here's the thing Archives - Page 21 of 44

Retreat with me in January

I’ve created a long weekend that takes care of you, where you don’t have to think about making dinner or looking after anyone else, and you can simply focus on looking after you and your business.

In my own life and business planning, I’ve found it completely invaluable to have time out, in a different (and beautiful!) place, with a group of like-minded people. You’ll have chance to reflect on your business as it is now, the things that have gone well, and the dreams you have for the future.

I’ll be running workshops that will help you identify your core strengths as a business and an individual, that will help you to plan for the next year, and that will inspire you to move your business forward.

The practical workshop stuff will be balanced with some real retreat stuff, too, to make sure you go home on Monday feeling rested, nourished and energised. You’ll be able to have a massage, sleep in, take naps, take walks in the beautiful gardens, and have time to read and write. We’ll do some simple meditations together that will settle us in to doing the important business planning work.

Workshops will be as a whole, and in smaller groups, and I’ll be available throughout the weekend to have some one-to-one time where it’s needed. I’m confident you’ll be leaving with plenty of ideas and tools to help improve your business.

Ready to book your place? Click here to choose your room and book.

Save the date: Friday 6 to Monday 9 January 2017

When: arrive Friday afternoon, leave early Monday.

Where: Pedington Manor, near Berkeley in the Cotswolds

Who: me, you, and a group of wonderful small creative business owners
(up to 14 people max.)

This particular retreat weekend is only available to new attendees, those who haven’t retreated with me before. This year, I decided to offer repeat retreats for my existing group so that we can dive deeper the second or third time around. Anyone who retreats with me for the first time in 2017 will be able to do the same next year!

Previous years

I’ve been lucky to have so many brilliant women at my retreats in previous years. Here are the highlights:

2015:

2016:

Accommodation and catering

We’ll be staying in Pedington Manor in the beautiful Cotswolds. It’s a gorgeous and cosy manor house with lovely and inspiring suuroundings. We have the whole place to ourselves, and lots of opportunity for comfort and relaxation.

When planning the retreat, I wanted to find somewhere luxurious but cosy and homely – somewhere we could really settle in together and would feel like an escape. Pedington is full of open fires, squishy sofas, and comfy beds. There are places for a peaceful moment all to yourself, and plenty of room to connect and create with our supportive group.

A number of accommodation options are available to suit different budgets and preferences. I’ve included more info below.

The retreat is fully catered from Friday night to Monday morning. If you have any dietary requirements, we can work with that – just let me know. There’ll be copious tea and cake, naturally!

There’s plenty of parking available at Pedington. Your travel to the retreat isn’t included in the price, but I can help to coordinate travel from nearby train stations.

Rooms and prices

The accommodation at Pedington Manor is all gorgeous, with a variety of different rooms available to suit your budget and preferences.

En-suite individual room:	£1,200
Individual room:	£950
Standard twin room:	£750
Dorm room:	£550 (up to 4 people sharing)

All rooms (except individual en-suites) have lovely shared bathrooms.

Please note prices do not include VAT.

Who’s coming

Our group will be a maximum of 14 – a number that allows us to get to know each other and create a truly supportive group. This retreat weekend is for new retreaters only. I’ve had such a high re-booking rate (hooray!) that, this year, I decided to offer repeat retreats for my existing group so that we can dive deeper the second or third time around. Anyone who retreats with me for the first time in 2017 will be able to do the same next year!

I firmly believe that everyone coming on this retreat will benefit not only from a restoring weekend, but will also receive the ongoing support of a close and non-competitive group. We connect with each other in a private group on Facebook before we meet in person, and we really work as a group to listen to and see each other clearly.

Why retreat with me?

I adore running retreats. It honestly feels like the work I’m meant to do in the world. My work as a coach and mentor brings me plenty of experience working with individuals and groups, and I bring a wealth of experience – personal and professional – to the table.

I’m open, honest, and I hold the space for you. I bring structure to conversations about who you are, who your brand is, what you really want, and how to move forward. I know from personal experience that big change can come from retreats and deep insights. Sometimes it’s gentle, sometimes dramatic, but it’s always from a place of truth and authentic growth.

If you’re up for a relaxed, informal, yet insightful way of learning how to improve your business and your life, this is the retreat for you. And you’re bound to make some friends along the way.

