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After a late ADHD diagnosis, Michelle set out on a mission to ensure no one else had to navigate this diagnosis alone. That's how her business, Find Your Spark was born. She spent over a decade building her incredible business whilst juggling freelance roles to sustain the business. It wasn't until she stumbled upon Digital Boost's free business mentoring in 2022 that everything changed.

In just 12 months, Michelle had unlocked clarity, gained accountability and tripled her client base! She now regularly features in press publications, is recognised as a leading expert in her industry, and is helping more people than ever thanks to the support of her mentors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpXhdYVc8UA

A personal diagnosis sparked Michelle's business mission

At the age of 37, Michelle received a late diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Prior to this diagnosis, she had no idea she had ADHD as the condition has historically been misunderstood, particularly in women. Growing up in the 90s, Michelle's condition went under the radar in school as ADHD wasn't recognised by the NHS until 2000. And when it came to Michelle's late diagnosis, ADHD services weren't available to adults so she had to navigate her diagnosis privately.

After going through this experience, Michelle was inspired to start her business in 2011. Initially focusing on young people at risk, Michelle wanted to help young people figure out what unique talents and skills they had and help them find their spark.

Having held down many full-time roles, Michelle realised she was more suited to the self-employed life where she could tap into her creativity, and give herself variety and flexibility and so Find Your Spark was born ✨

Taking the brave leap to self-employed life

Everyone's entrepreneurial journey is different and Michelle's is as unique as her! In 2011, she took the brave leap of faith to start Find Your Spark. She was also able to sustain a part-time freelance role that allowed her to build up her business. She admits that the first 9 months of building Find Your Spark were really tricky, but having that freelance income was a massive help. It gave her the breathing room she needed to build up her client base and increase her income.

By 2022, the business had grown so much that Michelle was able to go all-in on Find Your Spark, give it her full attention, and embark on making her business mission a reality 💪

Those ten years didn't come without doubts and Michelle admits that at times she did think about returning to full-time employment, but her determination saw her through and she kept at it and she's so glad that she did! She now has a thriving business that's helping people around the world and she's where she's meant to be ✨

Joining the #SheMeansBusiness programme and finding Digital Boost

Back in 2022, Michelle took a chance on a free programme run through Meta, the #SheMeansBusiness Bootcamp. Digital Boost partnered with Meta to support the winners and runners-up of their competition, providing a Bootcamp for the winners that featured 1:1 mentoring, exclusive Masterclasses and peer roundtables to help them develop as female founders. Despite not knowing what she'd signed up for, Michelle threw herself into the opportunity headfirst. She attended all of the live sessions and signed up for our free business mentoring.

Before Michelle found Digital Boost, she was being pulled in lots of different directions. She was trying to build her business alongside multiple freelance roles and felt like she wasn't clear about her 'why' or where her business was headed.

She was taking every opportunity open to her to find that clarity, and that's when she met Bethan, her Digital Boost mentor and long-term advisor!

Finding a mentor

When Michelle completed the #SheMeansBusiness Bootcamp, she decided to check out Digital Boost. She was able to immediately request free 1:1 mentoring sessions with experts from BT, NatWest and many other amazing corporations who encourage their employees to share their skills through Digital Boost's volunteering initiative.

Michelle is a big believer in fate and it was absolutely fate on the day that Bethan, a volunteer from Lloyds Banking Group, accepted Michelle's mentoring request! After that initial mentoring session, Bethan agreed to meet Michelle regularly to help support her on her business journey! They have consistently met every fortnight for the last 12 months 💪

The power of ongoing mentoring

When they first began working together, Michelle would come to the sessions with a rough list of what was going well with her business and what was not going so well. When they first started meeting in 2022, the 'not going well list' was quite a bit longer than the 'going well list'. As they've continued to work together, the 'not so good' list has all but disappeared! They have now begun working together on more strategy-focused sessions. Bethan is helping Michelle to figure out her offering, developing her programmes and pricing so that everything is strategic and not pulling Michelle in too many directions, whilst still maintaining the growth and momentum that Michelle is striving for.

