Passionate Blog

Happy Birthday Cannock Chase Chamber of Commerce

CONGRATULATIONS to all at Cannock Chase Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a fantastic event this week which marked a decade of serving the local business community.

In a thought-provoking address, David Frost from the British Chambers of Commerce spoke eloquently about current concerns facing business and praised Cannock Chase for leading the way in regeneration, thanks to a partnership between public and private money.

Chase Chamber President Philippa Smart,of Smart Ideas, was dubbed a 'rainmaker' as storms lashed The Ramada Hotel, but its impressive Sky Room nevertheless proved a wonderful vantage point to see across Bridgtown, into Cheslyn Hay, and beyond.

Passionate on the move

THE Passionate team literally stopped traffic the other day, as we had photos taken for our own press release - in the middle of the road! The lorry driver didn't look impressed as he sat waiting for the wind to die down so our hair wasn't blowing in our faces for the shot.

Thanks to Jim at Gingersnaps Photography for putting up with five vain women!

Linda's now regretting using the whole bottle of fake tan beforehand, but we had to get the word out about our move and recent successes.

Read on for the press release that accompanies it.

Women's business group co-founded by Passionate Media soars

I'M delighted to report that a recent visitors' day organised by the Cannock and Stone Wings groups proved a huge hit.

More than 40 people turned up to find out more about what we get up to.

The idea of the joint event was to bring together Wings' longest-serving and most recent members, to help give visitors a real idea of what the group is about.

"Virtual" success with The Independent

THANKS to education and careers writer Hazel Davis and her interest in Carmen's training for virtual assistants, there was a great piece in the Independent earlier this week.

The story is now being followed up by another national paper. What's particularly interesting for me on this is that Linda didn't send Hazel a press release, but trusted her instincts as to what she may be interested in pitching to one of her regular outlets.

A story we worked on with Carmen for Red magazine resulted in hundreds of enquiries. I wonder what this latest coverage will bring. [Carol]

Passionate highlighted in UK flexible working survey

We were delighted to welcome employee relations adviser Mike Emmott from the CIPD recently to help him in his mission to compile a report on how small businesses can embrace flexible working.

Olympic boost for Midlands firms

Hundreds of West Midlands companies are going for gold in the race to win vital contracts for the 2012 London Olympics.

The firms have signed up to an innovative alert service from our client the West Midlands Collaborative Commerce Marketplace which matches opportunities to bid with the companies’ expertise.

Here's the story over at BBC Online.

An artist in the family

Here's a picture of my sister in law Sue, she lives in Malta with her husband David and she's a ceramic artist. You can read more about her here and see some of the lovely pieces she's made.  They live in the most beautiful place, it's called Buskett Forest and is just outside the town of Rabat.  The pictures don't do it justice but they do bring back memories. It's been four years since we last visited, far too long (as Sue keeps reminding me).  Let's hope we'll be back there next year.  [Carol]

Carole's one step ahead

We always like to report on what our clients are getting up to, especially when they're raising money for charity.Here's a couple of pictures of Carole Doyle from Acutec when she took part in the Breakthrough Breast Cancer 60km walk in Birmingham. You can read more about it here.  Hey Carole, I wonder if you'll be signing up for this next? [Carol]

Still backing the Badger

We were all glued to Sky One last night as Ruth Badger headed up the panel of business experts for a new series called The Big Idea.

Ruth was telling us all about it at a recent charity dinner in aid of Compton Hospice so we knew it would be good.

Some of the ideas were a bit weird and wacky and we have to agree with the Badger that the 'message in a bauble' was by far the best of last night's bunch.  What a shame she didn't make it through to the final.

Wings flying higher

I'm pleased to report that wings is going from strength to strength now, with groups running in Cannock, Leicester, Stoke, Tamworth and Walsall.  We've had some lovely coverage too. See here and here for a couple of online stories.  We're are also on the business page of this week's Staffordshire Newsletter. 

We've attracted lots of interest from local businesswomen, so there's clearly a need for this kind of networking group.  Not just in this area either. We're also getting enquiries from women in other areas of the country wanting to set up groups, so I'll update you as soon as we are ready to launch the next lot. [Carol]

Picture shows Julia Canham of The Retreat, Tracy Pound of MaximITy, Carmen MacDougall of CMA Coaching & Training, Barbara Oldham of Forever Living Products, and Carol Garrington

Related posts: Women in business? We must be comedians, Thanks Adrian!, Gargoyles, us?

