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Ready to be put ‘out to grass’? Or not! Part 2 of 2.

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This is a 2-part blog by Peter Wilford about supporting Finance Directors (FDs) to consider about whether to retire or not, and how a portfolio career can be a good career choice for the pre retirement life stag.

This is part 2.

The rest of this blog is in Peter’s own words.

Read part 1

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/ready-to-be-put-out-to-grass-or-not-part-1-of-2/

How we help our clients

Success comes from a number of factors.

We help our clients to develop a Plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ for their job search and marketing activity.

Each plan is carefully crafted and the priorities assessed. 

This gives the Financial Director (FD) confidence that he / she is not putting all their career ‘eggs in one basket’. This is especially important for the uncertain times in which we live.

We coach them at every stage and act as a sounding board to keep them on track.

Career plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’

Typically, career Plan ‘A’ might involve securing 2-3 pieces of paid consultancy work – often with an SME and where they were not likely to be seen as a threat to the incumbent CEO or Financial Director, but are able to add significant bottom line value. 

Career Plan ‘B‘ might be to focus on obtaining some interim work, particularly if they have already worked in a sector where interims are required and / or in a Senior Finance project role.

Career Plan ‘C’ might be to set up their own business and to create a web site and look at building a portfolio career to include typically:

  • non-executive director (NED) work
  • mentoring of younger finance professionals
  • voluntary work
  • paid consultancy projects.  

Also perhaps:

  • supporting a friend in their local area with their own business, to broaden their experience, leading to new future opportunities.

Age bias towards employing 50somethings

Securing a full-time role as a finance director (FD) in a large organisation in your 50’s is both difficult and extremely time consuming, unless you have a strong business network and very well-established head-hunter contacts.

Opportunities for an FD to get work more easily lie in the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.

Finding your niche and how we help

One FD client, whose experience was both corporate and SME based, identified that his niche market was medical devices companies.

We worked together to write 2-3 compelling direct approach letters and he drew up a list of 50 SME organisations within an agreed geographical area.  

The letter was strong.

His value add proposition was convincing.

We coached him to be thoroughly interview prepared.

The result was a series of interviews with the MD / CEO of medical device companies.  

Proactively helping our clients

We are proactive in our approach, providing a bespoke service, unlike the large career management companies/outplacement organisations which can be ‘sausage machine’ in nature, and relying primarily on on-line career portals and a standardized approach. One size does not fit all.

Ways in which we help our clients

We go the extra mile at Energise for our clients. Ways in which we support them include:

  • Introducing them to relevant contacts in our own networks
  • Encouraging them to adopt a proactive approach to marketing, often in new areas and outside their comfort zone
  • Getting them to think ‘outside of the box’, for example to approach their Professional Institute e.g. ICAEW for possible mentoring
  • Encouraging them to attend industry conferences to broaden/widen their network
  • Sharpening up their technical skills
  • Pointing them to non executive director (NED) membership organisations.
  • Invited them to our local Institute of Director (IoD) group
  • Introducing them to local employers
  • Helping them build up their lists of head-hunters and to learn how to manage these conversations to the best effect

The result

All our clients have now been either placed or are enjoying a new phase of their working life.

Some have been introduced to our Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) contacts for fresh support with financial planning. 

Several have kept in touch.

Our clients have told us that they would not have known what to do without our help, coaching, senior experience and reassurance.

More

‘The 100-year life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: http://www.100yearlife.com/

‘The new long life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: https://thenewlonglife.com/

‘Future skills for a life-long competitive advantage part 1’ for the award-winning Future of Work Hub: https://www.futureofworkhub.info/comment/2019/3/22/future-skills-for-a-life-long-competitive-advantage-part-1

‘Future skills for a life-long competitive advantage part 2’ for the award-winning Future of Work Hub: https://www.futureofworkhub.info/comment/2019/6/26/future-skills-for-a-life-long-competitive-advantage-part-2

Ready to be ‘put out to grass’? Or not! Part 1 of 2.

