GuruYou Coaching
How has being part of the Chamber community supported you as a leader, not just as a business?
The Chamber has given me far more than business contacts. It has given me relationships, friendships, opportunities to learn and a community of people who genuinely want to see one another succeed.
Future Faces has been particularly important to me. I’ve seen the difference that being part of a strong professional community can make to younger professionals: giving them the confidence to walk into rooms, build relationships outside their own organisations and start developing their own professional identity much earlier in their careers.
As a leader, being involved with the Chamber has also reminded me that you don’t have to have all the answers yourself. Some of my best conversations, introductions, collaborations and ideas have come from simply being in a room with other people who are prepared to share what they know.
What does your business do – and what’s your role as founder?
GuruYou® Coaching helps people see their potential, get out of their own way and thrive, creating happier, higher-performing workplaces. As founder, I lead our client work, develop our programmes and, probably most importantly, build the relationships that create opportunities for us to make a difference.
What’s been the most rewarding part of being a female business owner?
The freedom to build a business around what I believe in and to see the impact of that work on other people. I love seeing someone become more confident, go for the promotion, speak up in a room they previously felt intimidated by or realise they’re capable of far more than they thought.
I also really value being able to create opportunities for other people. As a business owner, you get to decide what sort of business you want to build, who you bring with you and what you want to stand for. That’s incredibly rewarding. I have helped several female founders who are chamber members exit their business too which has been a real privilege!
Have you had a moment where you felt particularly proud to represent women in your sector? What happened?
There have been several, but winning the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Excellence in Leadership Award was definitely one of them. I’d spent much of my career in senior leadership before starting GuruYou, and I know how easy it can be for women to underestimate their own experience, particularly when they move into a new chapter of their career.
Standing there as a female founder, being recognised for leadership through the business I had created, was a really proud moment. It also reinforced something I talk about a lot in my work: we have to be prepared to put ourselves forward, rather than waiting for someone else to notice us.
In what ways do you think networks and communities, like the Chamber, matter for women in business?
Because relationships matter enormously in business, and access to the right rooms and the right people can change a career.
Networks give women somewhere to build confidence, visibility and relationships before they necessarily need them. They create opportunities to learn from people further ahead, support people coming behind you and meet people outside your usual circle.
But I think you have to participate. Joining a network and waiting for something to happen rarely works. Turn up, talk to people, offer help, make introductions and allow people to get to know you. That’s when a network becomes a community.