the feedback. We secured great PR for the event and even got a slot live on Radio Ulster with Alan Simpson, great for our profile. There was a lovely atmosphere and a real buzz throughout the day which was further complimented by the weather which held up until the event was over, thankfully.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the exhibitors and visitors and wish the charity every success in the future.
Please support a local NI registered Charity - http://www.prettynpink.org

For anyone who was unable to attend the June event, a small donation would be much appreciated towards a great cause. Pretty n Pink founder and Director Noeleen (Rooney) Adair joined us on the day, Noeleen is an inspirational lady and we are hoping to support the charity again in the future. Donations can be made at the website address above.

Website & Ezine Advertising

Orders are now being taken for advertising space on our website, this is an opportunity to promote your business on the worldwide web for a fraction of the normal cost. Our Website is communicated via numerous organisations and mediums and could open many doors for your business. The rates are as follows:
3 months - £45(min period)
6 months - £90 (5% discount for members)
9 months - £135 (5% discount for members)
12 months - £180 (10% discount for members)
Please contact Ciara Callan for more details.

Previous Events

May Event

We had a great event on 4th May focusing on Finances. We were very privileged to have two highly experienced speakers;  Brenda O’Hare, a Chartered Accountant and recently promoted Associate Partner with FPM Accounting, gave a tremendous presentation “10 Tips to Improve Profitability”. Helen Mc Meel, Commercial Manager with Bank of Ireland, provided us with the key to unlocking funds from financial institutions and how best to approach your bank manager. Both topics created much interaction in the group and the feedback was excellent.  Many thanks to Brenda and Helen.

 

 

Above: L-R; Helen McMeel, Commercial Manager Bank of Ireland, NEW Coordinator Ciara Callan, Halo Marketing and Brenda O'Hare, Director of FMP Chartered Accountants

 

 

Above: L-R; Helen McMeel, Commercial Manager Bank of Ireland and Brenda O’Hare Director of FMP Chartered Accountants

April Event

Our April event on 13th April was another great success with another record breaking number of attendees (19). Fiona Walsh of Motivational Edge, gave an inspirational and highly interactive talk on Motivation . A great tip was sharing with us a formula that linked skills and motivation to performance.  Fiona also gave us tips on how to set goals using powerful visualisation techniques.  It was a really motivating session and for those interested in finding out more about Fiona’s work in this area, have a look at www.motivationaledge.com.

Thank you again Fiona, the feedback has been fantastic!

NEW members attend networking luncheon to celebrate International Women’s Day

NEW Chair Elaine Wylie-Elaine Wylie Training, and Committee Members Teresa O’Loughlin-Think6 Marketing, and Brenda O’Hare-  FPM Chartered Accountants, attended a networking luncheon in Dundalk to celebrate International Women’s Day.  The event was hosted by Enterprising Womens Network and Network Louth in partnership with Louth County Enterprise Board.

March Event 

Our March meeting “Social Networking” was held on 3 Match in The Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown with speaker Dr. Michael Hughes and looked at How to get the best business potential from your website. Michael has spent the past 17 years creating awareness and engagement for a diverse range of organisations from blue-chip multi-nationals to government agencies, and medium and small enterprises. He specialises in creative marketing and over 300 businesses have attended his talks.  NEW was fortunate to be among this number last week.
In an absolutely splendid “no-nonsense” presentation, Michael talked us through his 4 step model of Awareness, Interest, Action and Advocacy, and worked through strategies for optimising your website within each of these steps.

The feedback from the meeting was terrific with 100% of attendees saying that the content was relevant, interesting and valuable.
 

Our thanks to The Valley Hotel for supporting NEW.

February Event

The February Meeting “A Room Bursting with Ideas” and was the very essence of Networking.  The feedback from the group who attended was very positive and a spin-off from the event was some great ideas for future events. 