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This is a 2-part blog by Peter Wilford about supporting Finance Directors to consider about retiring or not. This is part 1.

The rest of this blog is in Peter’s own words.

Context of this blog

I have worked with a number of Finance Directors, FCA qualified, mostly in their 50’s, who had left their last company, either through redundancy or via a mutual settlement agreement. 

They had been provided with a set number of hours and sessions of dedicated outplacement support, the term for ‘career coaching’ provided by organisations making staff redundant and through a benevolent fund, and I was their chosen career coach.

Initial issues and challenges

In every single case, my clients said that they had no wish to retire from work yet.

Many said that they could retire if they chose with their strong pension portfolios and other investments.

They were all uncertain about their options next after having had long and successful commercial careers.

Exiting corporate life is a major career crossroads.  Working with an experienced career coach is invaluable at this crucial decision point. Especially an experienced one, who has worked with many senior executives.

Lack of awareness of transferable skills.

In almost every case, they had no clear appreciation of:

  • their transferable skills
  • how the job market worked
  • where their options lay within finance
  • and outside finance.

Of course, they hadn’t needed to!

This can be a very daunting experience for people who have always worked in one profession.

You can only know what you know!

They had been siloed and sheltered working in the corporate world for many years and were now thrust into the open, in effect a boat without a captain to steer it, with no route planned and no rudder.

This can create a crisis of confidence and be stressful – venturing into the unknown!

Career options

Becoming a non-executive director (NED) is a common option considered at this point.

Also doing some voluntary or charity work and enjoying a slower pace of life and improved work life balance. A portfolio career can provide a gentle ‘slope’ to retirement, rather than a sudden ‘cliff’ stopping a long working life abruptly, just because they had reached a certain age.

Almost without exception, they all wanted to move on from working with large organisations and away from the ‘corporate treadmill’.

Lack of awareness about their brand and marketability

Few had any real appreciation of their USP (unique selling proposition) i.e. what made them unique in the market place.

Even fewer had clarity about a target organisation that they would like to work with, and how to go about marketing how they could help, or what services they could offer of value.

A common view, perhaps because they had been in the structure of corporate life,

Some had a degree of arrogance mixed with naivety that they would ‘get something soon’. This is not a criticism, just a consequence of having been ‘cushioned’ in corporate life.

Lead time to create a new role

I had to point out to them, that most people will take 18 months on average, to secure their first non-executive director (NED) role.

Also, that if they wanted to do interim/contract work, the key issue in the mind of the interim recruiter would be “has he or she done interim work before?” and that in reality those who had would be on top of the pile of shortlisted candidates.

In the current Covid-19 market in 2021, recruitment lead times are longer, with companies risk-averse about increasing fixed costs. They also have a large pool of high quality candidates from which to choose from.

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are a pre-requisite for success and are becoming more important with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and automation, predicted to increase massively in the next 5 years.

Many Financial Directors (FDs) and senior Finance professionals are brilliant at numeracy and numbers.

Words and people are, understandably, not their best strength.

Also, whilst they bring commerciality, few are competent at marketing themselves. They have never had to.

Like lawyers, FDs, are qualified and trained to do a specific job, from their early career, and in the past this has not included pitching. 

One or two of my clients have been the exception to this norm and they have invariably secured commercial work more easily, possessing this experience, securing both full and part time roles.

Compelling CV and achievements

Some FD’s had some semblance of a CV, few have though about and been able to articulate strong and compelling achievements.

I had not expected them to know about a Skills CV and where and why they should have it in their ‘marketing tool kit’. All of them quickly saw its benefit, especially when approaching the unadvertised job market.

The beginning of the career coaching journey

Because of the above factors, the starting point of career coaching therefore, is ‘starting from scratch’ and having a conversation about their career and what they had accomplished. 

Pitching themselves

Many FD’s were not used to or skilled at pitching, and many were poor at networking or rusty at it.

