10 November 2008

Remote Employment Wins Mentor Competition


(10 November 2008) Ten women from London had their dreams of being mentored by the best women in business become a reality in a ceremony at the BT Tower on Friday 7th November.

Eager entrepreneurs from across London entered their business ideas to the competition, run by FreshIdeas Events, and they met with their allocated 'Make A Difference' (MAD) Woman for the first time in the stunning surroundings of the Tower.

The panel of MAD women will be guiding the aspiring businesswomen to success over the next six months and you can track their progress by visiting FreshIdeas Events, www.freshideasevents.com.

Innovative ideas ranging from an ethical image consultancy encouraging clients to dress more eco-friendly, an online information business for those passionate about socialising and dining out in London, and a new sustainable, community-run hotel were among the winning ideas.

One of the winners is Paula Wynne, from Remote Employment, an online website dedicated to remote working and flexible home working options. Paula says: "This competition is excellent for businesswoman like myself to get access to the skill, experience and wealth of knowledge that the mentors will provide. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with Karen, who has so much enthusiasm and energy for the concept of remote working."

"Essentially, Remote Employment wants to make a difference to the employment culture in the UK by helping employers recruit talented job seekers in a cost effective way. Equally we want to help employees improve their quality of life while maintaining a career path at the same time. With Karen's help and guidance, we look forward to taking Remote Employment to the next level of growth."

Other winners and their mentors include:


Paula Wynne, from Remote Employment who has started an online business dedicated to home based, flexible and remote working. She has been matched to inspiration entrepreneur and founder of Simply Switch, Karen Darby, who sold her company to the Daily Mail in 2006 for £22m.

Michelle Peers, who runs an online business called Socialite London for people who are passionate about socialising and dining out in London has been matched to Founder of Everyclick.com, Polly Gowers, who was voted WEBE Ethical Entrepreneur of the Year 2007.

Georgina Stevens, a Virgin employee working on sustainability issues planning to put a business pitch to Richard Branson for a sustainable, community run hotel - matched to Jo Haigh, Head of Corporate Finance, MGR.

Zoe Robinson, a professional actress who plans to set up 'Think Style', an image consultancy with an ethical slant which will encourage clients to dress more eco-friendly. She has been matched to Director of EaKo, Babaloo and Bio-Supplies, Kresse Wesling.

Ila Panik, who plans to create a new alternative, trendy and positive development program for young women called U4U. She has been matched to founder of Club Asia Radio 963+972AM, Sumerah Ahmad.

Irene Okoro, who currently works in PR and aims to launch her online business idea, blackbrides.co.uk in January 2009. She has been matched to Saima Butt, Managing Director of Enterprise Business Technologies.

Gina Varela, who has started her own events massage company, Divine London. She has been matched to Krista Madden, editor of Beautyandthedirt.co.uk.

Amy Kilbane, who is currently a European Marketing Manager and wants to develop to become a leader in her organization. She has been matched to
Managing Partner of Fitch, Lucy Unger.

Emily Shenton, who has recently joined her partner at Arrival Education which develops innovative concepts and programs to find an alternative to the current state education model. She has been matched to the CEO of FreshMinds Group, Caroline Plumb.

Katharine Roseveare, manager of Intelligent Marketing which is now one of the UK's most successful marketing agencies. She currently has 30 employees and wants to take her business to the next level. She has been matched to Karen Hanton, the Founder and Chief Executive of toptable.co.uk.

Jackie Brennan, Director of FreshIdeas Events, the independent company that helps women to succeed in business says: "The ceremony was a huge success and it was great to be able to introduce the winners to their mentors for the first time. After the winners were announced by the BBC's Satnam Rana, the work began with a mentoring session from Suzanne Doyle of Doyle Morris Coaching.
"I believe that mentoring is a terrific way of giving entrepreneurs vital advice to help them on their way or take their businesses to the next level. It's been terrific for us to be able to help these women and develop their businesses to become a success like their mentors."

Fran Currie from Business Link in London says: "We are proud to be supporting the competition as it gives women from the capital the opportunity to start and grow their own businesses with the confidence of having an experienced mentor advising them on their way to success."

Business Link is the popular information service which provides impartial help and advice to businesses.

For more information on the winners and their mentors and to track their progress visit www.freshideasevents.com
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well done Paula! I'm sure we'll all benefit from your 6 months of mentoring with Karen Darby, despite her MADness. The "Making a difference" initiative is an excellent innovation for emerging businesses and it's pleasing that Remote Employment's business model and your enthusiasm for it has caught the attention of the judges.

12 November 2008 at 23:43

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How to set up a home office ...

Before you set up a work station at home, check out our Seven Top Tips on how to work from home:

Your Home Office
Ideally, you will have a spare room to create a home office. If not, a corner of another room, will be fine as long as you are not constantly distracted in the family fast lane. Set up your kitSet up your computer, files and phone to give you maximum comfort for long hours. Have enough plug points for PC, printer, phone, scanner, mobile charger, fax machine and answer phone. Even better get an all in once mod con to save on a jumble of cables and wires.

Pick your desk location
You should be able to see the door of the office from where you are sitting or at least more of your surroundings. Beware of facing the garden and the bird bath – too tempting to watch the world go by! A hard chair will give you backache so spend a little extra on a good one.

Working Hours
Working outside 'normal' working hours helps to balance your work and home life so don't feel guilty dashing off to take the lads to footie after school, as long as you get your work done. Catching up in the early morning or later in the evening works well, but also watch out for going OTT. Make sure you close down and walk away at some point or the family will go hungry.

Have a breather
No matter what kind of work you do or what home you do it in, you can go bonkers if you spend 24 hours a day at it. Get out, whenever you can, to clear your head and to see other people. Use lunch time as a good break to pop down to pick up groceries for dinner, step outside to feed the birds during your coffee break or walk the dog around the block to clear the cobwebs. This is also a great way to mull over a document or get inspiration for new ideas.

Keep in Touch
Have no fear that your social life at work comes to an end if you leave your office to work from home, in fact in some cases your relationship with your colleagues may improve. Email is instant but be careful of 'funnies' – they can eat up a huge chunk of time. Chat through business issues by phone and meet for a quick bite every now and then.

Goal scoring
Give yourself little goals and objectives and then reward yourself when they are complete. Make sure family and friends know your hours or days of working at home and stick to that. Don't be tempted to pop over for a coffee or cook a large meal. Give yourself this time as a reward for getting up early on a Monday to finish a long-winded report. Or if you score well with a new client take five to put your feet up before the school run. Whatever incentives work for you, use them to motivate yourself to balance your time around your other responsibilities.

If you have any suggestions on working from home, please submit your articles to grace@remoteemployment.com.

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