NEW Year Dinner

Our NEW Year Dinner took place in January, and was a great evening.  After an excellent dinner, and complimentary drinks from The Valley Hotel (thank you Lisa) members each spoke about a book they had found inspiring, and had brought with them.  Each book was then “drawn” by another member who will be able to share in its motivation or (for some) exasperation!

BWN NI Business Awards Gala Dinner

April 2nd 09, Cookstown

A fantastic evening of celebration and networking.  Two out of the three business awards went to NEW members - Inspirational Business Woman - Teresa O'Hare - Orchard Acre Farm & Network Member of the Year - Teresa O'Loughlin, Think 6 Marketing

The winners: L-R: Teresa O'Loughlin, Think 6 Marketing, Ruth Daly NEW Co-ordinator, Teresa O'Hare, Orchard Acre Farm

March Events 2009

Your Network is your Networth, 25th March 09, Omagh

Networking skills workshop on tour.

The Psychology of Confidence, 14th March 09, Dungannon

A wonderful lesson in motivation, confidence and self belief led by Lynne Peyton.  What energy in the room!!

February Events 2009

Your Network is your Networth, 24th Feb 09, Enniskillen

A practical lesson in networking tips and techniques - always worth a refresher.

Marketing Tips - 10th Feb 09, Benburb, Dungannon

A practical workshop on marketing the most of your marketing activities.

December Events 2008

Christmas Networking, Dinner and the Big Business Book Swap, 5th Dec 08, Omagh

Networking, swapping business ideas and inspiration through the annual business bok swap...how come each person gets the book that is meant for them..!

November Event 2008

IDEAS Workshop - 11th Nov 08, Enniskillen
A practical interactive workshop focusing on how to think creatively about business development.

October Event 2008

Cafe Conversation - Marketing 8th Oct 08, Dungannon

A novel approach to networking which featured facilitated sharing and learning on different topics of marketing.

September Event 2008

Skills Pick and Mix, Strabane, Sept 10th 2008

A good event for sharing business backgrounds and information.  This type of event built confidence in fledgling business owners and inspired others who were just thinking of enterprise as a route for them.  THe clear message from the events - be clear in how you describe what you do and how it can benefit potential customers and have an offer you can make. 

June Events 2008

NEW BBQ, Lisnarick, June 11th 2008

In the delightful environment of Teresa OHares eco barn we were treated to great cuisine, great company and even a bit of singing courtesy of Valerie Whitworth (singin facilitator) and some  members of Together One Voice.  

Selling Skills workshop, Lisnarick, June 11th 2008

Elaine Wylie presented a very practical and participative workshop addressing the key essentials when it comes to a selling what you do effectively and appropriately. 

May Event 2008

Building Your Buiness Cookstown, May 2008

A very worthwhile evening in the company of peers and astute businessman Frank McGlone who spoke about the realities and practicalities of growing a business in NI.

An Audience with Jacqueline Gold, BWN NI Joint Event, Templepatrick.

17.04.08

Almost 100 business women stood to applaud Jacqueline Gold as she delivered an inspirational and engaging speech on how she rose through the ranks of Ann Summers at age 19 to become Chief Executive of the company in 1987 and generating a sales turnover in excess of £155 million. 

Above: L-R Stephen Kingon, Chairman of Invest NI, Jacqueline Gold, Ruth Daly 

March Event 2008

Marketing on a Shoe String, Mellon Country Inn, Omagh. 12.03.08

We had Nicky Bury of Haybury Marketing as the guest speaker.  What a great speaker – she gave a really practical, easy to understand and entertaining overview of marketing and the must do’s associated with it.  So I’m sure those who attended will be off busying themselves with a review of their marketing activities and beginning to implement some of the advice she gave.

Recipe for a Greener Business - BWN NI Joint Event, Templepatrick.

28.02.08

A great opportunity for all present to examine how green their businesses are.  With lots of guidance and information from guest speakers, Janie Crone - Janie Crone Associates, Marella Fyffe - The Green Box, Alison Moore - NIE Energy and Keynote speaker Jenny Bristow.

