Meet our small business mentors of 2024!

This year, we’ve been able to support over 15,000 small businesses and charities around the world! 🎉 This is all thanks to the amazing support of our mentors who all volunteer their time to help small businesses and charities. 

We love to celebrate our community, so each year we spotlight our top mentors of the year to celebrate the amazing work our volunteers do. 🥰

Meet our Mentors of the Year (2024) here 👇

Most mentoring sessions – Anastasia

We love celebrating our community as they all go above and beyond to support our small business community. It’s why we’re delighted to celebrate Anastasia as her dedication to mentoring has been phenomenal this year! 🎉

Anastasia has received our ‘most mentoring sessions’ award after delivering over 154 mentoring sessions this year 🥳

Anastasia joined our volunteering community in January and threw herself into mentoring. You can definitely say she caught the mentoring bug as after delivering several amazing Masterclasses, Anastasia set out on a mission to mentor 100 mentees in 2024! It’s been amazing seeing Anastasia dedicate herself to this challenge and we’ve loved how much our community of volunteers has cheered her on her journey. 🩵

We’ve had the privilege of Anastasia delivering amazing Masterclasses for our community and even joining us at one of our London in-person events with our partners at NatWest too. 😊

What we love most about Anastasia is her enthusiasm and passion for learning and helping others. She said recently, “I didn’t see myself as a mentor this time last year. But I’ve found my place with Digital Boost, where the mentoring is targeted and impactful” and we couldn’t agree more! That’s why our mentoring platform is so powerful! We believe anyone can be a mentor as we’ve all got unique experiences and ideas to share. And being able to show people what’s possible on our platform means the world to us, so thank you Anastasia for showing us all what’s possible! 🥰

It’s been an incredible year for Anastasia and we can’t wait to see what challenge she sets herself for 2025. 🎉

Here’s what our mentees have to say about Anastasia: 

“Meeting Anastasia has been a quietly exceptional and positively memorable experience. Anastasia brings a wealth of unique personal qualities, and professionally, she is a remarkably perceptive, well-informed, attuned, committed and collaborative specialist. Anastasia distils and delivers a huge amount of value in a short amount of time to help accomplished clients achieve breakthrough results. Highly Recommended!”

“Anastasia was friendly, well-prepared and thoughtful with her recommendations for my startup website. She even followed up with a summary of what we discussed and also shared some useful resources! So glad to have met her through the Digital Boost platform, this is really a great platform for entrepreneurs to get the advice and support they need to build and grow their business.”

Most Masterclasses hosted – Paul

We’re extremely lucky to have incredible mentors who volunteer to deliver Masterclasses and Workshops with us throughout the year 🎉. This year, we delivered over 300 live sessions on everything from business strategy to AI to wellbeing for founders!

The number of live sessions wouldn’t be possible without incredible mentors like Paul, who volunteer to support our community through our Masterclasses. 🎉 Paul was one of our top Masterclass hosts this year, delivering several incredible sessions about creating a winning business strategy for small business owners.

This isn’t Paul’s first rodeo! 🤠 He’s been volunteering with Digital Boost since 2023 and in that time become a very popular Masterclass host with our community. What we’ve loved most is seeing Paul’s skills develop over the last year as one of our Masterclass hosts. His presentations and delivery have gone from strength to strength and he’s been a joy to collaborate with 😊

Here’s what Paul’s mentees had to say:

“Paul delivered extremely useful feedback on my business pitch and helped me to get inside the brain of an investor to match what they are looking for. This session was probably the most useful session I have had in relation to this subject and has really helped me to deliver a better pitch. I am meeting with Paul again soon and I am very excited to share my updated pitch with him because, thanks to his feedback, it is a lot better!!”

“Paul was great and introduced me to new ideas. Even though it’s a one hour call, I’ll be going away and spending a lot of time delving into everything he taught me, which will result in some considerable upskilling in the areas of business planning and growth strategies. Thanks so much Paul”

Marketing mentor – Sid K.

Our Marketing Mentor of the Year award goes to Sid! Since joining us in June of this year, Sid has delivered over 21 hours of mentoring support, volunteered to host several Masterclasses and, most recently, joined us on stage at our Edinburgh Solopreneur Bootcamp for a live workshop!

Sid supports our community with digital marketing, branding, and most recently, KPI tracking and reporting!

If you’ve been lucky enough to meet Sid, you’ll know he’s an absolute powerhouse, and his enthusiasm for small businesses is infectious. He’s had an incredible career working with industry giants like Coca-Cola and Fanta, but now he supports SMEs through his business Unlock Growth and by volunteering with Digital Boost.

