Hello everyone, my name is Andrea and I am one of the directors of enterprise made simple. I became a business adviser 11 years ago and have worked with hundreds if not thousands of individuals who are looking at becoming self-employed. I have also had a very mixed background of interests which you are about to hear about.

 

Until very recently I also worked as a Weight Watchers leader, which I absolutely loved, just imagine people paying to listen to me talk for half an hour, to make them laugh, to motivate them, to help them share information, and most importantly to achieve something was a real privilege. The downside was the paperwork and loading and unloading the car but I do really miss the individuals concerned and to miss the chance to be so creative every week. It also gave me the opportunity to undertake a charity trek on behalf of the British Heart Foundation in Santiago de Compostella with my friend Christine. We not only took up the challenge but we raised £6,000 in the process and this is something I will always be proud of.

 

Prior to this my ‘second’ job was in the Territorial Army. I was in the signals Regiment, 90 Squadron based at brambles farm in Middlesbrough. I fell into this by accident as I do with most things. I had made a New Year's resolution to say yes instead of saying no and around February of that year I was invited to go to the TA Centre and was given a tour. I had just recently returned to the north-east and found that I had time free on a weekend and therefore decided to say yes to the invitation to join the TA. I spent around four years in the TA undertaking training, going to annual camp in Germany, achieving my HGV driving licence, and representing the regiment on the shooting team. I certainly miss the shooting but I do not miss being on guard at 3am in the rain!!

 

I am married to my gorgeous husband Martyn and have a 14-year-old stepdaughter Samantha. We live in Washington Village surrounded by pubs and a Chinese takeaway, don't think we would ever want to move!

 

I adore my job. I can honestly say I enjoy going to work each day. That part of my job that interests me most is helping people to think creatively as to how they can market and promote their business. It is so much more than putting an advert in the local paper or printing some leaflets and helping people think differently on how to reach their customers is always interesting. I just wish I could work with clients longer. I also really enjoyed the networking part of my job, this entails meeting of the local businesses and building up relationships to help and support each other. I often encourage my clients to come along with me to see what networking is all about. If you want to join us at any time then don't hesitate to ask.

 

I am also qualified as an assessor for Investors in People. This is a national standard that looks at companies investing in people to improve the performance of the organisation. I do between 12 and 20 assessments per year and it is always fascinating to see inside other companies.

 

I have also spent two years running a training department that specialised in delivering bespoke training in-house in leadership and management. We introduced a system called brain friendly learning or accelerated learning that helped to identify the best ways for delegates to retain the new information. This meant our training workshops were very creative and interactive and also fun. They were often different to any other training the delegates had participated in before.

 

My secret to success is to be passionate about everything you do and I look forward to working with you.