On Wednesday I had the pleasure to attend the first ever Business Mums Unite Conference and Exhibition held in Nottingham and to be completely honest it was fabulous.

 

From the moment we walked into the venue we were met with a friendly welcome. Quickly guided to our stand we were impressed with the set up and the space we had been given. The whole exhibition hall was rather remarkable and Livvy’s Smile was proud to be able to be part of it.

The venue The Albert Hall Conference Centre was simply stunning; I confess I spent a long time admiring the beautiful stain glass windows in the great hall.

 

 

After quickly setting up we ventured upstairs to listen to the speakers.

 

The opening welcome was given by Charlotte Pearson the organiser and creator of Business Mums Unite. Charlotte gave us a little background of how she first found herself starting out a stay at home mum who also ran a full time business. Her story was a testimony to her driven personality and her motivation to be there for her children. My only problem with Charlotte’s speech was that it was not long enough. I would have happily listened for a lot longer.

 

The keynote speaker for the event was Elaine Hanzak- Gott, to try and fit all Elaine had to say into one blog post would be impossible. She is one remarkable woman who has faced some horrific things in her life but she is courageous and determined to make the best out of any situation. Her opening slide stated the words “Dreams big, Worries small” and they speak for themselves. Elaine was simply inspiring and I was so excited to get to speak to her later in the day about our shared experiences.

 

The second speaker for the day was Naomi Timperley who again spoke with passion and gave some great business advice about being prepared and to have fully researched your market. Naomi had faced and survived Dragons Den, way to go girl!

 

Sally Pettit followed after a short break and gave us five great tips for successful networking. Sally is  The Motherfactor and her tips were of great substance and gave me some great ideas.

 

The last speaker of the morning was Rebecca Jones also know as The Red Shoe Biz Woman, Rebecca was so vibrant on stage her energy was contagious. I was ready to leave the building and get started on some new ideas I had and to make plans for the future. Her honesty in what we can expect and what we should expect of ourselves was liberating. Two of her statements being “Do less, but be more successful” and my favorite “There is no such thing as superwoman”.

 

The array of speakers  presented at Business Mums Unite were simply first class, they all left me feeling inspired, motivated and with a new found belief in what I was capable of achieving and of what I had achieved.

 

The whole standard of service at the Albert Hall was outstanding and this carried on into lunch time. The food was delicious and there was plenty of it. The constant hot and cold drinks were well received all day.

The afternoon played host to a series of workshops that we had to choose two to attend. Choosing was hard as I really could have benefitted and enjoyed at least three or maybe four of the offered.

I attended the small business workshop presented by Joanna Martin. My husband is stepping out into the world of commerce and we both found the workshop informative and engaging. We left with a list of valuable points that we need to consider.

Our second workshop was Sales with Julia Bramble. This again was informative and interesting; I found it quite exciting to learn of new ways to promote both Livvy’s Smile and my own writing.

The day then drew to a close with a small speech of thanks from Charlotte and a prize draw.

I left the venue exhausted but exhilarated. I had a lot of notes and information to digest all of which I am slowly working my way through still.

Business Mums Unite for me was a fantastic day; the event was well organised and prepared. The venue was first class and the speakers well chosen.  I took a lot away from this day and really hope to hear news of a Business Mums Unite 2012 very soon.

 

 

* While I was given the ticket to this event for a write up blog post, all opinion’s are my own.