Thursday, July 7, 2016

Colette McKenna Uses Her Many Years of Employment Experience To Launch Consultancy Business

Colette McKenna has many skills to her name that she has accumulated throughout her career which helped to launch her business Colette McKenna Etc...(Employability/Education & Training Consultancy)

Prior to diving into self-employment Colette was Head of Employability for The City of Liverpool College for 8 years but had worked at the college since 1995 in various teaching and then management roles which were often employment and skills focussed too, and has many qualifications ranging from CIM Management to CIPD.


After deciding to leave The City of Liverpool College last autumn, Colette says; ‘I felt that I had more to give and wanted to use the skills and experience I had to work with businesses and organisations in supporting the communities they serve. I truly loved my work at the college and working with employment and skills is still my passion and I bring that passion to the stakeholders I work with.

Colette’s specialisms range from project management in employability, education and training to curriculum training design and stakeholder and employer relationships. It’s clear to see that from her career she has gained an incredible amount of knowledge and skills that will help her on her way to making her business a success.

After Colette had decided that she would start her own business, she got in contact with The Women’s Organisation pretty quickly as she knew about our organisation through working with us during her previous roles. ‘From that moment on, I was on my way to getting the support and guidance that I needed. I had already started setting up everything but wasn’t quite sure if I had covered all bases. My Business Adviser, Yan Miao, really guided me in the right direction and made me feel like the business could work. It was so reassuring that my model had potential and she believed that my business had a future and also in what I was trying to achieve but her approach was always in a realistic and practical manner.’

But of course, when starting up a new business there are always going to be challenges that a business owner has to face and Colette has realised a few things about self-employment on her journey; ‘Actually finding the work was a bit daunting at first and I realised how much work I had to put into actually setting up the business! I hadn’t realised just what needed to be done before you even start working on the business. Also I had to get used to the isolation of working alone and begin learning different skills to boost the business. But luckily I found it all very exciting!’


Now that the business is up and running, things are going really well for Colette and something that she has found particularly valuable has been networking and relationship building. Colette is receiving great support from an ex-colleague who has also branched out into running her own business, and has worked closely with her to signpost work back and forth. 

Colette told us; ‘I’m also working really hard on networking and developing relationships, by basing it on my skills and knowledge. And thanks to this I now have a few really exciting projects that I’m working on!’

And what advice would Colette give to someone who was thinking about starting their own business? ‘I would tell them to think about what they want from their business and whether there is a market need for their skills and expertise…And then of course, get yourself along to The Women’s Organisation!

Looking towards the future of the business, Colette is hoping to become a Ltd. Company this year and also develop an associate arm of the business at some point too! So with all this to look forward to, and Colette’s experience and positive attitude – we just know that the business is going to be a success!

If you would like to find out more information about Colette McKenna Etc… you can use the contact details below!

Colette McKenna Etc 
Employability/Education & Training Consultancy

54 St James Street
Liverpool
L1 0AB

07468 414 683

And if you’ve been inspired by Colette’s story and are thinking about starting your own business, The Women’s Organisation can support you! Email us on hello@thewo.org.uk or ring us on 0151 706 8111 to see how we can help!





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