Inspiring business women from across Northern Ireland are set to speak at Mums At Work CIC’s Elevate Your Business event, happening later this month.
The event aims to uphold the vision of its late founder, Sinead Norton, by providing a supportive and nurturing environment for women in business. Taking place from 10am-4pm on Monday 25th March at the Tullyglass Hotel in Ballymena, the event is designed for business women who want to take their business to the next level.
The speakers at the event will provide inspirational stories of business growth, resilience, personal brand, and transformation.
The event is the brainchild of energetic and passionate businesswoman Sinead Norton who created the network and its events as a way to help support and nurture women in all types of roles and businesses across the country.
Sadly, Sinead passed away last November following a battle with cancer, however, speaking about the network she previously said: “I’m a mum of seven and when I owned a large thriving and multi award winning wedding business, I quickly realised that survival is dependent on past brides and other suppliers referring you.
“I wanted to create a space where business women working on their own could come together to stay motivated and work towards their dreams.”
Elevate Your Business has become an annual Mums At Work event attracting hundreds of like-minded women who attend the event, speak at it and who exhibit their businesses in the trade area.
According to Director Danielle Norton, Sinead’s daughter, it’s an opportunity for women to “exchange ideas, share experiences, and learn from one another”.
Taking to the stage on the day are:
Ursula McKinney of Media Lab NI is a seasoned entrepreneur and marketer with over 20 years of experience in PR, branding, marketing, and event management. With a career that has included collaborations with major global brands such as Hilton, Coca-Cola, and Google, Ursula has earned recognition as a leader in the field.
As the co-founder of Media Lab NI, a professional content creation and event marketing company, Ursula is well-equipped to share her journey to entrepreneurial success.
In her talk, ‘Creating Your Own Journey’, she will be revealing the key sales and marketing tactics that you can use in your own business to drive more success.
Ursula said: “I hope that people can be inspired by my story and utilise my business tips and advice to achieve success in their own business.
“The life of a female entrepreneur can be very isolated but Sinead made Mums At Work a thriving environment that offers unrivalled support and made it cost-effective for every business owner to be a part of.
“It is invaluable for growing your network and your business”.
Lynsey Bennett is co-founder of Lusso Tan, a luxury salon, and at-home self-tanning brand and a prominent figure in the beauty industry.
Renowned for her business acumen and commitment to empowering female beauty business founders, Lynsey has built a successful brand in the competitive beauty market. Her accomplishments with Lusso Tan and her advocacy for women in business have established her as a respected figure in both the beauty and business communities.
Her talk, titled “How to keep going when nothing is going right,” will offer practical strategies for maintaining resilience and determination in the face of adversity. Drawing from her own experiences, Lynsey aims to equip attendees with the tools and mindset needed to navigate life’s challenges and emerge stronger.
Susan Steele of Performance Breakthrough has over 14 years of experience through her own company Performance Breakthrough, which was born through her own experiences with her two sons. After experiencing first hand what happens when children do not reach their full potential, Susan knew something had to change.
Performance Breakthrough is a company dedicated to unlocking the potential of children and adults who want to enhance their performance in sports and education, while also dealing with the root cause of emotional and behavioural issues.
In her interactive talk, “Perform It Better”, Susan will be explaining why some children have great difficulty concentrating on tasks and why some get very frustrated or anxious about the little things. She will give you practical tips on how to create a calmer home.
Speaking about her talk, Susan explained: “I want people to come away from my talk with three main things: relief that they are good parents and that there is a scientific reason for the challenging traits their children display. An understanding that there is a natural solution that will produce permanent, positive results for their children and family as a whole.
And excitement that their wonderful, intelligent child can have a bright, happy future.”
Grace Smith is the founder of forge female fitness.
After losing her father at 21, and losing 156lbs within 12 months, Grace decided to help others achieve their goals and now runs three successful coaching businesses, transforming thousands of women’s lives over the last 8 years.
Forge Female Fitness is the North Coasts No.1 Ladies Training Studio, sculpting confidence, building strength and fostering community. We help women restore their confidence, health and happiness, and make positive long-term lifestyle changes, so they can take on life feeling mentally and physically strong, energised and fulfilled.
