On this occasion, I am not talking about super-successful high-profile figures who have already made it & appear in Hello Magazine, GQ, have editorial in the FT or are Dragons. It’s true & without a question of doubt these types of people are inspirational. However, they come with a caveat that they are not really part of your immediate business world, they are often untouchable &, in truth, have little interest in you as a small business owner. Only a tiny percentage of us will ever figure in any of their plans. 

So, in this blog I am looking at the people much closer to home, people who inspire me, have placed their faith in me, have seen something in me that I did not see in myself, have demonstrated steely determination that I wish I could emulate, have created & grasped new opportunities, have been adaptable, have challenged me, or have simply lifted me when the road has been long. My personal superheroes have been an integral part of my journey to establishing my business, & so I would like to thank them for being inspirational leaders in their own right.

Who’s Who?

Since I set my business up in January 2017, I have met lots of brilliant & amazing people. Their words of wisdom & acts of kindness & generosity are never forgotten or not appreciated. Sometimes there is a single phrase that I hear that really resonates with me, such as “every conversation should be a sales conversation”. I pick up these nuggets, use them & they stay with me forever – thank you to Steve Potiphar from The Sales Gym for this particular gem. It stays with me as an active chord in my business, because it is true & sums up part of my beliefs & philosophy around business. 

I like to think about the connections I have made as sitting in a series of concentric circles, like ripples created in a pond by dropping a small pebble into the water. As I’ve made new connections, these people sit in different parts of the ripples on the surface of the pond. Where I have grown & adapted my business, some of my contacts move closer to the centre, while others have moved further away. Whether coming closer or moving away, this happens at different speeds. It is almost imperceptible & only clear when you stop to take stock. It is really helpful to reflect on where you have come from, consider who has helped you along the way & to know where you aim to go in the future. Near where the pebble dropped, I have a handful of people who I trust & can be honest with about all aspects of my business. My “inner circle” consists of the people who influence me, inspire me & give me strength.

Where To Begin?

There is no way that I can mention every single person I have met since starting my business. There are people who I met at the very beginning who I am really fond of, but because my business changed direction in 2019, I no longer see them. This does not mean they have been forgotten!

Let’s start with a quick shout-out to Julia Virdee who created my first roller banner, which was a tiny part of my marketing. Julia, however, really understood the funkiness of my brand (& probably of me) & created a banner I was proud to display. I still love the work Julia did for me & although the banner isn’t used since my business rebranded, I can’t bring myself to throw it away! Also, a shout-out to Daljit Virdee, who believed in me & my business before I did myself. I cannot thank Daljit enough for being the first person to champion me & my brand at networking. Daljit & Julia gave me the confidence to succeed. Their small gestures of kindness went such a long way to helping me believe in myself. 

Now, I am going to focus on a few people from my business life who have been significant to me:

Evelyn Kaluza – Wellness for Success:

So, I am going to kick things off with the amazing Evelyn Kaluza. By chance, Evelyn & I met at networking when we were both at the same point, early on in our businesses. From shortly after meeting Evelyn, she became the person with whom to share my challenges & she is someone I trust implicitly. Evelyn is an executive coach, mindfulness teacher, hypnotherapist &, of course, the founder of Wellness for Success. Evelyn helps individuals & businesses to limit burn-out, identify mental health concerns & has many techniques to help address both the immediate effects & root causes of issues. 

I have admired Evelyn for her clear & unwavering vision, which is to support Executives on the edge of burn-out, enabling them to realise their predicament & to guide them as they turn the situation around. 

As a small business owner, it’s so important to surround oneself with other like-minded, intuitive people. I’m sure many fellow business owners will agree that we feel the need to wear a brave face in almost everything we do. 

I trust Evelyn, & on the occasions where I have struggled with my own mental health, she knows me well enough to recognise when my resilience is low & I am running on empty, but continuing to keep going. Evelyn never pries. I am so grateful to Evelyn for being the first person to reach out & check in on me. This simple gesture gives me strength to pick up the phone, arrange a coffee & then open up & talk. As we have shared our journey, which is really quite similar, I can talk about the challenges in my business especially where they increase my anxiety. With Evelyn, I am in a space where there is no judgement, but instead, the chance to share, receive some sound advice & find clarity.

Evelyn is a calming influence & a great counsel. Having Evelyn in my life is a blessing. Our shared business journey & experiences means Evelyn & I share a bond of mutual trust & respect. With networking at the heart of what I do, building the all-important trusted relationships is crucial. I have this with Evelyn.

Katrina Sargent – Goal Mapping Practitioner & Co-Owner Of Business Buzz:

Katrina Sargent is someone who saw the potential in me long before I saw it in myself & has raised me up through out the time I have know her. We met in February 2018, when Katrina launched Business Buzz in Bicester. Who would have thought that from such a chance encounter my whole work-life would change?

When I met Katrina she was running a telesales marketing business & was Co-Founder of the no fuss networking brand of Business Buzz. The convergence of our business lives has meant we have followed a similar path since 2019. Although our individual strands are separate entities, there is a lot of overlap. I joined the team for Bicester Buzz as Katrina’s Ambassador.  That’s where it all began.

Katrina let me own the role of Buzz Ambassador & within a few months, I made the decision to set up my own Buzz from scratch. I have covered this in a previous blog. Was this a daunting prospect? I don’t think it was! Katrina was in my corner, I had her full support & guidance. Although I had made the decision to run a Buzz, Katrina had seen the potential in me from day one & she had taken the time to nurture many aspects of my character, so that I was ready & able to start this new chapter in my business.

Little did Katrina know that she was creating a “monster”. Now, I am a three times Regional Lead for Buzz & have big ambitions to grow my business with Buzz at the heart of it. Katrina’s supportive & inclusive approach make my business aspirations possible. She removed much of the trepidation of transitioning my business & brand to Buddha Connect in 2019. It was much less scary knowing Katrina had my back. Katrina’s confidence in me, gives me the strength to grasp new opportunities. Katrina definitely lifts me up.

Since I rebranded my business, Katrina has taken a similar path. She is still the Co-Owner of Business Buzz, but has a new string to her bow in the shape of a Goal Mapping Practitioner. Making such a significant change is nerve-racking. Although, I loved my new brand with its funky pop-art style artwork, the proposition of presenting it to the world made me anxious. The first person with whom I shared it was Katrina. I was confident she would be honest with me…& fortunately she loved it as much as I did. Not only was my rebranding a complete departure from my previous iteration, but Buddha Connect felt much more like an extension of me, and therefore a far bigger personal investment & risk. It mattered what Katrina thought, not just as a mentor, but also as a friend. 

Emma Smith – ES HR Consultancy:

Little did I know that from Emma Smith’s tentative steps as a first-time attendee to Business Buzz that Emma would have become an integral part of my “inner circle”. I admire Emma’s fortitude & tenacity. 

I know, walking through the door at Warwick Buzz in August 2019 was one of the toughest things Emma has ever done. She was new to running her own HR business, ESHR Consultancy, but did have a good idea of her niche, which is in supporting rural & equine businesses to look after their employees & workers better. Many of us can remember launching oneself head long in to the realms of self-employment & that it is not without its pitfalls. It can be particularly difficult to navigate the myriad of networking events. They are not always the friendliest of places, where egos can be on show & sales that are difficult to say no to. So, for Emma to come & try Buzz was a big step. 

The beauty of Buzz is that it is super friendly, with no membership, it is drop-in & pay-as-you-go. I know Emma loved Buzz from day one, so much so that the words of Victor Kiam come to mind (although slightly adapted) “I liked Buzz so much, I bought the company”. Not literally, but Emma decided almost immediately to join my Warwickshire Buzz team as the Host of Coventry Buzz. I have seen Emma’s confidence and her business grow exponentially. Mentoring her is a real honour. Emma impresses me everyday that we work together. She has a thirst for business & her portfolio of products is growing all the time, as is her Business Buzz reach. 

As my mentee, I always aim for Emma to feel supported, encouraged and empowered. Mentoring is by no means a one-way street, and I have found many benefits to my role as mentor: realising how far I have come, how much I know, and how helpful it is for someone to have a confidant and supporter. Sharing my knowledge reinforces what I know, & mentoring has boosted my confidence and motivation. Working with Emma is always productive, and celebrating her growth and success always makes me feel positive and inspired. I am humbled by the trust that Emma has place in me by letting me help her along her road to success.

Watching the growth in Emma’s own business, & within the Buzz community, where she is now a Regional Lead has been amazing. Emma, is now mentoring new Buzz Hosts which is a true inspiration. Her determination and energy are infectious, and mentoring her has given me a renewed sense of enthusiasm for my own work. Seeing Emma go from strength to strength is a reminder of just what we can do when we put our minds to it. 

May King Tsang - FOMO Creator:

Every now & then someone completely unexpected walks into your life & there is an instant connection. I have this with May King Tsang.

We met at an event in St Albans in 2018, where May King was giving a talk on making the most of Google digital marketing tools. The advice she gave was relevant & easy to implement. I went home, applied what I learnt & then posted about my success on Twitter. Although tweeting was new to me & slightly scary, I knew enough to tag May King into my tweet. May King shared my success to her Twitter community & our friendship was born!

May King had returned to the UK from Australia, & was re-building her tea business in the UK. Having, myself, spent a few years in Hong Kong, where I developed a taste for Chinese tea, I found that after my return home in 1999, there wasn’t anyone to share this enthusiasm with. May King & I hit it off immediately because of our tea connection. We talked tea, we talked digital & had lots of fun with May King’s TEA-puns

“All I was doing, was being myself, educating & helping others with no expectation of anything in return”, is what May King will tell you she was doing when we met. However, what was actually happening, was that May King was inspiring people like me to embrace digital marketing & she continues to do that to this day.

May King taught me that putting oneself out on social media need not be feared. At the same time May King was using Twitters live streaming platform, Periscope, & so made me realise that relaxed, on-the-spot video was accessible to all of us & something not to be shied away from. Through her amusing tea-pun biased approach May King took the fear away. When I came to start making my own videos for my business, the process was less daunting. May King gave me the confidence to step outside of my comfort zone & to try something new, where my personality could shine through. If the content was interesting with a smattering of May King’s magic then what I produced is a win-win for everyone. More importantly, in the digital world it was OK to be me, with my charms & quirks. 

When I reached out to May King to ask for some input into this blog, I love the that she mentioned her own superheroes. Andrew & Pete; the business duo who help small business owners scale their business so they can stop swapping time for money. They gave May King the first opportuniTEA to live tweet, go on Facebook Live, create Instagram stories & Instagram posts on their accounts. This has evolved into FOMOCreator, a growing business as a professional live tweeter, social media correspondent & live content creator. Now, May King interviews business owners that give them more publicity, works to build excitement around conferences, digital challenges, social enterprises & charitable causes by creating live social media content direct to their social media platforms.   

“What happened to May King’s tea business?” I hear you ask. It is still around & May King is collaborating to launch tea infused beer. So, watch this space through 2022!

Gemma Tomalin - Waymaker Consulting:

With a demanding work schedule, sometimes I need someone to help gather my thoughts, & weave them into paragraphs. Gemma Tomalin & I have a truly collaborative relationship. Although my working relationship with Gemma is in its infancy, we have already learn to communicate in a collaborative manner that ensures we function efficiently and effectively. Our strengths lie in different areas, & working together as we do, we get the benefit of both of our spheres of experience. We’ve built a trusted bond, which is not quite like any other I have. 

For Gemma to be able to write as me, means Gemma has metaphorically set-up a “basecamp” inside my head (not in a horror-nightmare kind of a way, but in a good & joyous way). I have had to open up about my business life & my life experiences, so that Gemma can sound like me when she is gathering words and phrases to constructing sentences, paragraphs & blogs on my behalf. 

There is a level of closeness & respect as Gemma strives to express my ideas, using my language & my terminology. 

Gemma is helping me to draw out my knowledge. Some concepts we have explored, I didn’t even realise I knew a great deal about, but Gemma has teased it out & has created the vehicle, my blogs, by which to share my thoughts, ideas & a little bit of myself. Gemma helps me put on paper, what is rattling around in my head. The only way that this can happen effectively is to let Gemma into my “head-space”.

I know what I want to achieve with my blogs, & have a clear idea of how the final article should be. In true Waymaker style, Gemma finds a way to get from the ideas stage to the finished article. Most importantly, Gemma & I have learnt how each other work, so our process allows for me to make edits, tweaks & sprinkle my signature ‘James-isms’ through the blogs. They say communication is key, & Gemma’s & my working relationship is a perfect example of how well good communication will serve you if you invest in understanding one another from the off. 

I Am My Own Superhero; James Brodie:

Who’d have thought it? I know my strengths, I am slightly nerdy, I like a process & I like structure to my day. It’s my nature to put myself under undue pressure in all aspects of my business. I hate leaving a task unfinished. I can take on too much & run myself ragged. Having said all of that, I am likeable, caring, attentive, creative, adaptable & dynamic. So, all in all it is a balance mix. 

Every day I surprise myself & that is why I am my own superhero! I seem to be able to turn my hand to all kinds of tasks in business, that had you told me a few years ago I would excel at, then, I would have laughed at you. 

I know how to communicate effectively, I am an active listener & together these skills make me a champion networker. I can talk about an opportunity without being all about the “sale”. I have developed into a consummate marketing professional, where I can use all kinds of applications to get my message across. I seem to make positives things happen all the time & fore the most part, I am never quite sure how or why I manage to do this. It just does!

I am not afraid to ask for help. No man or woman is an island after all - & there is another great skill, being collaborative. I love sharing my knowledge, whether via my blogs, general conversations, in 1-2-1 meetings or as a business mentor. 

The biggest hurdle for me has been learning to believe in myself & it has not been easy. Others have believed in me before I have believed in myself. But these days I do believe, although there are times when self-doubt niggles at the edges of my confidence. Having a group of like-minded people around me with whom I can share & celebrate my successes is crucial in maintaining a positive mindset. Having my superhero colleagues in my corner me encourages me to be kind to myself, to be more resilient & to be better able to get through the tough times.

What Are My Personal Philosophies?

Everyone of my superheroes is someone I trust. They are more than colleagues they are friends. I have at times felt lost & lonely in my business. I can often feel vulnerable & anxious, so seeking clarity & reassurance helps me to maintain good mental health, to feel positive & balanced. When I felt lost in my business in 2018, I worked with Jane Dell from Bucks Business First. Jane, challenged me to find clarity. After six months of being mentored by Jane, what was really unexpected was how my business swerved off into a new direction & the rest, as they say “is history”. 

I have not found being a small business owner the easiest of experiences, but I have made some amazing friends along the way, who understand me & can relate to the pressures I put myself under, as well as the demands created by challenges of running a small business. These are also the people who share in the jubilation of a good day at work when all my building blocks slot together & something miraculous happens. When I set my business up initially, I had never contemplated how important other like-minded people were going to be to my success. I am blown away by the friendships I have built, the support I have received & the strength I have gleaned from others.

As a small business owner, whether starting out or more established never underestimate how significant some of the people you meet will be to your success. Accept that not everyone will stay in your “inner circle” all the time. Your life changes, their life changes, your business evolves, their business evolves & so there is a parting of the waves & your businesses move in different directions. This is perfectly OK. Some people will stay with you for the duration. These people are your personal superheroes & they should be appreciated, celebrated & cherished. 

Lastly, I will ask you to think about identifying who your business superheroes are? Have you told them how important they are to you? What do you do to celebrate how amazing they are?