Before Michelle met Bethan, she says herself that she had so many ideas that normally, she'd just do them all. Everything would be scattered and there'd be no thought process behind them, just action and reaction. But now she has Bethan's guidance, Michelle is carefully considering her ideas and thinking before she acts. She is moulding them to her ideal clients and marketing them in the right way. This clarity and structure have made Michelle's life so much easier! As well as freeing up her time, she is ensuring everything she puts out aligns with her brand and her audience's needs, which is a huge win!

A free 6-week programme unlocked the final piece of the jigsaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6QqzmB8vyM

Whilst receiving this ongoing mentoring, Michelle once again by chance saw an opportunity for more support. In collaboration with BT, we launched a brand new 6-week Jumpstart programme. The programme offered in-depth support designed to get small businesses back on track.

Michelle stumbled across the application on Instagram and thought, why not go for it? The programme took Michelle on a journey where she was able to get back to basics. She reconsidered her business mission, her ideal clients, and her marketing and finance options.

For Michelle, the structure of the programme was key to unlocking new success for her business. As a solopreneur, the weekly homework tasks kept Michelle on track, adding much-needed accountability to help her achieve her goals. She received invaluable feedback from the programme team, as well as support from BT's mentors. They helped her go deeper into the content and answer some longstanding questions she'd had about her business.

Rethinking Michelle's ideal client

One of these longstanding questions was, who is my ideal client? When she first started out, Michelle wanted to support young people at risk and help them unlock confidence. But as her business evolved and as she dug deeper into her own experience with ADHD, she felt called to add more of that into her offering. She realised she was in danger of becoming a jack of all trades, master of none.

That was until Michelle was able to reflect on her ideal client in the Jumpstart programme. She was guided to consider niching down in her business. When she considered who she truly wanted to support, she discovered that was parents of children diagnosed with ADHD. This would allow her to still support young people but in a way that she was never supported. She wanted to educate others earlier on! This was a lightbulb moment for Michelle, and once she honed in on this niche, her client base tripled!

She realised that having this niche didn't mean having fewer clients, it meant having more of the right clients. And once she'd made that mindset shift, she unlocked a new level of her business.

Leaning into Michelle's niche

When leaning into her niche, Michelle experienced some naysayers who questioned whether it was the right decision for her business. When you're a solo founder, it can be really hard to drown out the noise and not take on the opinions of others. But luckily, Michelle had Bethan's encouragement to tune into her intuition and do what's right for her and her business! With Bethan's encouragement, Michelle has stayed the course and is now turning clients away because she's so busy! She features regularly in the press having established herself as a leading voice in the ADHD support and coaching space.

The future of Find Your Spark

Michelle is now clear that her mission is to support as many people as possible with their ADHD diagnosis, and she's ready to continue growing Find Your Spark to make this dream a reality. Michelle regularly delivers ADHD support workshops and offers coaching and resources to her community, you can follow her journey here.

We're so proud to have been a part of Michelle's journey! We're delighted that our mentors and free programmes have been able to support Michelle at every stage of her journey. She's an absolute powerhouse of an entrepreneur and we look forward to continue supporting and cheering her on on her journey!

If you resonate with Michelle's story and want to unlock this clarity and growth, you can join our community and access free mentoring here.

Find a business mentor

Mentoring can be a daunting concept. You won't be alone in thinking "Oh that's not for me, I don't have enough experience to be a mentor". But at Digital Boost, we see mentoring a little differently.

We prefer to think of it as a conversation where you share your skills and experience with someone who needs some help. No one knows everything, but everyone knows something they can share with someone else. Does that sound more like something you could do?

Let's dive into what makes an amazing business mentor, the key skills you're going to need, and how you can get started on your mentoring journey 🚀

Who can be a business mentor?

Guess what? There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. At Digital Boost, we believe that anyone with a willingness to make a positive impact can be a mentor. Whether you're a seasoned professional working in the corporate space, a tech guru, a creative genius, or own your own business, your unique experiences and insights can be invaluable to someone seeking guidance to grow their business.

Mentorship transcends age, gender, and background - it's all about the willingness to share, listen, and uplift. So, if you have a genuine desire to help others thrive and the humility to learn from your mentees as well, you're already halfway there! 🤗

What makes a great mentor?

