This week’s guest is Samantha Kelly (aka Tweeting Goddess), a female entrepreneur who has impressively turned her life around for herself and her family. Samantha openly shares her personal journey of being a single mother of 2 girls and reliant on social welfare for a very long time. She began to turn her life around when she chose to cut alcohol out of her life 13 years ago and took the brave step to try and become financially independent through entrepreneurial endeavours. This led to her becoming a contestant on RTE’s Dragon Den, and to many other exciting opportunities, including giving a TED talk in 2015. 

Samantha came to realise her great strength was in building social networks and business communities, connecting small business owners and offering them a variety of business supports through her networks. Samantha now runs the Women Inspire Network (WIN) and has over 420 active members. I think these support networks are an invaluable way for women to empower other women, through even simple things like sharing advice, making an introduction, or just lending a supportive ear. 

I enjoyed hearing Samantha’s story – she is down to Earth and honest about the highs and the lows of both her business and personal life. I always find it so shockingly refreshing when people share their vulnerabilities – so I really thank Samantha for this.  

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• Building supportive communities for small & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• Turning 40 and a succession of life-changing events, motivated Samantha to just go for it and set up her own business, which led her to participate in the tv show, Dragon's Den
• Female entrepreneurship and business support networks - encourages all SMEs to seek out mentorship through business networks
• Building relationships and networking through social media
• Be kind and give back in business, people will remember
• The importance of being human and real in business
• Moving out of social welfare and into business helped Samantha to feel more of a "useful member of society" now that she "can contribute and add value" 
• Never underestimate the power of a useful introduction in business 
• Recognises the importance of having a great team to build her business
• Ambassador for Sober St Patrick's Day as Samantha shares she is 13 years sober 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Women's Inspire Network (WIN): https://www.womensinspirenetwork.com/
The Tweeting Goddess Little Book of Twitter Magic by Samantha Kelly: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tweeting-Goddess-Little-Twitter-Magic/dp/1912328399
Samantha Kelly's new podcast Twitter Tales: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GkFMg01NETGrBpDqKhXOR?si=GRVa2ikRRWqp0Nsw0W-HmQ
The Double X Economy book by Prof. Linda Scott: https://www.doublexeconomy.com/
Sober St Patrick's Day: https://www.soberstpatricksday.org/

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