Female entrepreneurs have been sharing their stories at an event to encourage women to start their own businesses.
Make It Your Business, a nationwide initiative to support women into entrepreneurship, recently held an event in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, where guests heard from a number of inspirational speakers.
One of those speaking was Charlotte Nichols, managing director of Darlington-based PR, social media and content marketing agency Harvey & Hugo.
She said: “I originally got involved in Make It Your Business through the Business & IP Centre (BIPC) Tees Valley. Alison Cork, who’s the founder of the initiative, is ambassador for the BIPC UK, while I’m an expert in residence at BIPC Tees Valley.
“I was really keen to get involved as it’s crucial to encourage entrepreneurship, especially in any group where they don’t feel it’s possible for them.
“On the day of the event, my second daughter was just nine days old, which is another reason it was so important to me to attend.
“Some women consider their careers over once they’ve had children and that’s totally fine. But for the ones that don’t want it to be, it’s all about personal preference and it doesn’t have to be the case. Sure, it’s tough and you need support, but it can be done.”
Make It Your Business runs events all over the country, where women get the chance to meet established, local female entrepreneurs, learn from their experiences and network with other local aspiring businesswomen.
Alison added: “It’s a great thrill to be holding our first event in Northallerton and meeting local businesswomen.
“Charlotte is a fine example of exactly why women make such good entrepreneurs – resilient, resourceful, tenacious and phenomenally hard-working – and our goal is to encourage as many women as possible to be self-employed and reap the many benefits.’
Harvey & Hugo creates lovable and memorable brands through its mix of PR, content marketing and social media services, and offers three ways of working – traditional retained contracts, flexible, fixed-fee services with Pay-as-Hugo and its training school, Hugoversity.
Its Pay-as-Hugo service was revamped and relaunched last year, offering a range of contract-free services, all of which can be ordered and paid for through its dedicated e-commerce site.
Charlotte added: “Women also have to face many more challenges on a monthly basis as well as deal with diseases which are not taken seriously for years. I’m just a standard woman….by sharing my story and the things I’ve been through so far hopefully it can inspire other women who have used these things as reasons to keep putting off starting something up.
“If I can inspire one lady to start her own thing then that’s brilliant.”
For more information about the Make It Your Business events, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/make-it-your-business-12668046909
For more information about Harvey & Hugo, visit the website at https://www.harveyandhugo.com/