Here’s what Sid’s mentees had to say: 

“Took the time to ask probing questions and challenge my assumptions. Was very helpful in moving my plans forward. Thank you so much”

“Sid was so helpful giving me advice and tips about business strategy for my small business. He was very professional and clearly knows his stuff. I have a lot of things to work on now and have a better idea about how to figure out my future business strategy. There were lots of interesting things he said that really made me think about what I’m currently doing and what I will do in the future. Thank you Sid!”

Leadership mentor – Sarisha

We’re delighted to be celebrating Sarisha as our leadership mentor of the year! Since joining us in 2023, Sarisha has gone on to deliver over 80 hours of 1:1 mentoring, several exceptional Masterclasses, and even hosted a live workshop at our International Women’s Day event in March of this year!

Sarisha is a lawyer turned founder. Sarisha was inspired to retrain as a life coach after navigating her own personal challenges with the support of a life coach. She created Navigating Life Coaching to support and help others find balance and happiness in their own lives 😊 We’re grateful to have mentors like Sarisha in our community who can share their first-hand experiences building a business to inspire and guide others on their journeys. 🤗

Here’s what Sarisha’s mentees had to say: 

“It was wonderful speaking with Sarisha. It had such a positive impact on me! Her empowering approach, coupled with the dedication to understanding my business, and providing advice on growth and personal development. I feel I will definitely benefit from her professional insights and guidance.”

“Sarisha’s mentoring session was outstanding, combining inspiration, creativity and practical guidance. Our well-organised session covered introductions, goal-setting, challenges, and action planning, leaving me with a clear strategy and a SMART follow-up plan. I highly recommend Sarisha for her invaluable mentoring advice.”

Business strategy mentor – Julia

Meet Julia, our business strategy mentor of 2024! Julia joined our volunteering community back in 2022 through our EY partnership 😊

With an extensive career in international marketing, Julia offers mentoring in marketing, social media, B2B marketing, and business strategy. 🙌

As well as being one of our amazing mentors, Julia has also been a huge support to us by joining our in-person Small Business Bootcamp in London to deliver speed mentoring sessions! 🤗

Here’s what Julia’s mentees had to say:

“Julia was extremely helpful in her area of expertise and she taught me a lot about a subject I don’t know that much about. I left feeling very inspired and excited to get working on all of her suggestions. it was the most worthwhile 50 minutes of my day today. Thank you Julia.”

“It was really interesting talking with Julia and she gave me a lot of actionable feedback about not just my website, but my business planning in general. Thank you!”

Most enthusiastic mentor – Cheryl

Don’t tell anyone, but this is one of our favourite categories to award every year! 🤫 We have so many incredible volunteers who are passionate and excited about what they do with us which is so special to see. 🥰

This year’s most enthusiastic mentor of the year award (or cheerleader of the year as we like to think of them!) goes to Cheryl from the NatWest team! 🩵

Cheryl has been our constant champion since becoming one of our volunteer mentors in 2021 through our partnership with NatWest 😊. She’s supported numerous mentees in both the Digital Boost community and Royal Bank of Scotland’s MentorMatch programme 🎉. And if you’ve ever attended any of our in-person events, you’ll know that Cheryl is our right-hand woman! She’s become a very beloved honourary member of the Digital Boost team and we’re eternally grateful for all the support she’s given us over the years! 🤗

Here’s what Cheryl’s mentees had to say: 

“Cheryl is a warm, kind and knowledgeable lady. We had a great rapport during the meeting and she supported me well. She was able to appreciate the challenges that I face in my business and was able to provide advice & guidance.”

“Loved my session. With so much info to unload in this session there was a danger there would be too many strands to focus on. But Cheryl was great at bringing the conversation back to a semblance of order, and really helped me focus on what needs to be achieved.
She has some great ideas and useful insights to share, and I know I’m going to be leaning on her in future”

Money mentor – Claire 

This year we’re delighted to be celebrating Claire as our Money Mentor of the Year! 🎉

Claire is the founder of Addison Accounts & Training and initially joined Digital Boost as a mentee to get support on her business journey. She soon realised she could give back to the community by sharing her accounting and financing skills so she signed up as a mentor as well!