And then there were five

Here's a picture of the newest member of the Passionate team.  Emma joined us last month (how time flies).  She's working four mornings a week and doing brilliantly, once she has negotiated past Linda's atrocious parking. This snap of Emma, looking very glam, with husband Mark and their children, six-year-old Amber and Harvey, two, was taken on holiday in Greece earlier this year. I wonder how long it will be before Amber and Harvey are joining our bunch on a Saturday morning for pottery lessons! [Carol]

Well done Philip and Simon

Here are some pictures from Newell Palmer director Philip Stepp as he reached the top of Ben Nevis with his partner's son Simon - raising £4,000 for Compton Hospice. 

Well done to both of them for making it to the top. We can only imagine what it must be like to achieve such a goal. Oh except for Katie of course, she managed this last year. [Carol]

Today's Birmingham Post

Great page lead in the Birmingham Post today for our client Carl Jarvis of Internet Marketing Services.  See the full article online here, or here with the picture. It's the first press release we've worked on for IMS and there are more in the pipeline.  When I spoke to Carl this morning he said he'd already received a number of calls and emails from people who'd read the piece, before he'd even had a chance to see it himself.  [Carol]

An evening with the Badger

Who's that with the Badger? We recently reported on this and have just had these pictures through from what was a really enjoyable evening.  Ruth was on fine form as she gave an entertaining and thought-provoking after dinner speech to 60 Midlands businesswomen at Patshull Park. Her dedication to Compton Hospice came across loud and clear as she spoke about her long term commitment to the charity.  She also spoke about her upbringing, her family and of course her legendary appearance on The Apprentice.

Bulgarian Villas launches new brochure

We've just finished working on a brochure for Bulgarian Villas Ltd and here it is.  It's the first eight page brochure they've had produced and we had four weeks from start to finish to get the design, copy and images together so they could take it to the Places in the Sun exhibition at the NEC. And while I was working on this, Katie was reporting on this which resulted in some excellent coverage so it was a great result all round.  [Carol]

If you'd like a brochure you can contact Helen Toney on 0870 950 9332 but here is a bit more of a taster too...

Here she goes again

Carol is in the Evening Mail tonight. Read all about her (again) here. Hopefully she'll find time to grace this blog with her presence in the morning and post the lovely picture the paper has used. It's a smasher. Good job we haven't both got a face for radio.[Linda]

Related posts: Women in business? We must be comedians, Thanks Adrian! Gargoyles, us?

An evening with The Badger

Hmmn. Haven't mentioned the Badger for a while. Here's our latest press release.

Ruth Badger is set to test out her straight-talking advice on Midlands businesswomen next month, before embarking on filming her new Sky One show, The Big Idea. Female entrepreneurs in the region will have the opportunity to hear Ruth speak at the networking event and will also get to chat to her over dinner. The evening, to be held at Patshull Park Hotel on Thursday, September 14, has been organised as a fundraising event by Compton Hospice, who Ruth works with as a voluntary ambassador.

Sally Woods, corporate fundraiser at Compton Hospice said: “Since Ruth shot to fame in The Apprentice, she has been called on to speak at conferences and award ceremonies across the UK.

“Knowing how dedicated Ruth is to helping the people of her home town, we asked if she’d deliver a talk at a fundraising dinner that would benefit both the hospice and local businesspeople.

“We know how busy her schedule is, so we’re really grateful that she’s agreed to help.

“And with Ruth’s appearances elsewhere demanding over £100 per ticket, I think we’re offering a bargain at £38 to include dinner as well.”

Ruth said: “I never wanted or expected fame on entering The Apprentice, but if I can use it to benefit others, it’s been worth it.

“The networking event is an inspired idea – using my skills to help both local businesswomen and the hospice.

“Even though I’ve been offered my own TV series, I’m still passionate about remaining loyal to my roots in Wolverhampton and intend to dedicate as much time as possible to my role as ambassador for Compton Hospice. They need to generate over £4million each year to continue their service to people in and around Wolverhampton coping with a terminal illness. Any small part I can play in helping them achieve that is worthwhile.”

To find out more about the evening with Ruth Badger, or to book tickets, call the hospice on 0845 2255 497 or visit www.compton-hospice.org.uk.

We've said it before and we'll say it again, go Ruth, go Ruth!

For more information, call Sally Woods on 0845 2255 497. [Katie]

Related posts: Our Apprentice favourite, Ruth Badger following in Sir Alan's footsteps, Without a doubt, we're working with the Badger

Ruth Badger following in Sir Alan's footsteps

Well done Ruth Badger on clinching the top spot on Sky One’s new series The Big Idea this week.

