A couple of months ago I received a very exciting email, telling me I had been shortlisted for an Enterprise Vision Award. These awards recognise female entrepreneurs and women in business in the North West area. There are 16 overall categories in the awards and I was shortlisted in the Creative Industries category.
On Friday the 27th September I was invited to attend the awards ceremony at the Blackpool Winter Gardens along with a wealth of other talented ladies to find out if I had won. The event was a black-tie event with a drinks reception on the red carpet and photos, three-course meal, a live sax player, awards, photo booth and DJ. There were around 650 people there on the night, including nominees, past winners, and business specialists. The Enterprise Vision Awards also have many high-profile sponsors such as Manchester Met Uni, Happy Creative, Blackpool Football Club and NatWest.
The other nominees in my category were so strong that I didn’t expect to win anything and was just treating the event as a good night out and a networking opportunity with other fabulous ladies in business. The winner of my category was the amazing Victoria Stott Design who makes incredible stationery for weddings and events. However, it turns out that in a couple of categories it was so close that they created a second award, ‘Highly Commended’ to give to the close runner up, and guess what, that was me! Yes, that’s right, I absolutely could not believe it when they called me to the stage after the winner was announced. I was so shocked and nervous but I needn’t have worried as the new Milk Tray Man, the gorgeous Patrick O’Brien was there to walk me to the stage and really put me at ease. I was completely overjoyed and filled with emotion that all my hard work and determination over the last two and a half years has been recognised.
It was a truly memorable evening, with great entertainment, some amazing outfits and it was great to meet with some other inspiring business women including fellow nominee Tanya Bardsley from the Real Housewives of Cheshire. I’ll be proudly displaying my award in my workshop and telling everyone about it at every opportunity. Thanks to the team at the EVA’s for recognising me and my business, I am so made up!