We’ve got several founders who have decided to become mentors in order to give back to the small business community and we love that our platform allows our mentees to get and give support! It creates a beautiful community and we’re delighted to see so many of our mentees throwing themselves into our mentoring! 🤗

Claire brings her own understanding and compassion as a fellow founder to her sessions. She easily breaks down and explains accounting and finance concepts that can be tricky for first-time founders! We’re grateful to have amazing mentors like Claire volunteering to share their skills to decode accounting and simplify things for small business owners. 🥰

Here’s what Claire’s mentees had to say: 

“I was delighted with the level of service I received today with Digital Boost. I had a mentor session with Claire R who was very accommodating when I requested a change of time. Claire was knowledgeable of the topic I was seeking advice on and I really appreciate the time she gave to the session. I left knowing a lot more and I know this will help me on my journey in setting up my business! Thank you, Claire! 10/10 – I would highly recommend Claire’s services!”

“I had a fantastic first meeting with Claire, and she truly impressed me with her knowledge and approachable, supportive style. I came in with very little understanding of the ins and outs of setting up a limited company, and Claire quickly understood my situation and gave me tailored advice that made everything feel manageable. What I really appreciated was how she guided me to think about the long-term impact of my decisions, rather than just focusing on the immediate steps. Thank you, Claire, for your insight and support!”

Longest serving mentor – Parvez

We love this award as it allows us to celebrate volunteers who have been with us for a long time and continue to consistently support our community 🥰

Parvez joined us through our volunteering programme with our partners at EY back in 2022. 🎉 Since then he’s delivered over 38 hours of mentoring, delivered several Masterclasses, supported us at in-person events, and most recently joined us at our AGM to talk about his experience volunteering with Digital Boost!

Parvez is a true champion of Digital Boost and has been an immense support to us over the years. We’re grateful to have him in our community and be celebrating him this year!

What Parvez’s mentees had to say: 

“Parvez helped me a lot in just one session. The feedback and ideas I received helped me set up and build my CRM and customise my marketing funnel. I have managed to progress a lot thanks to the help I received from Parvez.”

“I feel more confident to make the progression I wanted to before the session. The mentor helped with more than I expected and I’m very happy with the service. I’ll definitely be reaching out to him again.”

All-rounder – Nishanth 

Each year it gets harder and harder to spotlight just one mentor who’s been a true all-rounder for the year BUT Nishanth from the BT team has totally blown us away this year 💫

Nishanth joined us in 2021 through our volunteering programme with our partners at BT. Since then he’s delivered over 114 hours of mentoring, facilitated numerous Masterclasses, hosted workshops for our Small Business Jumpstart programme, and joined us for in-person events too 🥳

If you’ve been lucky enough to meet Nishanth, you’ll know he’s just the loveliest person ever! His energy and enthusiasm for the small business ecosystem is totally infectious. We feel extremely lucky to have had his unwavering support in our community over the past few years! 😊

What Nishanth’s mentees had to say:

“My confidence in getting my campaign off the ground was fueled by Nishanth’s encouragement and sound advice which I have taken on board with gusto! Thanks again”

“Fantastic session with great advice and a clear strategy with which to move forward.”

“It was lovely to connect with Nishanth, not only he was great on the call, but he also introduced me to 2 of his friends/connections, so I’ll be able to learn from them as well.”

Rising star – Charlie 

So many incredible volunteers have joined our community this year and we’re very excited to announce Charlie as our Rising Star of 2024! 

Charlie has had an extensive fashion career, ranging from selling her own collection, Charlie Barley, in stores including House of Fraser and Harrods to writing a regular column in Drapers Tade magazine. 🎉 She now has her own business, Fashion Threads where she helps fashion brands design and produce collections!

Having delivered over 28 hours of mentoring since joining us in July, we’ve been blown away by Charlie’s support and love for our small business community! As a small business owner herself, Charlie brings real-life experience to her mentoring sessions and is a huge hit with our community! We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Charlie in 2025 ✨

What Charlie’s mentees had to say:

“Charlie was a big help today. She explained a lot of concepts in an easy to understand way. She was very generous with her time, and she really wanted to help. I really appreciated that she shared her valuable time with me. It was a great call and I learned so much. Thank you, Charlie!”

“Thank you Charlie for your time and kind advice during our mentoring session. Your advice has been greatly appreciated and I will be implementing the changes we discussed to improve both my website and social feeds to increase brand awareness. Once again thank you for taking time out, especially on a Friday afternoon !!!”

Conclusion

We’re extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful community of volunteers, giving their time to founders and making a difference in the world. 

If you’ve ever volunteered with us, we just want to say a huge thank you – we appreciate you! 

If you’ve been inspired by our Mentors of the Year and would like to join our community of volunteers – we’d love to have you onboard 🥳

back to feed