Passion for Sharing: A great mentor is someone who has a genuine passion for sharing knowledge. Whether it's providing specific industry advice, offering entrepreneurial guidance, or unravelling complex concepts - when you're excited to share your knowledge, it's contagious! When mentees feel that excitement, they become inspired and more confident as they embark on their business journey.
Active Listening Skills: The best mentors are good listeners. They listen to their mentees' needs, concerns, and aspirations, creating a safe space for open and honest conversations. Taking an empathetic approach to mentoring allows you to build trust with your mentees and give them the support they need.
Patience: Being a good mentor means understanding that not everyone has the same experiences or learns at the same pace, and that's okay! Great mentors lead their sessions with patience and empathy, understanding that growth takes time and will look different for each mentee.
Constructive Feedback: As a mentor, you need to be able to give feedback that's both insightful and constructive. It's important to guide your mentee towards new ways of thinking, without impacting their confidence. Great mentors will be able to deliver feedback in a way that's positive and nurturing.
Encouragement and Motivation: Being a mentor isn't just about providing knowledge; it's about being a cheerleader for your mentees! Great mentors offer encouragement, nudging mentees past self-doubt and inspiring them to continue chasing their goals.

Your journey to becoming a mentor

So, how can you kickstart your journey as a mentor? Here's how to get started:

Choose your skills: We've all got skills that will help others and often, we don't even realise they are skills! Think about what you do for a living, what skills you do daily that are specific to your job, and what you've picked up over the course of your career - what can you share with others? People often say that being a mentor helps their confidence and this is one of the reasons why! You'll be surprised how much you have to share. 💖
Decide what type of mentoring you want to do - Think about what kind of mentoring you want to do. Do you prefer one-off conversations or building an ongoing mentoring relationship? At Digital Boost, we offer both! Think about how much time you want to give, and when you can fit it into your schedule. 🤔
Find a platform: Mentoring is becoming more popular and there's now a community out there that will suit every mentor! Whether you're looking to offer business mentoring (as we do at Digital Boost) or you're looking to mentor young people from underprivileged backgrounds, a quick scan of Google will be the best starting point for finding an opportunity that's right for you!
Look for training opportunities - Many mentoring platforms will offer training and development opportunities (like Digital Boost's Mentor Training course) that will help you become an amazing mentor AND benefit your career too.

Conclusion

In the words of Mandy Bailey, one of our volunteer mentors from our partners at Royal Bank of Scotland's MentorMatch programme, if you've got a skill, you can be a mentor! Mentoring isn't just about expertise, it's about human connection and having a passion to see people excel. At Digital Boost, we firmly believe that mentorship has the power to drive positive change in the digital world and beyond.

If you've reached the end of this blog post, we're confident you've got the passion and skills to become one of our volunteer mentors! Click here to join our community and find out more about our mentoring mission 👇

Become a mentor

It is an incredibly hard time to be a small business owner. Businesses that have been trading for years are struggling more than ever. Together with our partners at BT, we have created Small Business Jumpstart, a six-week programme designed to help micro-businesses get unstuck. 🚀 We held the first of these programmes in May and June this year!

Unlocking growth

The aim of Small Business Jumpstart is to give small business owners strategies and practical tips for growing their businesses. Through a combination of hands-on workshops, expert mentorship, and useful templates, we equipped businesses with the tools and knowledge needed to create their personal action plan, overcome their obstacles, and unlock growth!

The six sessions, which lasted one and a half hours each, covered business strategy, branding, marketing, customer service, and finance. Each one, hosted by volunteers from BT, included a workbook of templates and breakout activities, where the business owners could put what they learnt into practice and get and give feedback to each other, creating a supportive and encouraging community. 💖

Tailored support at every step

One of the key features of the programme and core principles of Digital Boost is that our support is tailored to each business. To support the live sessions, participants also had 1:1 mentoring sessions with our expert volunteer mentors, who offered insights, feedback, and direction throughout the journey. Participants submitted homework each week to get tailored and actionable feedback every step of the way! 🎯 We're thrilled that our participants have since continued meeting with mentors after the programme has ended as they continue to implement everything they learnt 🤗

Giving small businesses a Jumpstart

We create our programmes for small businesses, so feedback and suggestions are so important to us. We want to make sure we're serving the right support in the right way. Throughout the programme, participants shared helpful suggestions, which we implemented as we went along and glowing feedback at the end! 🤩

