The Small Business Sessions

The 35th session is with Enterprise Nation member Ceri Jones. A natural chef wasn't much of a thing five years ago when Ceri left her job in the music industry and went off to San Fransisco to train as one. How things change! With the recent launch of the Natural Kitchen Adventures app which is based around seasonal recipes, plus cooking for clients on yoga retreats and teaching classes of her own, Ceri, a trained chef who cooks with seasonal whole foods that are organic and local whenever possible, certainly has her work cut out!

The 34th session is with Enterprise Nation member Rachel Maclean. As the co-founder of a HR platform aimed at small businesses, Enterprise Nation member Rachel Maclean's Session should be helpful as well as inspiring! Rachel quit her full time job in HR after 20 years to set up Air because she saw a real gap in the market. The Enterprise Nation member runs her business predominantly out of Birmingham but makes the most of the benefits of remote working with her employees spread all over the globe including five employees based in Russia. The next team meeting is happening in Prague which definitely sounds like an added benefit!

The 33rd session is with Enterprise Nation member Sophie Bush. Is the New year inspiring a bit of a sort out at home? Well perhaps the first of our 2017 Small Business Sessions might get your idea cogs whirring! Sophie is the founder of My Warehouse Home. After moving in to a new warehouse flat herself, she left her job at Conde Nast to set up her own magazine aimed at people living in or interested in high end warehouse conversions or industrial buildings. The publication is now read in 60 different countries worldwide and Sophie has also developed an e-shop and is looking forward to her first coffee table book which is due to be published this spring. Sophie's global ambitions led her to join our trade mission to Amsterdam last year.

The 32nd session is with Enterprise Nation member and founder of Tuckshop Flowers Carole Patilla. Carole chatted to us on a break between dashing from one Christmas wreath making workshop to another which makes a very fitting festive finalee to our 2016 podcasts. After being asked to organise the flowers for her brother in law's funeral and at a point of feeling dissatisfied with her 20 year teaching career, Carole decided it was time to make a living out of doing something that she really loved. Tuckshop Flowers now provides arrangements for weddings, funerals and events, all sourced from Carole's suburban garden, allotment and the brilliant Flowers from the Farm network, which aims to increase the proportion of flowers bought in the UK that are also grown here from the current 10%.

The 31st session is with Enterprise Nation member and Worktaster founder Sally Tomlinson. Lying exhausted after tackling the New York marathon isn't the obvious time to come up with a business idea, but that's what happened to Sally Tomlinson. Sally is one of the brains behind Worktaster, a platform for young people aged 14 to 19 to find the work experience they need to get started on their career journey. It helps schools to monitor what they're up to and report their findings to Ofsted at the same time as giving businesses a hassle free way of engaging their local community.

The 30th episode is with TROVE co-founder and Enterprise Nation member Ada Okpe. TROVE is a company that sources local items such as luxury toiletries, guidebooks and fresh coffee to be left for guests by Airbnb hosts. With his co-founder Tom, he was inspired to start the business after travelling in the US staying in Airbnb properties and a luxury hotel in Las Vegas. Noticing that the hotel has plenty of in room treats that the Airbnb rooms didn't, the entrepreneurs had their lightbulb moment and TROVE was born.

The 29th session is with Enterprise Nation member and Memrica founder Mary Matthews. Mary is inspirational founder of Memrica, an app that is truly life changing. The service creates what the entrepreneur describes as a 'back up memory' and helps people who are anxious about forgetting people and places which impacts on their social confidence and, for many, leads to depression. Mary's story is a very personal one having been encouraged to start the business after her sister died of motor neurone disease and remembering her quickly became vitally important. This session is an absolute must-listen.

The 28th episode is with Enterprise Nation member and co-founder of Bluebird Tea Co. Krisi Smith. With her partner Mike, tea mixologist and Enterprise Nation member Krisi founded Bluebird Tea Co. The couple are on a mission to do what other people do with cocktails but using tea blends instead. Big and unusual flavours are their thing with combos like rhubarb and custard, cherry bakewell and mulled cider alongside more familiar blends such as Earl Grey and English breakfast. Adamant that it would be a retail business above everything else, the entrepreneurs turned down offers from supermarkets including Waitrose and Tesco and now have three of their own stores in Brighton, Bristol and Tunbridge Wells, a successful e-commerce platform, a team of 30 people and have recently taken on their second warehouse. That all seems a very long way from the oh-so-familiar spare bedroom operation that kicked it all off.

The 27th episode is with Enterprise Nation member and founder of Henpicked, Deborah Garlick. A very special session this week as it was recorded live on stage at Enterprise Nation's Festival of Female Entrepreneurs last month. After spotting a gap in the market for a website catering for woman over 40, Deborah Garlick co-founded Henpicked with some friends to cater for the things that they wanted to see talked about online. With no formal editorial team involved, the sites features stories written by real woman about happiness, health and wealth.

The 26th episode is with Enterprise Nation member and Piccolo founder Cat Gazzoli. With culinary legend Prue Leith as a mentor and an investor plus a child nutritionist and a creative with a branding background with brands like Itsu as co-founders, Cat Gazzoli has already got a pretty good cheerleading squad for her organic baby food brand Piccolo. The entrepreneur is passionate about ethical sourcing from small independent family farms and gives 10% of profits to the National Childbirth Trust from her products which are already stocked in Waitrose and Asda just six months after launching. We recorded this session at the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs in Bristol on 21 October before Cat took to the stage to pitch for the title of Female Start-up of the Year.