PEOPLE, PENNIES & PURPOSE
This week I want to talk about four more of my wonderful speakers on Scott Media Speakers to see if any might fit for you at your event. Your event could be social — and you need an after-dinner speaker to inspire or motivate. Your event may be educational offering inspiration and insight to a specific sector or group. Your event may be business focussed to offer support or practical tips to a range of business owners. Our platform has speakers to fit all briefs — and all are offering their experience, expertise and insight at an affordable and fair fee. You can find the full list of speakers here — https://scottmedia.uk/speakers/
LOOK AFTER THE PENNIES…
First up today is Nicki Kinton, who is an expert in the world of money in business — from cashflow, to credit control to debt recovery. Knowledge around these matters is key to success in business and is often dismissed or seen as ‘boring’ back office tasks. Yet no business will survive without healthy cash flow and putting strategies and activities in place to ensure that cashflow. I invited Nicki to join this platform because she’s helped me in my microbusiness mutiple times to help me get the right processes in place. The truth is, when it comes to managing money in my business, I have a visceral hatred of it. I know it needs to be done but I will put it off and put it off to my own detriment. With Nicki’s professional support I’m now at a place of confidence and everyone can be at that place if they just take some steps to be more money savvy. You can find Nicki’s background and her areas of expertise here — https://scottmedia.uk/speakers-list/nicki-kinton/
PEOPLE ARE AT THE HEART OF ANY BUSINESS…
Rachel Weaven knows this as she’s an HR professional with more than 20 years’ experience both as an in-house HR manager and, latterly, within her own business.
We met a few years ago when Rachel had made the momentous decision to start her own HR consultancy. She felt that she could offer far more and in the most ethical manner if she was steering her own HR ship.
Today she supports small business owners with small teams to be HR compliant, she keeps them abreast of upcoming legal changes and she’s an expert in diversity and inclusion. She works in collaboration with another of my speakers — Louise Hunt Skelley PLY — in this area. She also is fantastic at team building through her Insights training (which I’ve done) so teams can understand how each other thinks, learns and behaves to promote better team work, cohesion and understanding (I’m a red by the way, absolute classic bossy boots! but at least I now know it and can tone it down when necessary).
Rachel also went through burn-out herself — as an HR manager she found herself, for a brief period, on the rough end of bullying in a previous role which brought her to her knees. From that position she’s risen up to help others and to help other SME owners to recognise when and if that’s happening on their watch. Find out more about her here — https://scottmedia.uk/speakers-list/rachel-weaven/
PERSONALITY V. BRAND
David came into my life fairly recently it’s fair to say and our initial conversations had nothing to do with his professional day to day life. Someone told me he’d been involved in a passion project about a long lost road which ran through our home county of Wiltshire. He’d found it on an old map which he’d been given as a present and had researchd this road, it’s history, importance and it’s path through our county. I told my friends at BBC Wiltshire about this and gave over his contact details (with his permission). Unbeknown to me at the time, not only did they want David to tell the stories, they wanted a series of stories about the road.
The next time we met I began to find out far more about David and realised when it comes to brand, he’s streets ahead of me. He’s worked with many larger companies — including major Formula 1 brands — to help them hone their brand voice and also with famous individuals within that world to build their personal brands aligned with those brands. It’s easy in business to build a personal brand which does not sit well alongside the business you run, own or work with. Getting that tone of voice right is essential for success. Find out more about David here — https://scottmedia.uk/speakers-list/david-mitchell/
PEOPLE MAKE THE BEST STORIES…
I’m not going to lie to you — Lis is my bestie. We met at a business event more than a decade ago and we simply hit it off. There’s a childishness that we both possess which we recognised in each other. We delight in people, in giggling, in joking, in spending time together and in so much more.
When I met Lis she was a professional commercial photographer after leaving her previous role in music education — she’s also an accomplished musician. At the age of 58 she decided to take a new direction and we met at a networking event. She’s worked with me ever since — even when in 2020, she made the decision to become a full-time writer, poet and writing mentor. Words are now her world, although they were always there, framing her previous experience.
I’m proud also to say that Lis mentored me to write my own first book, The Hard Yards, which shares my first ten years in business and the many lessons, mistakes and joys along the way. Without her I would never have got the book on paper or out into the world. Why? Seems crazy doesn’t it as a wordsmith myself? I needed direction. It’s that simple. When you can tell a thousand stories, how do you choose which stories to tell?
Lis has written many books and published close to a dozen of her own works to date. Her second novel Echoes of Drowning was published in May 2024 and her third is already written to be published later this year. She can talk about so many things to inspire any audience. Find out more about how she can help add energy to your event visit https://scottmedia.uk/speakers-list/lis-mcdermott/
I hope this simply shows how wonderful and full of infinite variety the individuals on Scott Media Speakers can be. If you’d like to discuss booking any of them for your event please contact my colleague Lauren on lauren@fionascott.co.uk
