Jess Young, the co-founder of Square Peg Round Hole, talks about how the Bloomsbury Beginnings’ programme has helped her to develop her diversity and inclusion consultancy over the last year:

A friend working in the social enterprise space recommended Ann’s course, at the time I was heading towards the end of my first year ‘out of work’ having taken redundancy to focus on my little one before he started school and give myself a time more time to focus on supporting my daughter with learning difficulties.

I’ve always been pretty driven to make a difference in the world and had been mulling over the sort of business I’d run – even got as far as the website so I had a decent idea of the offer but I knew I needed a critical ‘friend'(s) to help me mull over how I’d position and sell my proposition.

The collaborative nature of Ann’s programme was a massive draw, we were all largely in the same boat juggling kids, wanting to do something ‘more’ I got a huge amount from the others sharing weekly updates and Ann is very good at keeping me on track. This was really the primary reason I joined up to the monthly mentoring sessions, having that level of accountability has really made me question what my purpose is each month and managing down other bits that constantly get in the way.

I had the opportunity to attend another woman’s business mentoring group and despite it using very similar techniques – working through our USP, ideal client, MVP etc I found the Bloomsbury group to give me the confidence boost I need. I broadly know what I need to do, but having someone in my corner encouraging, supporting and motivating me has been the thing that has continued to help me make progress each month.

Through this process I have realised how much I enjoy writing, so my business partner has taken on the face to face facilitation load so I can focus on creating tools that add value and boost social presence. I can see a career trajectory now that was not apparent 12 months ago!

If you’re working on an idea that could grow in to a social enterprise, Bcorp or charity we’d love you to join our programme in January 2021