Here's what Michelle from Find Your Spark said about the programme:

https://youtu.be/T6QqzmB8vyM

🚀 "The jumpstart programme is one of the best I have been on. 100% recommended to sign up for!!!" - Michelle from Find Your Spark

🎉 "Participating in the Jumpstart programme was a fantastic learning experience. It really helped to consolidate my thinking and helped me structure a strategy. Met some great people as well. Time well spent. Return on investment 100% plus" - Michael from Abceder

🤩 "I’ve learnt so much. I’ve already sent out my first newsletter and put things I’ve learnt into place!" - Seena from Bottlebee

We're so pleased with the feedback and we are really looking forward to seeing the long-term impact over the next few months as the businesses continue to grow and thrive! 🚀

Future opportunities for a Jumpstart!

We have received a lot of interest in Small Business Jumpstart, so we are currently running our second cohort with plans for more to come soon! 🥳 Make sure you have subscribed to our newsletter to be the first to know when applications open! 🤗 Until then, you can access free 1:1 mentoring with our expert volunteer mentors who can help you grow!

Connect with a mentor

Meet Chris, our Mentor of the Month for August! 🎉

Chris has been one of our volunteer mentors for over a year now and in that time has run over 30 mentoring sessions and hosted group Masterclasses too 💪

Chris is such a huge support to our community so we're excited to have the chance to celebrate him today! Get to know Chris here 👇

Where are you based in the world?

London, England 🇬🇧

What's your day job?

Founder of Polything Marketing Consultancy

What's one thing you're amazing at?

Deconstructing complex business challenges and formulating relevant strategies to achieve success

What do you love about mentoring small businesses and charities?

Seeing individuals and companies thrive and grow

If you could start your own business, what would it be and why?

I'd like to start a coaching and consultancy business for Neurodiverse founders, and entrepreneurs

What's one top tip you always share with small businesses

Keep things simple and focus on the most important resource, your time.

What song gets you on the dance floor? 💃

https://open.spotify.com/track/6hHc7Pks7wtBIW8Z6A0iFq?si=dacde472027e47db

What's your party trick?

Solving a Rubix Cube

If you could sit next to one famous person at a dinner party (dead or alive) who would you choose?

Oliver Sachs

What Chris's mentees have to say 👇

"We had a very inspiring talk about where I am, and where I would like to be. Chris has great knowledge and some shared experience, and was very empathic and positive about strategy for the future."

Douglas, Douglas Hartington

"Chris was great - super knowledgable and was able to tailor his advice to my level of understanding, with some excellent tips and take-outs. Thank you!"
Ellie, Ellie Good Illustration

Read Ellie's Digital Boost success story here

Chris is one of our top mentors and offers mentoring in business strategy, digital marketing, social media marketing and more!

Connect with Chris

Meet Gail, owner of Pack Holidays and our Digital Boost Member of the Month! 🥳

Gail joined us at the start of 2023 and we've loved seeing her business grow since then. She's gone from strength to strength, and as a team of dog lovers 🐾, we've loved seeing Pack Holidays grow into an amazing business thanks to Gail's passion and energy 🥰

We caught up with Gail to find out more about her business journey and how mentoring has helped her on that journey 🚀

Tell us a little bit about your business

I own Pack Holidays, a dog friendly holiday rental company with cottages in Norfolk, Scotland and The Peak District. I was inspired to start my business as I have three dogs and finding truly dog welcoming properties where dogs are catered for, allowed everywhere in cottages and are welcomed, rather than tolerated, were few and far between. So I decided to do it myself in 2016 ....and here we are now!

📸 www.packholidays.co.uk

What's your favourite thing about being a small business owner?

Flexibility and people!

Let's chat about your business journey...

I started with one cottage (my own) and have grown organically since 2016. Key recipe for success and repeat business is EXCELLENT customer service, excellent products and genuine customer care every step of the way.

What made you decide to join Digital Boost?

To hopefully help others and to learn from others too

And finally, what's been the proudest moment with your business?

The demand exceeding supply in a difficult market this year

Gail came to Digital Boost through our friends at Small Business Britain and we're so happy that they introduced us to Gail!

