My journal and our journey.

This journal is where it all started for me. I was given it when I attended the Aspire M.A.D. Leadership Event in 2016. This event was a pivotal one for me but the time was also significant because I had lost my mum a month before so emotions were running high and I was evaluating my purpose.

The event focused on looking at the bigger picture, dreaming, finding your purpose and values, and being brave to do the things which scare you. Obviously I had booked to attend this event prior to my mum passing so it was always my dream to do more with my life but the timing and the women I met really impacted me. 

I met two women that day that really changed the way I thought about my career and purpose. The first was Brita Fernandez Schmidt, Executive Director, Women for Women UK. Brita was a speaker at the event but I caught up with her afterwards and asked her advice on where to take my career. At that point I knew I wanted to make a positive difference to the world but thought I could only do that by working for a charity and supporting their cause. However, I learnt that I could take my skills (developed & honed in my corporate job) and use them to support all types of businesses who were looking to make a difference, it didn’t have to be a charity.

The second woman I ‘met’ that day was Nasreen Sheikh. I say ‘met’ because Nasreen was a speaker and we didn’t actually interact. I have mentioned Nasreen many times before but she essentially set up a shop in Nepal at the age of 14 to sell goods made by rural women who were part of her social enterprise Empowerment Collective. She also educates and empowers these women at learning centres she has built. One woman striving to make huge changes! We connected via email after the event and I started to help her with marketing there and then.

These encounters together with the point at which my life was at really had an impact and it was then I wrote in my journal that 1 year from then I would be in a position where I was making a difference to the world. However, the 1 year thing didn’t quite happen because I was dealing with grief and then my dad passed away too so life became overwhelming.

In 2019 I attended Goodfest Cornwall because my values were still the same and this event was for creatives working for change. The people I met in Cornwall were amazing and the energy in the room was invigorating. After these few days I knew I had to make the most of life and commit to changing my career to be about my values and purpose. I also knew I wanted to live in Cornwall but that’s a different story.

So that’s where we are now. Big Small Good is all about using my knowledge and skills about social media and marketing with companies who are making a difference in the world, either through their products (ethical or sustainable) or through the services they offer people. I also signed up to become a pending B Corp to make sure I’m doing business in the way I believe is right.

Throughout this journey I went back time and again to my journal and added thoughts or notes but mostly to just remind myself of where I was trying to get to professionally.