We've met Ruth a few times now since she became an ambassador for Compton Hospice and can't wait to see her in this new series.

One thing's for sure she'll be following in Sir Alan's footsteps when it comes to straight talking.  I hope all those wannabe entrepreneurs are ready for The Badger.

And for those of you who aren't quite ready to launch your business ideas to Ruth in front of millions of viewers there's a chance to spend ‘An evening with Ruth Badger’ next month at a charity dinner to raise funds for Compton.

We've booked our tickets already, and there are still some available but places are limited. Click here to book your tickets.

Watch out Sir Alan, The Badger is back!

Katie

Wings is spreading its wings

I took my first ever trip to Leicester on Friday for the launch of the new Wings women's networking group.  After getting lost around the centre of Leicester for half an hour I arrived to be greeted by a room full of businesswomen all chatting away as if they'd known each other for ages.

The atmosphere was great and there was alot of interest and enthusiasm so hopefully this group will go as well as the first group in Cannock.

I'll be launching the Walsall group on 8th September at The Village Hotel at 12 noon, all Walsall businesswomen welcome.

Tamworth and Stoke will be launched in October and I'm really excited about how it will all develop. 

Who knows, Leicester today, New York, Paris and Milan tomorrow (anyone want to re-locate?).

If at first you don't succeed, part two

I posted here about not giving up when an idea isn't immediately accepted by an editor. Today I am delighted to report the piece described as 'one that got away' has seen its way into print. The first I knew was when my Corrie Blog editor Flamin' Nora emailed me to say it had made her smile. Thanks Nora that means a lot, you know. [Linda]

Online networking can be rubbish. Discuss

My Technobile piece on so-called online networking is published today. For someone more used to dealing with women's weeklies, it's been brilliant to write for The Guardian. These commissions have been like buses - you wait for ages for one to be published then two come along at once. Anyway my point was that these networking groups aren't the place for me, for a number of reasons you can read in the article. I'm sure people will disagree. [Linda]

Diary of a working mum

In the week when this lady rightly caused a storm by proclaiming her kids were boring (Cue pretty nifty backtracking..'but I never said my children were boring' - no of course not, that's why it said it in the headline.) We have written for the Guardian on a how can we put it? More down to earth view of going out to work when you have children. Ian Wylie, the editor of the Work supplement explained the piece should focus on a particular incident or anecdote to illustrate an issue - and we chose Morgan's sports day (or perhaps Stitchgate as it should be known!) It's great to see the piece in the paper and funny to note that the only little change made was that a reference to Linda using words that would make Chubby Brown blush was removed. Perhaps that would have been more fitting of the Daily Star! [Carol]

On a road to nowhere?

Here's a piece about my experiences of satnav. It was hard enough for me to learn to drive (took 12 years and lots of being shouted at.) Now getting to grips with a satnav has left me a little bemused, to say the least. I'm sorry if I'm letting down "the sisterhood" by admitting how awful I am. Here's a survey that shows I'm not alone. [Linda]

Thanks Adrian!

Transcript of BBC Radio WM interview with Adrian Goldberg: 

Adrian:

A local mum has been named as the most exceptional working mum in the country by a national support group for working mums called Mother at Work.

Her name is Carol Garrington from Cheslyn Hay, she has overcome a disability to run a public relations firm as well as being a mother to two young boys.

The 34-year-old was born with a number of medical conditions that made doctors warn her that she would never walk and never have children.  She made the decision to have her left leg amputated below the knee at the age of 12 and faced years of on-going treatment.

Let’s get a word with Carol now. Hi Carol. Blimey that sounds a list of stuff that you had to go through. Were you born with some kind of condition then?

Carol:

No I had a deformity on my left side when I was born that the doctors couldn’t put down to anything in particular, they didn’t have scans in those days so they couldn’t have picked it up any sooner.  It was just a process of elimination really and I had a number of operations to try and find out the cause, but there was no explanation in the end, just one of those things.

Adrian:  And you made the big decision at the age of 12 to have your left leg amputated?

Carol:  That’s right yes

Adrian:

What was that like? Did someone sit down and go through options with you and you came to the idea that that was the best thing?

