Darlington businesswoman inspires women in County Durham
For Kerry Metcalfe, the idea of going it alone and trying out the world of self-employment came out of the blue three and a half years ago after she was made redundant.
After weighing her options, she started a marketing company and hasn’t looked back since.
Although she doesn’t look back, she has looked for ways to inspire others in the community about the daunting task of educating children and doing business.
After showing up to several networking events with her child and being told to leave, she became frustrated with the setbacks and wanted to look for a different type of networking within the company.
The Darlington mother, who owns KMedia, then set up the Women in Business group in Newton Aycliffe.
Kerry said: “I wanted a different way of networking and the spark ignited. I was at Little Land of Adventures with my son and saw another mom on her laptop chatting, and it turns out you can do business in a relaxed atmosphere – and the rest is history.”
After launching the Woman in Business group, which meets at the Little Land of Adventures in Newton Aycliffe town center, in February this year, Kerry has so far delivered eight successful networking sessions.
The sessions feature guest speakers from banking groups, accounting firms and a variety of other guest speakers who have inspired the group.
But aside from the business community in the room, the event is also completely kid-friendly: the children are free to run around and play while their mothers spend quality time together discussing the diverse challenges and opportunities that come with running a small business.
All events have sold out so far and Kerry is now looking to the future of the company network, which also has a growing social media presence.
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She added: “I started it on a whim and it paid off. The talent of all these women is incredible and shows that you can be successful in your own business and have a family life.”
At the recent Mums in Business session, broadcaster Rachel Sweeney was present and spoke to mums about balancing media and motherhood.
For more information about the network group, visit KMedia Here.