This was because they had not needed to do it in their corporate careers, or because they just didn’t have the natural personality and / or the skills to identify and grow their network.

We had to work together on this as we did on giving them a proactive LinkedIn profile.

Part 2 of this 2 part blog ‘Ready to be ‘put out to grass’? Or not! Part 1 of 2.’

More

‘The 100 year life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: http://www.100yearlife.com/

‘The new long life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: https://thenewlonglife.com/

Peter Wilford’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwilford/

Client testimonials: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/testimonials/

Why choose us? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/talent-liberation/

Blog – How does career coaching work? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/how-does-career-coaching-work/

How to improve your self-esteem in 2021 – 12 powerful tips – Part 1 of 2

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This is a 2-part blog by Peter Wilford. This is Part 1.

As we start a new year, I have reflected on some of the clients we have worked with recently who have low self-esteem which has, typically, come from any one of the following reasons:

  • Recent job loss
  • Redundancy and the way it was managed by the organisation
  • Lack of progress and slow results when looking for a new job
  • Low confidence and self-belief due to a disability, an ongoing mental illness or a specific personal situation (a client who suffers from ADHD)
  • Feeling of low self-worth

This has clearly impacted on their career as well as their personal life.

Having a high opinion about yourself, who you are and what you do and, basically, a love for yourself is often one of the things that people miss or have too little of in today’s society.

TIP 1. 

Start to say “stop” to your ‘inner critic’.

A good starting point to help increase your self-esteem is to learn how to handle and to replace the voice of your own ‘inner critic’.  We all have an inner critic.  How well are you managing yours?

It does two things. It can spur you on to get things done or to achieve things more and to gain acceptance from the main people who are in your life. But at the same time it can drag your self-esteem down. What would you prefer to use it for?

TIP 2.

Put into action healthier motivation habits.

To make your inner critic less useful, that ‘internal voice’ weaker, and at the same time motivate yourself to take action and with it raise your self-esteem, it certainly helps to have and regularly use healthy motivation habits.  Start to think about what motivation habit will work for you and introduce it into your life and daily routine.

TIP 3.

Take a 2 minute self-appreciation break.

This is a very simple and easy to gain habit.  If you spend just two minutes working on it every day for a month you will find that it can make a real difference. Take a deep breath, slow down and ask yourself this question: what are 3 things I like and most appreciate and value about myself?

TIP 4.

Write down the 3 things that you like and can most appreciate about yourself.

Do this again in the evening. Combining the two of them can be really powerful to help you gain two self-esteem boosts every day.

Contact us for your free 20 minute consultation to explore how we can help you: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Why I love being a career coach Part 2 – Peter Wilford

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This is a 2 part blog by Peter Wilford. This is part 2.

Read part 1: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-i-love-being-a-career-coach-part-1-peter-wilford/

Giving people focus.

As a Career Coach we need to be flexible in our style and approach to each client and their specific and unique requirements. Clients also need to know where they are going and how to get there. I am naturally structured and like to give clients a focus so that they know that they are following a clear path and can see and track their progress along the way.

This does not work for everyone of course and nor should it. When I get feedback that “you gave me a real focus to everything we did which was hugely beneficial” I know that I have delivered. I enjoy working to agreed deadlines and keeping people on song!

Positive Testimonials.

We all like getting feedback from people we work with.  I have had many fantastic testimonials over the years from happy clients and this has been great. Many of them have kept in touch with me and I with them long after they have finished a programme.

Some have been with me for over 10 years and they have referred other people to me.  I am always very driven and professional with my clients and don’t expect feedback without fully deserving it but it is still good to hear that my work has helped them in some way.  

Getting results.

This is always motivational. For many clients a good result is not purely getting a new job. It can be to recover from a bad redundancy experience, discover new skills and undertake further training, fulfil a life-long dream to set up a business, get feedback from a successful presentation or land an interim assignment.