We're so inspired by Gail's story and we love the passion that she's brought to her business - we can't wait to see even more holiday lets join the Pack Holidays family 🥳

Gail has had free business mentoring from experts like Jamie and left amazing feedback about her experience 👇

Really appreciate the advice, support, honesty and candour! Thank you so much! Lovely to speak to someone as motivated, determined and challenging as me!
Gail, Pack Holidays

If you'd love to experience the power of our free business mentoring and see how much it can change your business, find out more here 👇

Free Business Mentoring

We love celebrating the wins from our community, so we're delighted to be sharing Michael's story today!

Michael is the founder of WhichDays, a digital tool revolutionising physical networking in the era of hybrid working 💪

In 2022, Michael had the chance to experience a Digital Boost Mentoring Day in collaboration with our partners at Visa and the experience totally changed the game for him and his business 🚀

📸 www.whichdays.com/

A Vision for Better Work-Life Balance

Michael has always been fascinated by the world of work and the ways it's changed and evolved over time. Having had a long career as a consultant, he knew the power that networking could have! But in a hybrid working world, he noticed that networking wasn't evolving with the new landscape.

Having wished hybrid working had been an option earlier in his career, he's on a mission to create a world where we have a better work-life balance that doesn't compromise your network 💪

Creating a purposeful business

With more of the workforce displaced due to hybrid and work-from-home roles, Michael set out to create a platform that allows people to build their networks in an organic way, going beyond the superficial connections of traditional networking sites.

"The heart of WhichDays is to help people coincide, socially, and in and around work," Michael explains.

Shaking things up with Visa

At the end of 2022, Michael had the opportunity to join a Mentoring Day that we ran in collaboration with our partners at Visa. Along with 5 other mentees, Michael was invited to join the European Senior Leadership team for an intimate virtual Mentoring Day.

Each mentee was assigned their own personal mentoring team for the workshop and across the day, Michael and his Visa team took a deep dive into WhichDays 🥳

They analysed everything from business strategy, to obstacles, to how his audience would adopt the platform - shaking up Michael's thinking and leaving him with food for thought.

"It was just really good to connect with somebody who is clearly higher up in their game, and considerably younger than I am. Somebody who engaged with the proposition and gave it a good shaking!"

Although Michael was put through his paces by the Visa team, he left with a new found energy.

He said, "it's the buzz you get of engaging with somebody around something that is precious to you and that you put a lot of intellectual effort into it, and seeing them also engage with a similar level of intellectual effort - that is very satisfying"

The Path Forward

WhichDays is just getting started, but the lessons Michael has learned and the encouragement he received from his Digital Boost mentors have been instrumental in making progress. As he continues to develop and refine the platform, Michael believes in the power of challenging discussions and constructive feedback.

"I found Digital Boost and the session we did with these [mentors] immensely useful because, despite all [my] experience, I'm still learning, as is everybody. It's interesting how Digital Boost and the sessions can provide a boost to people who are early in their entrepreneurial careers or much further into them, it doesn't really matter," Michael noted.

https://youtu.be/6i-khIyHZYU

We're so unbelievably proud of Michael and the journey he's been on since he joined our community 🥰

We love sharing stories like these because they show just how powerful mentoring is! Whether you're new to your journey, or you're a seasoned entrepreneur like Michael, everyone can benefit from having a small business mentor in their life 🙌

Find out more about our free business mentoring here 🚀

After spending nearly a decade steadily building her voiceover business, in 2022 Blanche was ready to take the leap and go full-time in her business. With the support of the London Business Hub and the mentoring she received from Digital Boost, Blanche has been able to go all-in on her business this year, setting big new goals and forming a plan of action to make her dreams a reality!

https://youtu.be/aAE4btrE_S0

An unlikely career path

Having studied acting at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, Blanche was ready to make her way in the world of acting. While auditioning and working with agents, a chance comment from a fellow actor sent her down a new path of voice acting. It was something she’d never considered before but she gave it a go and fell in love with it!