In her talk, “From Transformation To Triumph”, Grace will share how to use your background, experiences, and personality to boost your business and build a loyal community.
Speaking about her talk, Grace said: “I want people to feel inspired to use their experience and unique personality to further build their brand and business and not be scared to take risks and back themselves, along with practical tips on how to take what they’ve learnt and apply it straight into their business.”
Sandra Miskimmin is the founder of SMASH Worldwide (Sandra Miskimmin’s Alternative Solutions for Health), which aims to help women who are suffering with health and weight concerns.
Having lived with chronic back pain, numerous conditions and being classed as clinically obese in 2013, Sandra undertook a dramatic change to her lifestyle and health and turned her life around. As a result of this, she went back to school and retrained in nutrition, weight management, naturopathy and behavioural change.
She is passionate about educating women on how to implement easy strategies into their lives so they and their families can live a healthier life in the long run.
Her talk, titled “Hormone Harmony to Maximise your Personal and Professional Goals” will empower women to embrace their hormones rather than fear them. It will help women to understand how each of the hormones respond in their body and more importantly, how to use their hormones to their advantage.
When women work with their hormones, rather than against them, it opens up a whole new world of opportunity. When this happens, women will become more successful in their personal, physical, and professional life.
Sandra said: “When I first joined the network, I was terrified of going to networking events. However, the community is so welcoming, that I grew to look forward to going to them and now embrace them.
“MAW has given me the confidence to network and perfect my 60 second introduction so I can now do it anywhere with ease. I highly recommend this network to any woman who is thinking about joining it.”
Tina Calder, founder and chief vision officer of Excalibur Press began her career in journalism. In more recent years, she has become an expert in sales conversion, copywriting, thought leadership, brand storytelling, and content and marketing strategy, as well as being a trainer and speaker.
Tina uses her own unique and creative approach to stimulate innovative thinking and idea creation which goes beyond the traditional corporate constraints while keeping a focus on strategic objectives.
In her talk, ‘Building A Personal Brand: The Importance Of Standing Out From The Crowd’, she will be taking you on a whirlwind tour of the importance of building a personal brand and revealing her top tips, tricks and techniques for standing out and being memorable.
Along with examples from her own personal journey, Tina will outline the pitfalls and risks of raising your profile whilst demonstrating the opportunities and benefits of taking the leap into the public eye.
She said: “I hope that my talk will help businesswoman understand the importance of a personal brand and why it’s more important than ever before to consider how you present yourself to the world.
“Being authentic is a buzz phrase used so often these days that people forget what it really means, learning to be your authentic self whilst carrying a personal brand can often be a daunting experience.
“I hope attendees at the Mums At Work Elevate Your Business event will go away feeling much more confident about crafting and honing their personal brand.”
This year’s event will also include a panel discussion hosted by TEDX speaker and entrepreneur Emma Weaver of Mental Wealth International.
Taking to the panel are Stefany Watson from Digital Ghost NI and Maria McLaughlin and Roisin McAteer from Admin Answers NI.
Speaking of the session, Maria said: “I hope women who are attending can identify with our experiences of running and setting up in business as well as get some good hints/tips on being more organised in their business.”
During the panel attendees will get the opportunity to ask questions about how to move forward in their business, troubleshoot your processes or simply find out something they’ve been wanting to know about admin, marketing or digital.
According to Mums At Work Director Danielle Norton, Elevate Your Business is an opportunity for women to “exchange ideas, share experiences, and learn from one another”.
She added: “The purpose of the Elevate Your Business events is for women to have a chance to meet other women who are looking to grow their businesses.
“It is a welcoming and supportive environment for women to feel comfortable and gain confidence. We hope the attendees will make new connections, receive referrals and increase their brand visibility. We also hope they leave feeling inspired and motivated by our speakers who will give valuable insight and tips on how to take your business to the next level.”
For more information, to book a ticket or a stand at the Elevate Your Business event on March 25th go to >> https://bit.ly/MAWelevatePress or search for the event on Eventbrite.