At the end of each year, we look back through our calendar and tally up what we’ve achieved, it’s a great exercise to help us understand what we’ve spent our time doing, an opportunity to give ourselves a pat on the back and decide what we need to stop doing in the coming year.
This year has been full of challenges. Our heart goes out to the businesses that have had to repeatedly close their doors, those that don’t lend themselves easily to being online, those business owners that have had to shield themselves or who have lost loved ones. We hope that the government support will get you through to brighter and better times.
When all of the training that we deliver began to be cancelled or postponed in March, we were very fearful of how the year would unfold.
Our initial response was to collaborate and provide free of charge support on resilience which was well received. Once we all realized that this global pandemic was here to stay for a while, our clients trusted us to take all delivery online. Thankfully we were already adept at online delivery and the transition to take all our work online was a relatively smooth one.
We’ve always worked in the space of supporting progression for underrepresented groups, but the balance of our work shifted significantly from gender to race, supporting ethnically diverse colleagues and inclusion in the workplace following the killing of George Floyd on 25th May 2020.
As a result of our ability to be adaptable, evolve and pivot, the business has grown in reach, revenue and numbers in team in 2020. More detail is below.
Giving back is close to our hearts and one of the ways we do so is through the social enterprise that I co-founded Rocking Ur Teens. After a shaky start to the year, cancelling our International Women’s day Conference a week before it was due to take place due to the global pandemic. We were able to go online and run 4 webinars and 1 conference. Over 500 students and their teachers attended, and we were so pleased to still be able to make a difference when the students needed it most. We also give back through the Outreach Committee that I am part of as a Freeman of the Company of Entrepreneurs.
Our online experiential workshops increased by over 270%. These workshops typical duration is 2-4 hours, and the participant numbers range from 8-40 people. In these workshops we used breakout rooms, polling and other software to create engaging learning. We virtually travelled all over the world from India, to the USA and South Africa, including our clients in the UK. We’ve learned a lot in the process and are delighted to see the results in our clients.
With the racial reckoning that took place this year we had an increase in request for development to support ethnically diverse colleagues, from leadership development programmes, to focus groups for majority group colleagues and one to one coaching, we’ve been delighted to wholeheartedly bring our expertise to the table to make a positive difference in advancing inclusion in organisations so that everyone can thrive.
Our webinar delivery rose by over a third to 122 webinars this year, most of which were for corporate clients. We classify webinars as 60–90-minute sessions, with up to 500 participants. In these sessions we impart knowledge on a particular topic with interaction via chat or questions. Thank you to those who have trusted us to address their audiences. Our most popular webinars were on Mental Health Awareness, Coping During Uncertain Times, Self-Promotion, Confidence, Imposter Syndrome and Assertive Communication.
The demand for keynote talks has risen this year, in particular on the topics of Compassionate Leadership, Inclusive Leadership and developing a mindset for Success. One of our busiest times is around International Women’s Day, so it’s great that I am now listed on the International Women’s Day website
This year, we delivered 170 hours of coaching. This was all delivered online from March, interesting that we haven’t physically met most of our new clients but have still developed a great rapport in order to make the change they are seeking happen.
Our clients this year have surpassed themselves, through promotions, increasing their confidence, making career transitions, to making sure their voices are heard on topics that matter most to them. To each and every one of you, we are very proud to have walked alongside you on your journey.
Executive coaches can have a transformational impact with leaders and their organisations. If organisations are committed to inclusion and diversity in their organisations at all levels this should include their suppliers too, especially those who come very close to their senior level executives. We recognize that this doesn’t happen very often, which is why we launched the Diverse Executive Coach Directory. We think that senior leaders could really benefit from a thinking partner who has had a very different life experience, And …If real change is to happen and more senior people are from ethnically diverse backgrounds in the UK then we owe it to them to at least have the choice of someone who looks like them.
Our retreats went online, we focused on the theme of resilience during this difficult year, collaborating with experts to create a free resilience video resource as well as using this as the theme of the retreats we ran. We had overwhelming positive feedback, that this was exactly what was needed amongst all of the uncertainty.
Our online coaching programme for busy women who want to develop themselves, achieve their goals and craft the life they want, the Happenista Project, continues to grow from strength to strength now with 731 people enrolled across the three programmes, and an active secret facebook group of supportive women, making things happen their way. Our monthly facebook lives and journal have enhanced the programme.
As in previous years, I was featured in the media, including a speaking on ITV news and the BBC, as well as taking part in a Sunday Times discussion, as well as much more. I will continue to speak up where I think my voice can make a difference.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making 2020 a success, we are truly grateful.
Get in touch and let us know how we can help or support your work next year and watch this space for new and exciting initiatives in 2021 …
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