Six Years in Business – and still counting! Part One....

Another Birthday

In this series of blogs I’ll be reflecting on my experiences of setting up a business, the highs and lows and general reflections on why I’m still here doing what I do as Level 7 approaches its 6^th birthday and our 7^th year in business lies ahead.

It is timely for me to start this blog as I myself approach another birthday.  I think as we get older, the desire to reflect grows stronger and of course we have more to reflect upon. In this first blog  I will be reflecting on why I chose to embark upon a new challenge 6 years ago. Up until that point, I had pursued my early career logically, although not always strategically, up the ladder of personnel and human resource management into academia and my approach had always had a strong basis in the need for security and a tendency towards risk aversion.

So, why leave security behind for the uncertainty that self employment brings? 

An age thing – midlife female fed up with being told what to do and needing to be the boss and in charge of my own destiny.

Rekindling the passion - corporate roles can be moulded to an extent but as we get more senior we end up doing less of what originally fired us up.  Learning is my passion – not only do I need to be learning but I need to be imparting that passion to others. The only way that I could be sure of doing as much of this as possible was to make learning and development my full time business.

Sharing the passion – the opportunity to work with like minded people who share the passion. It is not luck that my co director, Gill, and I work together. We share the same passion for learning and the same drive for success and it would not work if we didn’t. That goes for our colleagues, partners and clients too.

Domestic bliss looked different – babies had grown and although they were still around and needed occasional maternal interventions, they had their own lives. Husband had found fulfilment on the football pitch with a whistle round his neck, a pack of cards in his hand and a small notebook in his pocket. I needed to find a new focus for my talents.

So for me making this big decision came down to timing, opportunity and most importantly a process of self reflection and awareness that informed the decision to make that change.  Having made it, I wouldn’t change a thing. That doesn’t mean I haven’t made mistakes and I certainly haven’t stopped learning.  The journey continues....

Dorothy

Northampton

27 January 2014