I especially enjoy when the outcome is different from our initial assessment and the client has surprised themselves and proved themselves completely wrong by moving into an area of work that they had never imagined in their wildest dreams would be where they would end up.

Read why I love career coaching by Rachel Brushfield: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-i-love-career-coaching-rachel-brushfield/

Why I love being a career coach Part 1 – Peter Wilford

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This is a 2 part blog by Peter Wilford. This is part 1.

Understanding people and what makes them tick.
I love meeting people for the first time and getting to know their unique story. I enjoy finding out what makes them tick and why they do the work that they have chosen to do. I like having these conversations outside work, at dinner parties, over a coffee or when meeting someone new.

My innate personality and interests underpin this. I have become very self-aware from doing many psychometric assessments during my HR and Training career and that has made me even more fascinated by other people and inquisitive about them. As well as this I have always had a genuine interest in others and I like to feel that I can quickly put people at ease with my warmth and openness – also with my humour!

The fact that I can do this professionally is a fantastic bonus and that is why when I first became a career coach at age 42, I realised that I was doing something that I really enjoy.

Making a difference.
There is no doubt that I have helped to change people’s lives, both directly and indirectly, through the work that I do and that this is very rewarding and a driver for me. It can be in many ways. It may be by helping them to secure a new position against the odds, encouraging them to go it alone and set up a new business or just to give them a focus and new sense of self-worth when their confidence and self-esteem has been at a low point.

I have seen visible changes in people for example when they see what they have really achieved at work captured effectively in their CV, learnt some fresh insights into their personality which make them realise what is unique about them and why then can change direction in their careers or just by helping them nail a job interview and convert it into an offer. I enjoy every new success and this has spurred me on to the next challenge.

Variety.
No two clients are the same and no two days are identical. I enjoy that. At any one point I can be working with 15 or more clients from across the whole of life and society. I used to have a saying that my clients varied from “Bankers to Ballerinas, Lawyers to Florists” and that is true.

Recently, I have been working with a CEO of a Mid-sized Pharma company, a recruitment consultant who wants to move into Risk Management, a fresh graduate who is rudderless, A change management consultant in Financial Services, a Criminal Lawyer who is developing a portfolio career, a Senior Payments executive, an Insurance Underwriter who is the other side of the world, a publishing specialist who is looking to work freelance, a Chief of Staff in the Retail sector, and a virtual PA. As well as this I have 10-15 outplacement clients all moving on from recent or pending redundancy.

I have learned to switch quickly from client to client during the day and provide a seamless level of support to each one. All of this is motivational and enjoyable. I also do some other work as well as Career Coaching and that gives me fresh focus when I return to my real passion.

Read Why I love career coaching by Rachel Brushfield: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-i-love-career-coaching-rachel-brushfield/

Why I love career coaching – Rachel Brushfield

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I love career coaching for many reasons.

I have been coaching for over 20 years now, and I still love it as much now as I did at the beginning.

Why do I LOVE my job?

YOU! My clients.

Some become friends.

Many come back at another career crossroads, sometimes 10 years after the first time we worked together.

Why I love career coaching

Inspiring clients – my clients really inspire me and I learn a lot from them. I find it fascinating how people are different and see the world differently and yet how the themes are similar across all of them, e.g. lack of fulfilment, not liking marketing themselves, low self-belief etc.

Help people to help themselves – my job is to help my clients to clarify what they want and help them to get it. I am simply a catalyst and a pair of wing mirrors!

Self-awareness – I enjoy helping my clients to understand themselves better. This so important, especially in challenging times. I have done a lot of personal development work on myself. Awareness of the importance of this is growing, even amongst left brain cynical markets e.g. lawyers and engineers.

Reframing – we all get too close to ourselves to see solutions. Reframing something to help a client to become unstuck, is useful – new or different perspectives.  

Positivity – I am naturally optimistic and this is very useful in the uncertain times in which we live, for people who see the world as half-empty rather than half-full, and with growing competition in many markets, whether you are employed or self-employed.

