Happy 16th Birthday Compleat
16 years ago today I took a leap of faith and started Compleat Conference. I had never planned to run my own business and when I trace back the way this came about it is very relevant in our current climate.
I had been working in the house building industry and loved it. I had no plans to change my career path but then in the 1990’s the market crashed, the country went into recession and I was made redundant. I was gutted, I was out of work for the first time since finishing my education and jobs were few and far between.
Not one to sit around, I started temping, landed a 6 month maternity contract in the pharmaceutical industry which then became a permanent job. From that I went on to work for a medical charity running their events. Events had featured in various formats in all my roles, from show home openings to product launches and sales conferences and I got a real buzz from organising them. Over time people at the events started asking if I could help them with their conferences, study day etc and having turned down a number of opportunities I eventually decided to give it a go. With the blessing of my employer I started Compleat alongside my job with them, working just one day a week for myself from our spare room (which became my office once more during lockdown)! As the work increased I resigned from my job and amazingly was asked to take their conference and organise it through Compleat, so my job came with me.
So to anyone facing redundancy, do not despair, it could lead to wonderful things. It is a real opportunity for change and change really can bring unexpected results.
Not one to sit around, I started temping, landed a 6 month maternity contract in the pharmaceutical industry which then became a permanent job. From that I went on to work for a medical charity running their events. Events had featured in various formats in all my roles, from show home openings to product launches and sales conferences and I got a real buzz from organising them. Over time people at the events started asking if I could help them with their conferences, study day etc and having turned down a number of opportunities I eventually decided to give it a go. With the blessing of my employer I started Compleat alongside my job with them, working just one day a week for myself from our spare room (which became my office once more during lockdown)! As the work increased I resigned from my job and amazingly was asked to take their conference and organise it through Compleat, so my job came with me.
So to anyone facing redundancy, do not despair, it could lead to wonderful things. It is a real opportunity for change and change really can bring unexpected results.
