Well, that was a surprise!

The shine awards are now in their 4th year and recognise ‘talent management’ in the travel inustry with a specific focus on developing women in the industry. I was lucky enough to be nominated this year and last night at the awards ceremony, I won corporate woman of the year which was a big surprise and a very nice one at that.specific focus on developing women in the industry. I was lucky enough to be nominated this year and last night at the awards ceremony, I won corporate woman of the year which was a big surprise and a very nice one at that.

I was happy enough just to have been nominated and was convinced I wasn’t going to win, I was absolutely sure that the winner would have been tipped off in advance so safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t going to win, I had a quick glass of champagne before the awards and settled in to listen to the speakers and enjoy the evening.

First up was Liz Jackson who had me sitting up straight in my seat listening intently to her speech. Liz set up her own successful marketing business Great Guns whilst going blind in her mid 20’s.  Liz was fantastic, her speech was honest, funny and inspirational and her attitude to her personal life and business was just perfect.

The winners were announced next and my category was up first. When I heard my name I was shocked and somewhat wobbly of leg thanks to the earlier champagne and I had to say a few words. Following Liz Jackson’s amazing speech with wobbly legs whilst very bright lights shone in my eyes wasn’t my best moment ever but I did manage to thank everyone and not drop my glass award so I think it turned out OK in the end.

Shine people and places do some amazing work and in particular I am very supportive of their mentoring work. I’ve been lucky enough to have had some very special colleagues over my 20 years in business as well as some amazing mentors as well as the best supporter of all, my husband. A big part of success in business comes from believing that you can do it and just getting on with it, if you have people that believe in you and mentor you through the good and bad times, great things can happen so I wish shine every success with their excellent business that supports talent management in the industry.

Right… now where am I going to put that lovely award?