Sharing ideas – one of my best skills is coming up with ideas for careers or businesses for my clients which play to their strengths. I have an insights and ideas brain!

Internal and external – career coaching is a combination of looking internally, within yourself, and externally, at the market and opportunities. I love helping my clients do both. My career heritage is in marketing and strategy, so I have useful tools and frameworks to help my clients to do this.

Overcoming blocks – understanding and overcoming a block to move forward is really satisfying. Pain then relief from the pain, gives you a brilliant ‘lift’, overcoming something that felt so difficult, so that you can move forwards.

Making a difference – a career takes up so much of our lives and has huge impact on relationships, money and happiness. It is a privilege to help people improve this.

Creative – coaching is a creative process. Sometimes I create an exercise for a client or get them to use a prop e.g. a knotty piece of string to help them to create a shift, or to create a drawing. 

Connect people – I have always been a natural connector. Introducing my clients to each other for ideas and support, helps them build their network, and enables potential collaborations and opportunities.

Uniqueness – everyone is absolutely unique and yet most don’t see this or define it. A personal brand is a great way to do this.

Building confidence – many people lack confidence. Not all admit this. Helping to build someone’s inner confidence and conviction like the words through a ‘stick of rock’ is one of the most important projects in life.

Growing your resilience – I am very resilient as is my husband who inspires me so much. There are practical tools to do this, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

Marketing you – many people dislike marketing themselves. This is becoming more important. You CAN find ways to do this comfortably, I promise.

Helping my clients to allow themselves to be who they really are and do what they want to do is why I love career coaching.

What do my clients think? https://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/energise-client-testimonials/

Get in touch: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Values – your inner compass

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“Happiness is not a destination, it is a method of life” Burton Hills

One of the most important things in life, in my opinion, is to live your life based on what’s important to you – your values.

So many people live life to other people’s agendas and values, whether it’s parents, teachers or society as a whole. This means that they are not being true to themselves. It’s not selfish to be true to yourself, it is wise, because if you are happy within yourself, you have more to give back to other people.

On aeroplanes they say “Put the oxygen mask on your own face first” – same principle.

Insights about values a key part of career change

Helping people understand their values is one of the key things I help clients with and then we design goals around these values. Everyone has different values, not better not worse, just different. I find that often people are feeling ‘out of sorts’ or unfulfilled in their careers because they are not honouring their values, i.e. what’s important to them.

When values aren’t honoured

Values not being honoured shows up in different ways. For example they have a partner for whom different things are important or their employer values tradition when they value modern. People can have the same value e.g. love but it’s honoured in a different way; one partner may like to hear their partner say that they love them 25 times a day, the other partner likes being hugged to feel loved.

Relationship issues are often about different values

One of the reasons that relationship issues come up all the time when I coach people is because different people have different values, but they haven’t articulated them. This is what causes the tension – not articulating/understanding values.

Check in with your values

I find values are a useful check-in. If I am feeling frustrated with a person or situation, it’s normally because one of my values is being trodden on. If I am lied to, my Honesty value isn’t honoured, if I feel forced to do something against my will, my Right to choose value is squashed. It’s like a framework to help make sense of life and to deal with difficult emotions. An inner compass.

Corporate values

The Credit crunch of 2007/2008 has taught us to question what we used to trust without question. Companies have values too and the good companies live and breathe them through their behaviour and how they act. They don’t just stick a list of words on the corporate wall like integrity, honesty, success and fun.

Clashing values – inner tug of war

Sometimes an individual has clashing values – it’s like having an inner tug of war. Freedom and Belonging is one example; part of you wants to be part of something but most of you wants to feel free, a direct inner conflict. Another example is Security and Adventure; part of you needs security and another part wants to break out and be adventurous. Understanding and managing your conflicting values is vital, especially in uncertain and challenging times.

Honour your values to stay centred

Without wishing to state the obvious, the post coronavirus period we are now living in are challenging times.

