After 15 years working in large businesses, working her way up the career ladder, starting as an admin assistant through to being the business manager on a £12m IT project where she worked increasingly long hours with almost unbearable levels of stress, Karen realised there must be more to life.
Having had a life changing trip to the Antarctic in 2000 and saved enough money to last a year, she took the plunge, handed in her notice and began her journey to find a different way to live and work.
She went on to work in start-ups, has been in businesses that have failed, been in a business that grew from nothing to 150 employees and was bought, was an owner and shareholder of a successful consultancy practice and has been a freelance consultant.
She studied for an MBA to understand in more depth how business works.
Over the last 30 years she’s learned many, and sometimes painful, lessons on what makes businesses work and in 2014 started her business coaching practice, The Chameleon Guide, working with small and micro businesses in Surrey and Sussex. Since then she has helped many businesses grow using her broad experience and the lessons she’s learned along the way:
She has helped start-ups with business planning and putting in place the right structures and systems to get them up and running.
In her work with established businesses she has:
– Helped a financial planning company increase its revenue from £600k to £750k per annum in 12 months
– Worked with an occupational health business to increase revenue from less than £20k a year to over £80k a year and guided the owner through a sale process
– Supported a Pensions consulting business to win a £70k a year contract
– Worked with several businesses to focus on their niche and create new websites that effectively reflect their business model
– Helped businesses wanting to grow by mapping and evolving their processes and systems with recommendations on what steps to take next.
She runs planning workshops and regularly presents to networking groups including Reigate & Banstead Council.
She has won an award for her work and in 2018 published a book – The Profitable Business – How to create a thriving business that works for you in 7 short(ish) steps – to help small businesses grow and succeed. She has also written the first of three books about her travel adventures – the first ‘The Impulsive Explorer’ about her trip to the Antarctic which was published in March 2021.
She is known for her straight talking and practical, hands-on approach to business support. Nothing makes her happier than seeing her clients thrive and succeed.
Karen will be writing a regular column for The Sussex Newspaper starting from next month.