Juggling a side hustle

With voice acting as her side hustle, Blanche knew she needed to work other jobs whilst she built up her client base and business. When she first started out she was temping in Harrods, but quickly fell into a job as a full-time executive headhunter. Blanche says that she was extremely lucky to find this job as she enjoyed the work and they were very understanding about her side hustle. They allowed her to choose her own hours and juggle it around her acting! Blanche loved the variety that her day job and side hustle both brought, but eventually, her business grew so much that she suddenly realised that she was getting so busy she could no longer juggle both! So in 2022, she took the leap and went full-time into her business.

Looking for support

When she first went full-time in her business, Blanche realised that she had the creative stuff nailed down, but as a first-time business owner, she needed support with her strategy to really drive her business forward.

A friend introduced Blanche to London Business Hub’s Wayfinder programme - a free local service that supports microbusinesses to find the right support to grow their business. Through this service, Blanche was matched with a business advisor and was able to access 12 hours of 1:1 support which really helped her to start thinking strategically about her business. As part of that service, Blanche was directed to Digital Boost as she needed more specialist support with her website and overall business strategy.

First impressions of Digital Boost

At first, Blanche admits she was sceptical about signing up for Digital Boost’s free business mentoring. She was wary of other programmes where “free” really meant free until you bought more services from the company! However, she took a chance and booked her first session and had an amazing experience with her mentor, Alvaro. Her confidence grew and she booked more 1:1s and even joined live Masterclasses to learn as much as she could from Digital Boost. She now calls herself Digital Boost's biggest fan and recommends us to everyone she comes across!

The one thing Blanche couldn’t believe was how much value Digital Boost's mentors deliver in just 60 minutes! She says that she was blown away by how invested each and every one of her mentors were in her business and how much they truly cared about seeing her succeed 🧡

Moving from plateaued to action

When Blanche started her business all those years ago, her BIG goal was to become a full-time voiceover artist. But having achieved that in 2022, she started to feel a little plateaued and unsure how to move forward. But luckily, Blanche's mentors knew exactly how to support her, guiding her to find clarity in her ideas, helping her to develop her website and messaging and ultimately helping her to set new big goals to achieve!

A dream website

When Blanche booked her first mentoring session with Digital Boost, she was initially looking for help with her branding and logo. Whilst her amazing mentor Alvaro (volunteering through the help of our partners at Apple) was able to support her with her logo questions, he also identified that Blanche's website needed a bit of TLC.

Having identified a disconnect between Blanche's messaging and her website, Alvaro was able to help Blanche figure out what message she actually wanted to share with her customers! He supported her as she began to make tweaks and changes to her website and now, after lots of hard work from Blanche, she has a website that she's 'proud' of!

Moving forward

Having nailed her website, Blanche has set her sights on SEO and email marketing, meeting with our mentors to really dig deeper on these goals and connect with her audience. She’s been able to send her very first newsletter, focusing on segmenting her audience for better personalisation and is already gearing up to send her next email as we speak!

And on top of this, she’s also been able to create a strategy plan for her business! She’s worked with our mentors to really sift through all her creative ideas and knuckle down on what ideas are going to actually move her business forward. Analysis paralysis is something a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with as it can be difficult to figure out which idea to do first. But with the support of our mentors, Blanche has now created new goals and has a clear plan of action to help her achieve them 💪

Celebrating milestones

At the beginning of 2023, Blanche was named winner of the Best Radio Promotion Performance at the One Voice Awards! This was a huge milestone moment for Blanche as she was already speaking as a guest on one of the panels, so to be recognised as one of their winners was the cherry on top. Being recognised as one of the leaders in her industry is just the start for Blanche, and with her next big goal on the horizon, we’re excited to keep supporting her on her journey and celebrating her every step of the way.

📸 @scottishblanche

If you've been inspired by Blanche's story just know that this success is possible for you and your business too 💫

Every day founders join our community feeling stuck and overwhelmed and, in just a couple of mentoring sessions, they overcome their challenges and get on track for success 💪

Whether you need mentoring in business strategy, Facebook Ads, or Fundraising, our mentors are here to help 🤗 And it's all totally free of charge!

Find out more here

Meet Ceren, our Mentor of the Month for July! 🎉

Since joining us back in March as part of Bloomberg's volunteering programme, she has had a HUGE impact on our community 🥰 Ceren is one of our highest-rated mentors and most recently hosted her first Masterclass for us - which was a total success 🥳

We're so excited to be celebrating Ceren today - get to know her here 👇