If you do one thing and one thing only, honour the things that are important to you and make sure that the people you care about are able to honour the things important to them. 

10 tips to live your values 

1)  Think about what’s really important to you

2)  Reflect on times in your life when you felt really frustrated – what was the cause?

3)  Get a coach to help you understand your values

4)  When you have a difference of opinion with people at work/home – analyse what value isn’t being honoured 

5)  Picture your ideal life – what would it be like?

6)  Think about people you really connect with, What is it about them that works?

7)  Be specific in your articulation of your values e.g. Expressing and demonstrating kindness rather than just Kindness 

8)  Explore whether your values are compatible before committing to a long term partner or employer

9)  Prepare incisive questions to get a potential employer to give examples to demonstrate their values and culture as part of your interview.

10)              Make a date with yourself and check in every month to review to what extent you have honoured what’s important to you 

How can we help you? Get in touch.

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/

Ashley Cavers guest blog about her portfolio career part 2

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Ashley Cavers mini biog

Ashley has a background in print and broadcast media, and has worked for both the BBC and Sky TV, with more recent experience in corporate communications and enterprise networks. For the last eight years, she has worked freelance for The Sunday Times Fast Track, meeting the entrepreneurs behind some of the UK’s most successful private businesses. She also has direct experience of starting and running her own businesses, having previously run a PR and events firm as well as a retail business, which she successfully sold. Earlier this year, she took up a role as Lead Network Navigator with Oxlep Business, helping to support start-up and growth companies across Oxfordshire.  Ashley experienced OxLEP Business’s support first-hand, after co-founding The Wonky Food Company in 2017. The company makes relishes out of imperfect fruit and veg and started selling in The Midcounties Co-op this summer. Earlier this month, The Wonky Food Company was included in the 2018 list of Game Changers in the Thames Valley region.

Read Ashley Cavers guest blog about her portfolio career part 1

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/ashley-cavers-guest-blog-about-her-portfolio-career-part-1/

When people ask you ‘what do you do?’ – what do you reply?

This is still hard as I wear so many different hats. It used to be something I was somewhat embarrassed by and would find myself getting quite defensive when explaining the various elements of my working life – as though somehow it revealed that I was a bit flighty or flaky, unable to stick to one job or career path. But in recent years, my portfolio career is something I have come to embrace and even be proud of (after all, it’s not easy juggling many different roles!). This is partly due to my own acceptance of the twists and turns of my own career journey and learning to banish any regrets and ‘what if’ moments, but is also down to a broader cultural shift where it is now much more acceptable to have a portfolio career, so no reason to make any apologies or excuses!

What do you most love about having a portfolio career?

I love the freedom that a portfolio career has given me. It has enabled me to flex my workload up and down at different stages in my life and has also given me the chance to explore different interests and skillsets. It is the rare few that have an exceptional talent in just one thing. Most of us have more moderate talents in a wider range of areas, so why not try our hand at a number of them? It seems crazy to me that you would commit your entire working career to one path only, when most of us are now living long enough to experience multiple careers over our lifetime.

What are the challenges of having a portfolio career?

 There are many challenges, of which I am well aware. There is significantly increased financial risk in what I do. I have little to no job security; I don’t get paid when I take a sick day or a holiday, and it’s very hard to make long-term financial plans. I accepted a long time ago that I will never retire and will probably work until I drop, but that is fine with me. I think if you choose the ‘portfolio’ path, it’s because you want to love the work that you do, so why would you choose to give up something that you enjoy? Portfolio working is all about breaking down the dividing line between work and life. But this can of course also be a negative. I have to carefully manage my life so that work does not become all-consuming. At the moment I have three ‘jobs’ – all enjoyable and rewarding and interesting, but the level of organisation required to manage them all well can be overwhelming and is something I constantly battle with.

What 5 tips can you share for people considering a portfolio career?