To book:

Pop over here and choose your room type
You can choose to pay in full now, or pay a £250 deposit with instalment options. If you choose to pay in instalments, I’ll email you to set this up.

Please note your deposit is non-refundable. If you change your mind or are unable to attend, your place can be transferred to someone else if available. Otherwise, you will be charged in full.

Any questions? Please let me know if there’s anything you’re worrying or wondering about. You can email me: jenny (at) thejennyhyde.com

I can’t wait to see you there!

Here's the thing: strength

Yesterday, I launched a Crowdfunder for Copper Boom. I will tell you all about it, I promise, but right now I need to tell you about strength.

Isn’t it sometimes true that you have to go beyond your limits (or what you thought were your limits) in order to see how capable you are? In order to see how strong you are? Strength, it seems, is what I’m discovering new layers of, beyond the surface and the next rung down and the places I knew so well.

Last week, Copper Boom moved out of my house and into commercial premises, and I tell you, it is a relief. It feels better already. Bigger, more real, more professional, more capable. But boy is it hard work. Hard in ways I hadn’t quite imagined. We still have no phone line, no internet, because lord love them, BT cancelled my order without telling me three times. After I diligently planned ahead and had a date a whole week before we moved in when they would install! There is strength in calling them back – again! – to see what the hell is going on.

My team also trebled overnight. Two permanent team members started last week. Thank goodness. I held a team lunch on Friday and there were eight of us around the table. Eight! And at the end of that long week, it felt like strength to sit there and not let all of my fears and exhaustion show through, but instead introduce them to each other and give us all the opportunity to celebrate and get excited.

There’s strength in being so completely brain-dead at the end of the day that I burn the dinner, and then getting up in the morning to do it all over again.

There’s strength (or is it just an ache?) in my calves, thighs, shoulders, from standing and lifting and moving and working on photoshoots.

There’s strength in coming back to my vision, my integrity, my dream – even when I see other people doing other stuff, or when I’m asked if we can do something else.

I was thinking about strength, and I wondered what my strengths are. In the chaos of moving and building and adding people and launching a Crowdfunder, it doesn’t feel like organisation is my strength. But perhaps flexibility or riding the wave is a strength.

Writing and communication are strengths of mine, and yet I’ve called two people the wrong names every time I’ve seen them this week. And I’ve read over emails I’ve written and thought, Jenny, that really isn’t clear at all. I know that they’re still strengths underneath it all, but in this busy phase, who’s to know?

I do believe one of my strengths is hope. I am good at finding hope in dark places, whether for myself or for others. Recently, I worried that perhaps hope was my downfall – do I just hope too much, without really putting the effort in to make it happen? This is a genuine question I have put to several friends. They all laughed at me. Apparently running two businesses and pushing one of them quite hard is practically the definition of “putting enough effort in”.

And you know me. I see strength in the tears, in admitting that it’s hard and I still want to do it. There is strength in acknowledging that there’s still so far to go and, damn it, I’d just like a rest, please.

There’s strength in becoming more visible. (Oh, I have a whole book to write on this subject, but safe to say I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.) Especially when you don’t feel polished and up to scrutiny.

I see strength in the client who emailed today saying she has two staff members out of action and is struggling to draw breath. I hear ya, sister. There’s strength in powering through.

There’s strength in the client who asked me to create a business plan with her, even though she’s going through IVF treatment, because whether she’s pregnant tomorrow or not, she needs her business to change.

This year, I chose bloom as my word. I think about it a lot. It’s been very apt, so far. Today, thinking about strength, I notice what a vital component it is to blooming. A flower needs strength to grow, to stand, to open its petals. Even the most delicate flora needs strength. It doesn’t question whether it will be strong enough, or whether being strong is even worth it. It just blooms.

And so here’s the thing:

Let’s be strong together. Let’s recognise our strengths. When was the last time you considered what your personal and professional strengths are? Perhaps now is the time to make a note of them.

And: what do you need to be strong? I need sleep and good food and space to completely collapse at the end of the day, with no expectations that I will have anything further to give. Right now, that’s what this building-a-business strength requires.

I am strong. And I’m glad of it.

Here’s to us.