Carol:

No, it was something that my parents thought would be better for me from an early age but they couldn’t make that decision for me it had to be my decision and by the age of 12 I was off to high school and wanted to be like everyone else and wear the nice skirts and shoes.  It was a cosmetic thing for me at that age more than anything else.  I was being bullied at school as well so for me it was just something I had to do and I didn’t even give it a second thought.

Adrian:  And do you give it a second thought now?

Carol:  I do yes.

Adrian:  I mean do you regret it?

Carol:

I don’t regret it at all no, but I do think back and think what a big decision it was to make at that age but I don’t regret it, I’ve absolutely never looked back.

Adrian:  And you were told that you might not be able to have kids?

Carol: 

That’s right yes, I’ve got a complication with my womb that meant that I wouldn’t be

able to carry children and was told all through my first pregnancy that I could lose it at any stage, so that was quite stressful really but against the odds we got through and now I’ve got two lovely boys that I’m really proud of.

Adrian:

Well they can be proud of their mum as well because so much for your disabilities. It’s more about your abilities that has brought you to national attention. You set up your own PR firm, your own business, not an easy thing for anyone to do at any time.

Carol:

No not at all but I think that the determination that I’ve got and from people telling me from an early age ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that’ its given me a real fighting spirit to think well if someone tells me I can’t do something I’m absolutely going to prove that I can, so I think its that really that’s got me through so many things.

Adrian:  And having children at the same time, being a working mum, never easy?

Carol:

No it's not. It's very demanding being a mother and there’s lots of challenges to face and the same with running a business as well so the two combined can sometimes be quite stressful but at the same time it is so rewarding.

Adrian:  What does it mean to get this recognition?

Carol: 

Oh it's fantastic and I think it’s a great message to other mothers to prove to everybody really that mothers have a lot of skills that can be transferred into the workplace.  Mothers make fantastic business women they really do because they have so many skills like time management and being able to organise and delegate and cope with stressful situations, they are all things that in the workplace are absolutely essential skills, so I hope it gives a message to other mothers that they can do it, they really can.

Adrian:  When did you actually set up your business?

It was in 2003 and it was with a lady called Linda Jones who is a very close friend.  It was Linda who set the business up and I joined her very shortly afterwards.  She’s got twin girls and the idea behind it was that we wanted a career and something for the long term but we also wanted to spend quality time with our children and this gave us the opportunity to do that, so that’s why we did it.

Adrian:

So you actually created your own job share by creating your own job in your own

company?

Carol:

That’s right yes, and the people that we’ve got working with us now are also mothers and we work as a team.  We look after each others’ children in the holidays, we take it in turns and there’s no pressure on anybody if they want to go to a school assembly or the sports day.  We all understand that that’s a pressure you don’t need, you don’t need to be worrying ‘can I have the time off work?’ and we are all absolutely committed to doing the work when we’re in the office so it works really well.

Adrian:

That’s fantastic Carol and well done, its great that you’ve done what you’ve done and now that you’ve got this recognition for it as well. It's just an inspiration for everybody listening thinking blimey she’s Wonder Woman.  Good luck to you.

That’s Carol Garrington from Cheslyn Hay the most exceptional working mum in the UK according to the national support group Mothers at Work.  I’m sure you’ll know a mum who’s just as exceptional but she’s pretty good isn’t she? [Carol]

Our Carol's a winner!

Well she's always been a winner to us. (Yes really) But now Carol has won a national award. Most Outstanding Working Mother 2006, courtesy of Mother At Work yesterday at City Hall in London. And here she is with Angela Mason, head of the government's Women and Equality Unit and Sarah Brown in her last public engagement before her maternity leave. Needless to say there were a few tears shed, oh and a few glasses of champagne sipped as well. Bit different to our usual glass of something or other from the Co-op. Well done my love. We sort of knew you'd win it but didn't want to count our chickens. [Linda]

Related posts: Women in business? We must be comedians, Thanks Adrian! Questions, questions

Breakfast News

Great to see Carol on the national news this morning speaking up for working parents - mentioned in the same breath as Sarah Brown, who's due to present a Mother At Work award. Still it's a bit odd to see one of us held up as an example of a 'high flyer.' Does that hackneyed phrase have any true meaning? Of course the item brought all the usual "women should stay at home" remarks. What didn't really come across (and why should it in a two-minute report?) was that for us it's always been the flexibility of running your own business that has been the driving force - so we CAN be at the school gates, and assemblies. And because of what we do - that's erm, writing - we can actually manage to do that when our kids are asleep. Shame I missed half of the interview actually - I was doing Melissa's breakfast at the time.[Linda]