PaulinaYou have recently moved from a secure job into a new role as Co - Founder of an event company. How did you think about this step and how is the business going?

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The thoughts were many, and it was not obvious to go from a secure job at an established company to running and building a completely new event company from scratch. The offer came when I was on parental leave. When you have a lot of time to think back and forth, you start to reflect on what it is you actually want in life.

I have a background in Hospitality and Event Management and have always loved the service industry, it is a bit in my core to want to go above and beyond for the customer.

Despite that love for the industry, in recent years I had worked more with pure sales and marketing. So when the opportunity arose with the offer to become a partner in a brand new start-up event company, the decision was finally made to accept and take a chance. However uncertain it was.
Business is going well! The company has only been active for just over a month and we already have a couple of major Christmas parties for customers to be planned. Which is beyond our expectations, but so much fun!
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How can you use your previous experience in sales and service in your current role?

I am so grateful that I have worked many years in the service industry, from hotel receptionist, waiter, hostess to event coordinator. You get an incredible understanding of different people and a respect for the craft behind good service. Then, when I started working in sales, I could definitely draw on that experience when meeting customers. Similarly, my experience in sales has given me a good understanding of different elements of the sales process such as negotiation and the importance of listening. Service and sales combined become an incredibly strong foundation that I really feel I can benefit from in my current role.

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What advice do you have for anyone who is wondering what it would be like to dare to take the step from permanent employee to "own"

I asked myself the question:

"What is the worst that can happen?" and set it against "What will be the upside?".

If the upside outweighs the risk, and if you really believe in the business idea, I think you should dare to invest. Then it is always good to surround yourself with like-minded people with whom you can brainstorm ideas and who can encourage you, whether it is a business partner or a network of people who also run their own companies. Alone is not always strong :)