Laura Leyland, found and director of Fresh Perspective Resourcing, winner of the Sub36 Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019 reveals what it's like to win an award and her mentoring journey since.
Why did you enter Sub36 Awards 2018?
The Sub36 Awards allow younger people to compete against each other, making the playing field more level whereas with many other awards the people and companies are more experience and established, sometimes making it more difficult for those that are newer to business!
The Sub36 Awards are more about the individual and their efforts rather than other awards which are focused more on the companies.
Entering awards is a big part of our marketing strategy to raise our profile and grow our network.
How did you find the entry process and awards criteria?
Very simple and straight forwards.
Tell us what you thought about the judging process and interview day
Very well organised and we enjoyed being able to position the business at the beginning of the interview via a ten minute presentation and then answering questions after that. The judges were really welcoming.
What was it like to win on the night?
The BEST FEELING EVER. One of the best and most treasured moments in my life to date - I still feel emotional when I think about the moment they announced my name!
How have you and/or your business benefitted from winning the award?
Absolutely. It’s given us credibility, which is crucial for us in our industry of recruitment and it created a lot of publicity online, which we utilised to its full potential.
We picked up business from the awards – a judge in the New Business Award category signed up as a client for 12 months, worth over £20,000!
Tell us about the mentoring programme and how this has worked for you?
My mentor is simply WONDERFUL. I have thoroughly enjoyed the mentoring and it’s been extremely useful to have someone who I look up to and respect to bounce ideas off and talk to about challenges and successes
He’s also given me some great ideas, that have and will continue to help me, and the business grow.
Do you have any words of advice for those thinking of entering this year?
Stop thinking about it and JUST DO IT!!
Especially the ladies, as I was the only female finalist in the Entrepreneur and Innovation categories, and I know for a fact there are some inspiring Sub36 women in Lancashire but for some reason they are hiding away and allowing the guys to take the limelight!!
It’s a fab process, it’s really useful to succinctly write/talk about your business and your journey so that you can talk about these things in a more powerful way going forwards.
The awards night is a great networking opportunity with peers and judges and the publicity you can obtain from it if you use it properly is fantastic.