Step Up To Success is an online community for women entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to take their business to the next level. Most of us are so busy working IN our business, that we rarely take the time to work ON our business.What could be better than getting support and advice from a group of your peers?Step Up to Success provides peer mentoring, active participation learning and the space for members to prioritise business growth and development. Participants can focus on current issues in their business and benefit from mastermind sessions, brainstorming, training, advice and support from their colleagues to identify solutions and strategic objectives. Through accountability and a business buddy network the group ensure that everyone profits from being a member. As Business Mentor I lead the group, provide guidance to the members based on my extensive business experience and facilitate directed discussion to ensure everyone contributes, learns and grows over each course.To join this vibrant community at an affordable monthly fee of £24: http://bit.ly/2OfnGn2

I am the Regional Director of the South West Hertfordshire and North Middlesex Athena franchises which include groups in Bushey, Harrow, Kings Langley, Rickmansworth and Watford. Athena is a business networking organisation for women and my role is to run the monthly lunchtime networking meetings and Cappuccino Connections informal gatherings where I facilitate introductions and help the members to get the most from their involvement. I was a member of Athena (previously WIBN) from its inception in 2004 and grew my various businesses through active participation in my group, so am able to identify with my members and help them to navigate their business networking journeys.

Step Up to Success was a peer mentoring group designed for women with small businesses where they actively participated in the learning and development of the group through the input of expert speakers and experience sharing. By committing to be part of an accountable group for six months at a time the members achieved financial growth, business expansion and new direction for their businesses. My role as leader was to engage the right speakers for each group, provide guidance to the members based on my extensive business experience and to facilitate directed discussion to ensure everyone contributed as well as learned from each meeting.Training topics included: Charging Your Worth, Contracts and Making Sure You Get Paid, The Right Marketing for You and Your Business and Understanding the Relevant Bits of Your Accounts, etc.

At Wedding Wonders I planned and coordinated parties, events and weddings of every size to ensure guests had the best possible experience that centred around the bride and groom and/or hosts rather than the organisation and logistics. My business grew through recommendation and was known for being efficient, friendly and professional.

I provided distance learning support and assessed assignments for trainee wedding plannersworking towards a diploma. I identified a need to redesign course to make it a better fit for the UK marketand subsequently rewrote the course content for the Institute to reflect this requirement.

I wrote and delivered wedding planning lectures to Event Management undergraduates.

I ran a consultancy business providing IT solutions for a wide variety of applications working forcorporates including Nissan Motors, The Department of the Environment, Express Dairies and GrandMetropolitan Retailing. I gained considerable experience in running a business, both from the perspective of a sole trader and from within the corporate sector, which informed my expertise as a business mentor in future roles.

I retrained as computer programmer and provided IT solutions to clients including BritishAirways, Bovis Construction and Books Co.