Blog & News

On this very day 8 years ago I watched a TED talk that blew my mind and inspired me to take action (and even take to twitter and Facebook! - see image below). It was Jeremy Gilley talking about Peace One Day. 

Watch the TED talk - CLICK HERE

This was the beginning of a personal journey to believe that we can all make a difference. I began to understand that to change the world around us we didn’t need to be World Leaders or even God’s; each small step forward by every individual counted. 

That year (2011) my small step forward was to stand up at a conference I was attending on the 21st of September and share what I had learned about this special annual amnesty. It was the first day I put myself out there as someone who wanted to literally stand up for what mattered. 

Roll on 8 years and that small step lead me to a place where I now dedicate my working (and much of my social) life to driving positive change through business. I live by my...

The UK’s Top Influencer, a BBC Radio Presenter and women who are World Leaders in their field, will be sleeping rough after a glitzy awards dinner to launch #PurposeOverPouts; an exciting campaign to inspire future generations of girls to have better role models.

13th July see the Global Woman Summit come to the UK for the first time. This international event recognises women from around the World who inspire and lead change. The two-day summit culminates in a star-studded Gala Dinner attended by celebrities and female leaders from across the globe. The UK contingent plan to use this event as a launch pad to raise awareness of homelessness and a new breed of women who want to make a difference.

 

In May 2019 award-winning entrepreneur, Fran Boorman, was announced at the UKs number 1 influencer after dedicated work building multi-million-pound businesses that effect positive social change, alongside influencing policy and attitudes towards women’s...

Entrepreneurial Single Mum is Named Global Woman’s Top UK Influencer and Vows to Sleep Rough After the Global Woman Summit to Inspire Future Generations of Girls to Have #PurposeOverPouts

A combination of a fierce public vote and stringent judging panel saw Kent based mum of two, Fran Boorman, announced (on 27th May) as the UKs Top Influencer by Global Woman – an international organisation that empowers and recognises leaders of change across the globe.

Fran is not a typical ‘Influencer’ with a perfectly laid out Instagram account, instead she is recognised as creating influence through action; leading award-winning businesses with strong social purposes and representing women’s views in the media and Parliament.

On hearing of her initial nomination in April 2019 Fran shared how this symbolised a shift in what the public wants from influencers. “There is a real hunger for better role models for the younger generations of...

Think of a female influencer and you probably have the image of some gorgeous sun-kissed babe holding the camera at the perfect angle to reveal an enviable pouty pose. Not a single mum, crouched on the floor by the tumble drier folding her little one’s undies, with ruffled hair and fashioning trusty PJ bottoms! However, what if the world is just starting to get that bit more real!?

It was the Tuesday evening before the kids go back to school after the Easter Holidays, and that second image was me, wishing I had been slightly more diligent at the start of the holidays getting the PE kits ready! Making the most of the mundane I was listening to a pod cast whilst paring socks when my phone started buzzing. It had just been announced online that I had been selected as one of the top 6 female influencer from the UK by the Global Woman Movement.

Overcoming my slight embarrassment of such a flattering honour, I have reflected and found excitement and hope - perhaps we...

As my ribs twanged with pain, drawing hard, my lungs desperately search for just a tiny bit more of the oxygen that was so finely laced in the air. With the wind piercing at the smallest bit of my cheek exposed and my toes stinging with numbness I tried with all my might to take just one more step. Just one more. It is in these extreme moments that you learn everything you need to know about yourself. 

 

A week earlier I had been sitting in a lovely warm English pub enjoying a long Friday work lunch, handing over responsibilities to my business partner. He looked at me like I was deranged. “I just don’t get it? How is this going to be a holiday? And why on earth would anyone want to put themselves through that to climb a mountain!?”  Oddly, I had never asked myself that question. In fact, it was a really good question. Why on earth was I going to take my first week off for years, from being a busy mum building a business, to put myself...

As we watch the Winter Olympics in awe this week let us not forget what we are really celebrating… we are celebrating ‘overnight successes’ that took lifetimes to build!

It is easy to feel that what creates success is an athlete crossing the finish line first, but this is just symbolic. What we are actually celebrating is thousands of little things that we never see. Success is not created in front of stadiums full of people, it is created when no one is watching.

I was incredibly lucky to experience this first-hand as a teenager when I found myself in a secondary school class with a bubbly, energetic girl called Chemmy Alcott. Chemmy went on to compete in four Winter Olympics and get some of the best results Great Britain has ever seen in skiing.

On our first day at school, Chemmy wasn’t hopelessly rearranging her new stationery like the rest of us, she was focused on doing some of those ‘little things’ that would...