Open Letter: I left my first meeting with a clear set of actions...

Mikaela Kind started her own business - The Unwaste after redundancy, and with help from The Women's Organisation has never looked back! Read her open letter below to see how we can support you.

Mikaela King, Founder of The Unwaste

I found myself at a career junction when a redundancy opportunity came along having worked at a major retailer for over 20 years -all of my working life. I was really confused and unsure about what my next chapter would look like but I knew one thing for sure, I was enjoying seeing life through a different lens and I wanted to explore what a different work life could look like. 

The Unwaste business model just popped into my head and I mentioned it to a few people and one friend suggested contacting the Women's Organisation for help and advice. I’d always been a massive advocate of anything that helps give women a leg up in the male dominated world of business, so I got in touch without hesitation.   

I had no confidence in my own ability to start a business let alone the business idea itself. I warmed to Jacqueline from the minute we met, she made me feel welcomed, supported and listened to. I left with a clear set of actions to help me figure out how I was going to make this work. And here I am now with my business launched, orders have started to come in and I’ve got a clear plan on what I need to do to keep building my business. 

Having Jacqueline to support, motivate and guide me was invaluable. When I had a wobble in my self confidence, when I hit a brick wall, when I didn’t know what I was doing, when I lacked motivation, Jacqueline helped pick me up, show me the way and offered advice, contacts and ideas to get me back on track and keep momentum going. The training sessions were excellent at helping to ease you into being a business owner without startling you with information overload. The trainers were delightful and the courses enjoyable, plus it was a great opportunity to meet other people in the same boat and to share ideas and help each other. 

There were several moments over the last few months where I was ready to throw in the towel, I was ready to give up because it just felt too hard but knowing I had not just Jacqueline, but the entire Women’s Organisation there to fall back on, made it seem okay to carry on… so I did and I’m so glad and so grateful and would highly recommend them to anybody who is thinking of starting up their own business.

Mikaela King

The Unwaste

For more information about the support available to help start or grow your new business through Enterprise Hub, please contact 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk.