CiCi Regan Twining is the owner of Brilliant Estate Planning, which provides personalised financial planning and protection for families and businesses.

Originally from a small town in Southern America, CiCi moved to the UK in 2017. A recovering addict and survivor of domestic abuse, CiCi has overcome some incredibly difficult challenges over the years.  

An inspiration indeed, I just had to get her on the show to share her story:

(02:46) CiCi gives us some insight into her background and how she became sucked into the world of addiction.

(06:47) Like many recovering addicts, CiCi celebrated her 90 days sober birthday by having a drink. But she found her strength again and kept on pushing forward. 

(08:08) CiCi comes to stay over in the UK for 6 months, the maximum time allowed when you don’t have a visa. She was barely 2 weeks sober.

(11:11) How did CiCi found the UK culture? Brits are known for their heaving drinking.

(13:32) Does she find people are judgemental of her past?

(16:32) A chronic condition and employment, unfortunately, don’t tend to go hand in hand. Unfair? Absolutely.

(19:13) CiCi discusses the challenges she has faced since starting her business, like working all hours of the day!

(23:03) What habits keep her focused and mentally resilient?

(26:44) There are definitely some perks to working for yourself when you have a chronic illness.

(27:25) CiCi talks about the effects of COVID on her business.

(30:27) What advice would she give herself if she could go back to the beginning of her business?

(32:44) Defining success...

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We live in a world where so many people dream of nothing but big incomes, big houses and fancy cars.

But there are some people, like my latest guest Darren Tate whose biggest goal is to help others and make the world a better place….and he is doing just that.

By day, Darren works for a local charity helping people with mental and physical barriers and by night, he runs his own charity which aims to help unemployed men get back into employment by providing free interview clothing and advice.

I wanted to get Darren on the show to share with us why he started this wonderful charity last year and to find out how COVID has affected it.

(00:37) Darren talks us through his day job and how he got his idea for his own charity - Suitability.

(2:33) How does Darren fund his charity? 

(3:40) How has lockdown affected this new charity and peoples generosity?

(08:45) The power of social media.

(10:04) What has been Darren’s biggest challenges aside from COVID? 

(14:18) Darren is about to go on to a mentored course to help with scalability.

(17:31) Keeping yourself focused and mentally resilient is imperative when running a business. Darren explains how he keeps himself both mentally and physically strong, to help him cope with the business life.

(19:54) Darren is a member of Good Gym - a community of runners that combine getting fit with going good for others - there is no end to this man’s goodness! 

(22:41) if Darren could go back to October 2019 to when the business started, what advice would he give himself?

(25:50) How does Darren define success?

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In this episode, we are joined by Janine from Cheshire Bath Boutique which is an artisan soap, bath and body product company based in Frodsham.

Janine spent a long time with the fire service before transitioning into being completely self-employed. Now running her own business, she gives us an insight into how she carved her own path and the challenges and rewards she discovered along the way.

 [01.04] Coping with COVID-19 and the effect it has had on the retail sector - When many businesses were struggling to deal with this new challenge, how did Janine see a positive impact on her business?

[06.10] From fire to soap: Janine tells the story of how she transitioned from a 20-year career in the fire service to discovering a passion and turning it into a business

 [09.53] There was always going to be some memorable stories working in the fire service.

[13.59] Janine illustrates some of the challenges that arose in transitioning from the fire service into self-employment.

[16.26] Going from a secure monthly wage to self-employed, can certainly take some getting used to!

[18.23] What are some habits or routines Janine uses to help her stay mentally resilient when navigating self-employment?

[20.30] Claire asks Janine what advice she’d give herself if she were to go back to the beginning of her self-employed journey.

[23.06] How do you define success? Janine tells us her personal definition of the word.

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I am so excited to be joined by Rebecca “Bex” Bidwell, Founder of Cherry Blossom Arts Theatre School in this latest episode of Change It Up Business.

Cherry Blossom is no ordinary theatre school and I wanted to get Bex on the show to discuss why this school is so different from all of the others and how her journey in life and entrepreneurship brought her to start this fantastic business.

We also discuss mental health issues, the impact of COVID and why it’s ok to leave a business, if it doesn’t make you truly happy.

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or you’ve already got an established business, don’t miss this episode.

[03:01] Cherry Blossom Arts isn’t your typical theatre school. What makes it different?

[05:54] Being an entrepreneur certainly has its challenges. We have to be willing to put ourselves into uncomfortable situations in order to grow. Can theatre really help with this?

[07:47] Bex’s first taste of coaching came at an early age.

[09:52] Let’s talk COVID and unexpected international growth!

[13:30] The importance of having a routine.

[16:25] We discuss The Lockdown Drama Company and others things lockdown has opened up.

[21:58] Is waking up at 5am really the key to success?

[29:40] Creative thinking when the sun goes down.

[30:20] Before Cherry Blossom Arts, Bex ran another business and although it was success, she quickly realised that it wasn’t for her. But, does this mean it was a waste of time?

[37:39] How does Bex define success? Our views on this tend to change with age. Have YOURS changed as you’ve got older?

Cherry Blossom Arts Facebook Page

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Many of us grow up with dreams of doing one thing, only to discover that it wasn’t all it was hyped up to be. 

Lauren McWilliams specialises in brand and event photography for businesses across the North East of England with her company, For You Photography.

Photography was always a fun hobby but she decided to turn it into a full-time career in 2019, after deciding that her current career, wasn’t making her happy anymore and it was in fact affecting her mental health.

I wanted to get Lauren on the show to find out why she made such a big career change and how her business has been affected thanks to the COVID pandemic.

[01:42] The COVID lockdown meant that photographers all around the world had to stop trading. Lauren only set up as a photographer in April 2019 meaning she was not eligible for any financial support from the UK government. How did she cope and keep her business from going under? 

[07:12] Lauren realised she’d have to push herself to ensure her business survived by doing things that she’d always been too afraid to do in the past. 

[09:33] Lauren studied criminology at university and she always imagined she’d become a probation officer. So why did she become a full-time photographer? It’s quite a big change in career! 

[16:20] Let’s find out about VODA and how Lauren has been supporting this wonderful organisation for young people in North Tyneside. 

[23:30] Burn out has been a huge problem amongst entrepreneurs during the pandemic. How does Lauren ensure she doesn’t burn out? 

[27:30] What lessons has Lauren learnt about going solo and starting a new business?

[29:07] Lauren discusses how she define success. Is it all about how much money you earn?

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Welcome to the second episode of Change It Up Business, the podcast show for start-ups and budding entrepreneurs who are looking to hear inspirational stories from entrepreneurs who run their own business, many of whom have gone from being employees to employers!

Hosted by business owner and entrepreneur Claire Priestley, each episode will focus on the many questions, challenges and up and downs of running your own business.

In this episode, we are joined by banker turned photographer, Lawrence Sweeney. Lawrence was in banking for many years and was earning a decent wage. However, when Lawrence was in his 40s, his dad asked him just before he died if he was really happy with his life….and he realised that he was not.

So, he decided to make a very bold move, leave his secure but unfulfilling banking career behind and start his own photography business.

We discuss his business journey and the impact the Coronavirus has had on both Lawrence’s and Claire’s businesses.

[03:40] We are currently slap bang in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic which means all weddings have been cancelled this summer. 2021 is therefore looking to be crazy busy for Lawrence!

[05:33] The UK lockdown has meant thousands of people have suddenly found themselves with lots of spare time. What does Lawrence think we should do with this time?

[08:31] Claire asks Lawrence what bit of advice would he give himself if he could go back in time, before he started his business.

[12:15] is it ever ok to do free work when you’re building your business?

[16:07] When starting a business, we very much learn as we go. Lawrence and Claire discuss some of the main things they have learnt on their individual entrepreneurial journeys.

[20:03] How have certain businesses changed the way they work during the lockdown?

[24:44] Coronavirus has been incredibly difficult for people in their first year of business as they aren’t eligible for any help.

[28:35] Things are slowly picking up again for Lawrence.

Welcome to the first ever episode of Change It Up Business, the podcast show for start-ups and budding entrepreneurs who are looking to hear inspirational stories from entrepreneurs who run their own business, many of whom have gone from being employees to employers!

Hosted by business owner and entrepreneur Claire Priestley, each episode will focus on the many questions, challenges and up and downs of running your own business.

In this episode, we are joined by Claire Ryan of The Edge Gin, a micro gin distillery in Cheshire. Claire Ryan and her husband set up The Edge Gin after leaving the entertainment world in 2018.

We look at their journey so far including the effect the Coronavirus has had on their still-new business.

[05:30] Claire Ryan and her husband were cruise ship entertainers before they dove in to the world of gin. What made them make the change? One thing they realised was that after years of performing on ships, they weren’t all that employable on land…a very common problem amongst cruise performers.

[13:20] Why is community over competition better than hating on your competitors?

[16:12] Running a gin distillery is bound to have its bumps in the road. Claire Ryan talks about the things that haven’t worked so well so far.

[18:14] Let’s talk Coronavirus. It’s been a struggle financially for The Edge Gin as they would usually do weekly markets which were their biggest stream of income for the company. They obviously haven’t been able to do them for months now, so how have they adapted?

[22:52] Can the look of a bottle really have that much of an effect on how a product sells? 

[26:00] What are the three things that make Claire Ryan the happiest?

[28:00] If Claire Ryan could go back in time before setting up The Edge Gin, what would she say to herself?

Don’t forget to follow The Edge Gin on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.