Being Brave in Business - Bloom North Event

The Candidate is a proud partner of Bloom North, a network on a mission to ensure women have equal opportunity in the communications industry, by harnessing the power of their real voices. Katy Nagy, our Creative Contract Recruitment Manager gives us the low down on the latest Bloom North Event:

I was lucky enough to attend Bloom North’s ‘Being Brave and Taking a Risk’ event recently, and I can hand on heart say it was the best panel I’ve ever been to. I’ve always projected a confident personality but, like everyone, have my own fears and nervousness. The aim of session was to help people find bravery and confidence in their careers, and giving tangible advice to attendees. 

Without a doubt they achieved this objective, at the very least with me and my colleague Natalie, who also attended. Here's how the event unfolded...

Snapshot of the event, hosted at HOME Manchester.

First off, the event was actually face to face – what an alien concept post-COVID! Before the panel started there was plenty of opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and have a cheeky bacon barn and coffee. It was also open on live stream to those who couldn’t make it in the flesh.

The panellists – Jessica Scott, Michelle Vint, Steph Buttery, and Caroline Pankhurst – have all come different backgrounds and each faced their own challenges. Whilst their advice varied, it all married extremely well and ultimately came down to this:

Bravery and confidence looks very different to each of us.

Standing up and giving a presentation to hundreds of people. Setting up your own business. Quitting your job. Telling your family about your next life decision. Even approaching that attractive person in a bar, it’s all bravery in one form or another. We define bravery differently and often find it incredibly hard to identify it in ourselves.

So how can we be brave. How can we overcome that little niggle that is stopping ourselves from succeeding?

Many ways it turns out! Some people like to take a more considered approach, planning out the variables before taking the plunge. Others are very much ‘jump in the pool’ types. It doesn’t matter how you get to the goal though; it’s simply getting there.

And plans change! Steph was taking us through her original business proposal for Chu-Lo Drinks and it how it looks vastly different to what the company now offers. And how we need to rephrase the word ‘failure’ – it always been seen as a set back, when in actual fact it’s an opportunity to learn, grow, upskill, and gain more experience.

Failure is also a way to gain resilience.

(Bloom also hosted a masterclass earlier this year about boosting resilience - you can read our blog about it here.)

A piece advice that really stuck with me is living life on your own terms. If you’re not getting joy or value out of something, it’s time to reassess. And that doesn’t have to happen overnight. It can be a slow burn, it doesn’t have to be a knee jerk decision. Build on those wants and desires, and give yourself a plan to get to your goal.

Stick to your guns. Listen to your gut. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, it brought satisfaction back.

Thank you to Bloom North and all the panelists for such a brilliant event.

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