1  Be organised!

2  Develop a good professional network – you never know where the next opportunity will come from.

3  Don’t be afraid to change direction or drop a part of your portfolio that isn’t working. Take time to regularly evaluate where you are.

4  Have a good support system – I couldn’t do without my cleaner, accountant and family (not necessarily in that order!)

5 Self-belief is essential, but accept that moments of self-doubt are inevitable.

More

View Ashley Cavers LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-cavers-68613534/

Browse The Wonky Food Company web site:

https://www.wonkyfoodco.com/

Follow The Wonky Food Company on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/wonkyfoodco

Browse the OxLEP Oxfordshire web site:

https://www.oxfordshirelep.com/

Interested in a portfolio career for yourself? Download your copy of our free report Skills to find out what your transferable skills are.

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashley Cavers guest blog about her portfolio career part 1

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Ashley Cavers mini biog

Ashley has a background in print and broadcast media, and has worked for both the BBC and Sky TV, with more recent experience in corporate communications and enterprise networks. For the last eight years, she has worked freelance for The Sunday Times Fast Track, meeting the entrepreneurs behind some of the UK’s most successful private businesses. She also has direct experience of starting and running her own businesses, having previously run a PR and events firm as well as a retail business, which she successfully sold. Earlier this year, she took up a role as Lead Network Navigator with Oxlep Business, helping to support start-up and growth companies across Oxfordshire.  Ashley experienced OxLEP Business’s support first-hand, after co-founding The Wonky Food Company in 2017. The company makes relishes out of imperfect fruit and veg and started selling in The Midcounties Co-op this summer. Earlier this month, The Wonky Food Company was included in the 2018 list of Game Changers in the Thames Valley region.

How did your portfolio career come about?

I never consciously set about to have a portfolio career (in fact, I hadn’t even heard of the phrase ‘portfolio career’ until fairly recently!). My career started off fairly conventionally, working in staff roles for the BBC and then for Sky Television during my twenties. But when I turned 30, and recently married, my husband and I had the opportunity to move to West Cork in Ireland, a place where we had frequently holidayed and had always loved. I was feeling a bit disillusioned and burned out, doing some serious commuting and working long hours in an industry that I found increasingly at odds with my values and interests.

I guess I had an early mid-life crisis of sorts, so when a job opportunity came up for my husband in Ireland, I jumped at the chance for a fresh start! I continued to freelance for Sky but found myself increasingly involved in an active local community (at one point I ended up managing the local bookshop!). After volunteering to do the PR for an inaugural local arts festival (a festival which more than a decade later is now one of the biggest in Ireland!), a number of local groups and businesses started to approach me to do their PR, so I started my own consultancy.

At the same time, the stint at the bookshop had given me a taste for retail and spotting a gap in the market for good quality stationery (I had always been a paper junkie!), I opened my own upmarket stationery and gift store. This was at the height of the economic boom in Ireland, and the business did well. I was considering opening a second site, with ambitions for a national chain of high street stores, when the financial crash came. Overnight, the economy in Ireland collapsed. Although I managed to sell the business, this turn in events combined with starting a family, prompted a return to the UK.

I realised on my return that my experience in Ireland had completely changed my attitude to work. I had proved that I could successfully combine a number of separate career interests, and returning to a 9-5 job now seemed inconceivable to me. I took a bit of time out to have my second child and settle back into life in the UK after a six-year absence. Being the height of the recession, there also weren’t too many opportunities to choose from. But I soon started freelancing for The Sunday Times Fast Track, which for me, combined the two recurring threads of my career: journalism and entrepreneurship. I’ve now been back for 10 years, have started two other businesses and have never been busier!

What 5 tips can you share for people considering a portfolio career?

1  Be organised!

2  Develop a good professional network – you never know where the next opportunity will come from.

3  Don’t be afraid to change direction or drop a part of your portfolio that isn’t working. Take time to regularly evaluate where you are.

