Jane Knight’s Monthly Column – October 2018
Success: let’s make it personal
The leaves are falling and the days are growing shorter but there’s no slowing down at Successful Mums this October.
Autumn is off to a great start for the women on our latest Back to Work courses in Croydon and Bromley, who are busy polishing their CVs, boosting their confidence and learning the secrets for finding flexible work.
Our popular Business Start-up course is back at The Warren, giving more enterprising Bromley mums all the support and advice they need to get their own businesses off the ground. If you missed out this time around, keep an eye on our Courses page, as we’ll be adding lots of new dates in Bromley, Croydon and Greenwich soon.
Final preparations are under way for our Direct Line Women Returners Day, which will be held on Thursday 1 November. I’m delighted to be adding another big-name local employer to the Successful Mums network, with Direct Line Group joining the likes of Sainsbury’s, Ikea and Marks & Spencer in working with us to help support women back to work.
Over 100 women have already signed up for the event, which will be packed with advice on going back to work after a career break, along with insights from guest speakers and the chance to hear about all the latest job opportunities at Direct Line’s Bromley HQ. It’s not too late to get involved, so find out more and book your free place here.
Getting out and about this October, I’m excited to be part of the We Mean Business Expo in Croydon, where I’ll be talking success with a fantastic panel of business women. I’ll be offering the Successful Mums perspective on “How to Succeed” in the Women in Business seminar, which is sure to be a lively and inspiring session.
My emphasis at Successful Mums has always been on helping women achieve “personal success”. Success, after all, means something different to everyone: whether it’s being able to combine a job you love with doing the school run, expanding your business’s team to give you the time to be more creative, or growing your network to boost your client base.
For me, the key to success is working out what is most important to you and taking small steps of progress towards it. It’s not about striving to be like anyone else; it’s about being the best version of you. This is central to our courses and is something I hope shines out from our grads’ success stories. This month’s stories, from new business owner Emma and photographer Harriet, are great examples, with both women gaining clarity and focus – and growing in confidence – week by week on our Start-up course.
Finally this month, I’d like to draw your attention to our Christmas networking event, where we’ll be celebrating all our grads’ successes, as well as sharing what we do with those new to Successful Mums and making new connections for 2019. We’ll be releasing all the details soon but, in the meantime, you can register your interest here.
Have a productive and successful October!
Jane x