November Event 2007

Focus on Networking, Cookstown, November 2007
We had another great evening of networking and learning about networking in Cookstown enterprise Agency on 18th October.  There was a good mix of members and women new to the Network who all really got the 'give and Get' principle which underlies networking.

 

Pictured above (L to R) : Lois Henry - Body Stress Release NI, Dessertmartin, Caroline McElvogue - Reflexology, Dungannon, Shelly McCaughey - Fultus Virtual Assistant, Galbally, Kate Staunton - Nutritional therapist, Dungannon

October Events 2007

How to Make Money on eBay, October 2007

A great afternoon was spent in the company of over 70 women who came along to explore how they could make the most of the opportunties that are presented by the eBay marketplace.

By the time the event was coming to an end there was such a buzz in the room, lodas of networking being done and lots of excitement about all that could be achieved using eBay.

Pictured above (L to R):

Ruth Daly, NEW Coordinator, Michael Hughes, eBay Trainer, Barbara Thomspson - Inis Health Enniskillen, Gloria Perry - Aspiring entrepreneur, Strabane

Focus on Networking - Omagh October 2007

On the 2nd of October a group assembled in Omagh to hone their networking skills.  Apart from learning how the effectively andser the questions "What do you do?" they met some new contacts and gained an understanding of how they could use networking to their advantage.

September Event 2007

Speaking With POWER, Enniskillen 12th September 2007

Simon Smith, trainer and coach outlined some very practical tips on speaking with confidence whatever the situation.  All present joined in a number of exercises designed to help us to take a different approach to the sometime daunting task of speaking out effectively.

Above: Lisa Williamson - The Valley Hotel, Bryony Flanagan - Green Hat with Simon Smith.

June Event 2007

Networking Bar-b-que at Blessingbourne Estate, June 6th 2007

A lovely summer evening was spent at the picturesque venue of Blessingbourne Estate, where a group of 24 enjoyed great food, fantastic setting, a tour of the grounds, introductions to the goats and peacocks and some very wise words from Colleen Lowry, Mary McCartan and Grainne O'Malley on their exerpiences of being in business.

Some photos of the evening below:

Lisa Williamson of the Valley Hotel serving up! She just can't stop working.

The tour of Blessingbourne - meet the goats.

Mary McCartan, Treehouse Montessori offering pearls of wisdom.

Other news of interest

Some time for Reflection - Be Your Own Champion

(17/1/10)

In these modern times of daily stresses, demands to meet deadlines and juggling responsibilities it is all too easy to slip into the thought process of dwelling only on what we have not achieved, what we could not fit in and what we would love to do but not have time for.

More so than ever it is important for us to be our own champion and supporter. Even though we all have support networks, whether they are family, friends or colleagues only we can truly understand the demands made on our time and the effort involved to achieve all we need to on a daily basis. It is natural for us to focus on what we did not achieve rather than what we did, but if we look back over previous weeks and months we really have achieved an enormous amount of small successes.

Therefore, it falls to us to appreciate ourselves and what a fantastic job we are doing. Being our own champion means acknowledging all things we DID get done today. It also means recognising the value we added to others lives for example did we make someone laugh, did we take time to listen without distraction, did we put anothers needs before ours, did we follow through on a commitment regardless of the other demands we have? All of these are fantastic achievements and ones which we tend to completely overlook.

However, being your own champion also includes supporting your needs to ensure we remain healthy, balanced and able to function at our peak. Being your own champion means being aware of when to say "no" gently, even knowing when to say "yes"; when to take some time back for ourselves; when to focus on our priorities; when to accept we did our best to achieve everything we set out to do knowing we have the resources and potential to achieve our goals.

Understanding that the responsibility for our own self-care lies solely with us enables us to constantly grow and develop to ensure we are able to meet the goals we set ourselves. When you can be mindful of these issues you are truly being your own best champion.