4  Have a good support system – I couldn’t do without my cleaner, accountant and family (not necessarily in that order!)

5 Self-belief is essential, but accept that moments of self-doubt are inevitable.

More

View Ashley Cavers LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-cavers-68613534/

Browse The Wonky Food Company web site:

https://www.wonkyfoodco.com/

Browse The Wonky Food Company web site:

https://www.wonkyfoodco.com/

Follow The Wonky Food Company on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/wonkyfoodco

Browse the OxLEP Oxfordshire web site:

https://www.oxfordshirelep.com/

Interested in a portfolio career for yourself? Download your copy of our free Skills report to find out what your transferable skills are:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

 

Doug Glenwright’s guest blog about his portfolio career part 2

By //  by 

Doug Glenwright mini biog

Innovative Customer Centric Propositions. Multiple award-winning leader with 20 years’ transformation experience across retail and leisure. Passionate about customers and transforming tangible experiences by developing a strategic vision and delivering it holistically and with integrity. Visionary, vivacious and versatile with strong communication skills and creative flair, balancing commercial and customer needs whilst engaging people with a sense of fun.

To read part 1 of Doug Glenwright’s guest blog about his portfolio career, click on this link:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/doug-glenwrights-guest-blog-about-his-portfolio-career-part-1/

What are the challenges of having a portfolio career?

Juggling projects with competing deadlines is always a challenge, especially when they are on different continents, however the businesses I work with know that whilst I do my best to be flexible, that sometimes my schedule cannot be moved. This is really just about clear communication and prioritisation. Secondly for me, it has been difficult adjusting to a more independent life – working more from home (and lacking the social aspects of an office), not being able to manage or control the politics to get the “right” decision and lastly (and most problematic to me) letting go of projects when businesses no longer need external support…as a “completer/ finisher” this is a key frustration, but is also (I believe) a reason that I get commissioned. I am passionate about the project and doing the right thing!

Who or what helps you to manage your portfolio career?

I don’t know how to answer this – I feel like I am only in the early days of my portfolio career and that there is still a lot to learn. I try to take each day as it comes and mitigate risks and potential gaps in employment by planning both short and long term. I never say never – which means I am not fixated on my portfolio career and there could be a time when a permanent role is worth considering, but I also believe that for what I do more companies should be looking for a temporary resource, so this is definitely a conversation worth having even if they are advertising a permanent position.

How do you approach marketing your portfolio career?

It can feel a little awkward “marketing” yourself, so for me I try to put “catch ups” in the diaries of influential people I know or am known to in businesses which I am keen to work with to understand what is going on in their business and remind them I am around and available if that is helpful. Up to this point, this has been sufficient from a marketing perspective, but I am sure my approach will develop over time.

What if any, is the personal brand used for your portfolio career?

My personal brand focuses on my strengths and values as well as highlighting my key achievements. All “reasons to believe” and, I hope, reasons to hire me!

What skills/experience/qualities does someone need to have a portfolio career?

I think there is a need to be well connected, with a clear understanding of what you can offer and reasons why a business should use you and not someone else. For me a lot of this has been done through contacts who know me and were confident recommending me when suitable projects were discussed. Within this confidence and a sense of worth are also clearly important.

What advice would you give to someone considering a portfolio career?

For me the most important thing was to be able to safely trial and ease myself into a portfolio career – in my case I first considered it a “stop-gap” until I found my next permanent role (it might still be!), but it was a time when I had sufficient resources to take some time off and experiment with different types of work. For me I was then able to make proactive decisions comparing and contrasting my portfolio work with other full-time opportunities I was offered and to this point the portfolio has always won!

What are your top 5 tips to successfully manage a portfolio career?

  1. Know your market
  2. Manage your network
  3. Define your offer (personal brand and USPs)
  4. Know your value
  5. Deliver your best

More

View Doug Glenwright’s LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-glenwright-18a2234/

Browse Doug Glenwright’s web site:

http://www.dougglenwright.com/

Interested in a portfolio career for yourself?

Download your copy of our free report Discover Portfolio Careers:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/