At our Suffolk launch we had a lovely surprise for 2 business women. A day at the gorgeous Stoke by Nayland Spa, Golf and Hotel for them to enjoy. But how did they go about winning that?
Well, we wanted their stories of achievement, overcoming adveristy and all round women in business brilliance. And we were not disappointed. The hardest decision was choosing only two. So here are the two winners and a fabulous runner up. In our eyes you all deserve eternal success and happiness because you amaze us!
Elene Marsden, Member of the IP3 Peaks Team, Makes Mountains Out Of Molehills
Local business woman, Elene Marsden with a team of 7 other climbers took part in the 3 Peaks Challenge last month, 5th-6th August. If you’ve never heard of the 3 Peaks Challenge, its climbing the 3 largest mountains in Britain ( Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) in less than 24 hours. A big enough challenge in its own right but weather conditions and traffic holdups were additional factors to contend with.
Elene says that she had an extra challenge, the rest of her team mates were all males and ultra competitive! But she was determined to succeed and her training over the last 4 months paid off. Four of the eight team members managed to complete the 3 Peaks in 28 hours.
Elene said “ I realise now that this challenge was more than being physically fit, the mental preparation was essential too. Little did I realise I’d have to overcome my fear of walking across fast flowing streams and scrambling up scree slopes to get to the tops of those mountains”
Elene has already raised over £1600 for Suffolk Mind but she still has more money to raise. So if you’d like to support Elene, please visit www.justgiving.com/elene-marsden.
More info here
Samantha Fricker – Framewerks – Story of Achievement
Framewerks opened their doors for business in Feb 2004. Business boomed, so in March 2005 we invested heavily in larger premises in the Cowdray Centre. The 900sq foot was divided into a workshop, gallery/ exhibition space and retail.
Our ‘Annus Horriblus’ occurred in July 2006 when the Cowdray Centre experienced one of the worst fires Colchester had seen! I was 7 months pregnant with our first daughter; we had doubled our mortgage and moved houses the Saturday before the fire.
On reflection, we didn’t have time to cry or an option to walk away. The amazing team spirit meant that new premises were found within 24 hours; suppliers offered the use of machinery and emergency stock and long standing customers rallied round. Staff, family and friends cooked meals, rubbed my feet and painted walls! Framewerks hit the news several times over the next month. Shirley Bassey’s shoes were being framed for a charity auction and were safe inside Framewerks stores, but access into the Cowdray Centre had been denied.
Today Framewerks has grown once more and is happy to say that the experience made us stronger and if we had given up, we would not be framing items for fantastic clients like P&O, Speedo, Pentland Brands, Stour Valley Photography, NHS and BWN favourites Envision Training and Ebdon Management Systems.
My Story on Achievement
I realised I’d created an accidental practice when I started getting phonecalls from Saudi, and France (as well as London, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire) from parents who had heard about my work. All I did was learn something to help my son with his learning issues and news of his progress went out like a shockwave. I never intended to help anyone else with this. I do feel like it’s an achievement to be helping children and adults with everything from dyslexia/dyspraxia/ADHD/Asperger’s/Autism/Dyscalculia/Mutism and they get a lot better, and their mums stop feeling tearful and start to be able to have a normal life (things like going to the hairdressers or getting on a bus) when they couldn’t do that before with their child. I’m helping others achieve something worthwhile, I’m changing lives, because I care, because I know how. And I’m not stopping there. I have discovered a link between neuroscience and neurodevelopment that seems hitherto unnoticed that would change the treatment of spectrum disorders and validate neurodevelopment even more.
That’s an achievement. I will stop at nothing to help.
Nowadays I’m giving talks and being invited on radio shows and people understand the value of what I do. That’s an achievement.
I appreciate you Mandie and what you’ve done and what you are doing. You are achieving. Thank you
Sue Cook – sue@helpingadhd.com
Truly inspirational women in business, we hope you will agree