In Your Shoes - Caroline McKenna

New Year New You!

Well the festive break is well and truly over, the last selection box has been consumed and its definetly time to get back to a healthier lifestyle.

I came back to work on the 2nd January - I loved coming in to the office when everything was quiet to start planning my 2019 goals. I have set my annual goals broken down into 90 day activities - I use Asana as my activity and task planner- its a lifeline for me.

This morning I attended a meeting with some colleagues and an agency looking for advice about their business plans and aligning their social good goals- a great start to the year, I get so excited when a business contacts me to say they want to do more in this space and need help! My favourite type of meeting.

Then I grabbed a coffee in the Apex with an old friend Graeme who was home from Australia after 10 years- it was great to catch up.

This afternoon I have my weekly progress video calls with 2 regular clients and finish with some personal tasks- I move house this weekend, so am dealing with the usual chaos of boxes, mail re-direction and new schools.

The New Girl!

My daughter Amelie age 7 started her new school today, I am sure I was way more nervous than she was. The teachers were brilliant and by the time we left she had made a new friend. It never ceases to amaze me how great kids are at adapting to change and making new friends.

Later this morning I had a meeting with the owner of a design company looking to have a bigger impact through their business- I was blown away by the leadership style, approach and all round passion for doing good. I came back to the office inspired and provided a proposal for working together.

I catch up with a Charity CEO over lunch, we meet every few months to discuss the challenges and successes in the charity sector and its clear funding is getting much harder.

This afternoon I had a workshop with an HR company looking to have more of an impact through their products and services, a really good afternoon throwing ideas around and landing on a clear strategy and activity plan for supporting charitable organisations to be ‘great places to work’.

Business for good

Early start today with the 2019 ‘kick off’ advisory board meeting at 0730. The three board members were bright, breezy and full of beans. We had a great kick off meeting and a clear plan of action for 2019- excellent.

A meeting with Colin Loveday from 4G Scotland finished the morning- discussing being a business for good and activities that would support the plan. 

The day closed meeting with Angie Foreman from 5 by 20, I sit on Angie’s strategic board and we meet quarterly, we looked at the 2019 plans and funding opportunities. Really exciting times for women starting their own business in Dundee.

Numbers can be fun

First thing, I had a call with my accountant Ashton McGill, numbers are not my strong point - we discussed VAT, monthly forecasting, reporting and they provided advice on next steps. They actually make numbers fun.

Later this morning I delivered two new proposals for work and interviewed a virtual assistant - I am drowning in admin so a great opportunity to share my tasks and be more productive.

Client work the remainder of the day followed by a late meeting on a new product - really excited about the potential for this service.

This afternoon I had a great meeting with a financial services CEO. looking to ‘give back’ to the local community. She was looking for advice on how best to use her skills and where to find an organisation that would benefit. We had a really good chat about how best she could use her experience and background to make a difference.

House Moving Day

Today I set the alarm for 5am to catch up on some emails and send a new proposal for work with an Edinburgh based business who are keen to plan a workshop with their senior team to jointly create their social good strategy.

I also completed some client work and prioritised my diary for the week ahead. I try to spend an hour on a Friday reviewing the week and planning the week ahead, it makes me feel much more organised come Monday.

House move as you can imagine was fairly stressful- why on earth do we have stuff in our garage that hasn’t been looked at for years.

Another chapter starts in our personal lives and after a crash course in lighting an open fire - we have heat and wine what more can you ask for. Happy Friday!