Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Katie Allen, Founding Director of Katie Allen Consulting Limited, located in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am on a mission to create an inclusive leadership movement that will positively change workplace cultures, create sustainable and successful businesses, and improve the lives of ALL people. I work with leaders at all levels, and the functions that support them, to educate, engage and inspire confident action.
Tell us about yourself
For a large part of my working life, I have been one of a few women in male-dominated spaces, especially when I occupied senior leadership positions. Having felt disempowered to drive real inclusive change, I left a successful role as a commercial leader to retrain in HR as I believed I would have more impact in that function. Not only did I find out this was not true, but I also found myself contributing to and responsible for upholding some of the policies and business decisions that were actively exclusive for underrepresented groups. Not my finest decision. Fortunately, I was presented with an opportunity that would enable me to leave the corporate world altogether and to invest my time, energy, and focus as a consultant to organisations and individuals who wanted to do real inclusion work and make meaningful and long lasting change. And this is what gets me out of bed every day. Working as a coach and adviser to people who are as passionate about equity and inclusion as I am.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The obvious answer to this is being lucky enough to deliver a TEDx talk on my passion topic of allyship because we're all conditioned into thinking that's the dream. And don't get me wrong, it was an incredible experience, and I hope to do it again too! But the real accomplishment that I feel in my heart has been to establish genuine and meaningful connections with so many people who also work in this space and who are completely different from me.
Being a business owner has given me the space to choose who I want to work with, who I want to collaborate with, and who I want to partner with. That freedom of choice is liberating. I have met so many interesting people I am now lucky enough to call my friends. This would not have been possible had I not created my own business.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The hardest thing for me as a business owner has been delegation! I'm completely courageous when it comes to conversations and pushing boundaries, but if you ask me to put someone else in charge of my decision-making, I get super nervous. It took me quite a while to realise that I didn't need to understand the ins and outs of vat registration, website design, and social media. I could partner with the people who were the actual specialists, and they could support me! Just because I'm a solo business owner does not mean I'm alone. And supporting other solo business owners by engaging with them for their unique talents made life so much easier.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- If you can see a gap where you can serve people in a way they are currently being ignored - definitely pursue it! It can be terrifying to put your faith in only yourself - but you have been blessed with the idea, and only you can make it happen. So why would you bet on anyone else?!
- Network, network, network! And I don't mean just turning up to events and selling. I mean, grow a community of people you enjoy being around, and don't shy away from opportunities to bring more people in. Have meaningful conversations about how you can help people and how they can help you. Your network and your reputation within it are so powerful, especially if the support can flow in both directions.
- Be yourself. People will buy what you're selling if they need it. But they will buy from you because they like YOU. You don't have to be the biggest or the best in your space; you only have to be right for that person. Being yourself will allow you to attract those that are right for you - and you'll grow a loyal and supportive following in no time.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.katieallenconsulting.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieallenconsulting/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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