Christmas Support

It’s time to think differently about Christmas.

If you find yourself succumbing to the pressure, panic and overwhelm that Christmas brings.

If you want to take back control of your business’s destiny.

If you don’t even know where to begin.

If you already feel behind.

If you want to find a different way to run your business at the busiest time of the year.

My Christmas Support programme offers a fresh look at how to plan and prepare for Christmas. It’s head and heart, visualisations and practical solutions, inspiration and action.

Over four jam-packed video lessons, I’ll bring my experience (7 years’ worth), my expertise of online selling, and my wealth of prompts and questions to support you in creating the Christmas you want for your business.

We start on Monday 1 August and finish on Monday 22 August, with a week in between each call to catch up, ask questions and dive into the material.

Yes, there are very specific tips, advice and case studies. Yes, I can tell you which platforms to use to schedule social media content. Yes, there’s a giant wall planner with deadlines and important dates. Yes, there are checklists.

No, that’s not all.

I believe each business is unique, just like the people who run them. So, this Christmas, I want you to manifest the Christmas period that’s truly right for your business and brand. It’s time to stop getting stuck in fear and comparison and over-thinking, and start planning with a heart.

What the programme includes

My Christmas Support Programme includes four lessons, which can be taken separately or together. They are:

Creating Christmas, Parts 1 and 2: visualising the Christmas you truly want, identifying key goals and intentions, and, in part 2, pouring your dreams into product development (1 August)
Staff and Support: identifying what you truly need – or might need – and how to recruit, train and manage a team over Christmas. We’ll also go through other handy support and systems to help things run smoothly. (8 August)
Forecasting and Stock Ordering: the art and science of forecasting using my preferred methods, and real-life conversations about how much stock to order and when. (15 August)
Connecting at Christmas: creating a marketing campaign that really connects you to your core customers by thinking about marketing in a totally different way. (22 August)

These lessons are all 90-minute live video calls, delivered on Mondays, and recorded so that you can refer back to them or catch up on your own schedule.

As well as the videos, you’ll also get:

My exclusive six month wall planner, running from 1 August to 31 January 2017 so that you can see what’s coming up
Printable and digital worksheets for you to print and keep, or save online, depending on how you work best
Checklists for the relevant lessons and topics, such as how to prepare your workspace, how to run an effective Facebook ad, and the best Instagram hashtags
Access to the private Christmas Support Facebook group to connect with like-minded business owners throughout the course and over Christmas itself

It’s a veritable smorgasbord of inspiration and information!

This programme has been designed with creative entrepreneurs in mind. Whether you’ve already designed and planned your range for this year or haven’t even thought about it, you’ll benefit from the fresh look at how to prepare between now and the Christmas period.

Ready to sign up?

You can get all the goodness in one lump sum at a reduced price by booking the full package now.

When you sign up for this package, you’ll get access to every single live video call, and all the relevant materials.

You’ll get email reminders about the timing of each call, plus access to the private Facebook group straight away.

You can choose to pay in full straight away, or pay in two installments.

Book the full package now.

Individual lessons

If you don’t need everything, simply pick and choose the lessons you’d like to take part in:

When you book into a single lesson, you’ll get access to that lesson’s materials, as well as the Facebook group.

You’ll also get a copy of the wall planner in the post. Hooray for happy post!

Still not sure this is the programme for you?

I get it. There’s a lot of advice out there on how to run, market, plan, organise and grow a business.

This programme, and the vast majority of my work, is not advice. It’s information, experience, and coaching that allows you to make the best informed choice for yourself.

This programme is for you if you need something that balances head and heart. It’s for you if you want an intelligent, informed AND intuitive approach to your business and to Christmas.

This programme is for you if you want to avoid the merry-go-round of feeling subjected to other people’s decisions.

The best thing I can tell you right now: make the best decision for you. Long term, long sighted, big hearted.

Still have questions? I’d love to answer them! Contact me here, or email jenny [at] thejennyhyde [dot] com

Save the date: Friday 6 to Monday 9 January 2017

Previous years

Accommodation and catering

Rooms and prices

Who’s coming

Why retreat with me?

To book:

And so here’s the thing:

It’s time to think differently about Christmas.

What the programme includes

Still not sure this is the programme for you?

Enter The Forge