Fiona Wylie is redefining how mothers centre work in their lives, as women’s place in the workplace has evolved over the decades, they still don’t want to forgo their homelife.
Fiona realised upon her return to work after maternity leave that the working world just isn’t created for working mothers. She realised that the industry she loved wasn’t giving her enough flexibility.
She couldn’t find a way of balancing her work with her family life where she was, so she started her own business where family is at the heart of their work, and business. She’s a campaigner for flexibility and inclusivity in the workplace. Fiona decided that she could create a marketing agency that made work work for her – this was the catalyst for Fiona to start her own agency and Brand Champions was born.
Can you tell us a little about your background and your company?
My background is a career in marketing working for a selection of well known brands including Nestle, British Airways and Pfizer. My company was set up with this inhouse experience being offered to businesses who were time poor or struggling with internal resource. We call this SOS – Our immediate deployment of marketing resources helps to fill any gap and help you realise your brand’s growth ambitions and resolve your gritty marketing problems.
What inspired you to start your business?
My children and the lack of flexible working opportunities in the industry for experienced marketeers to still work on well known brands with proper marketing budgets.
How did you create awareness for your brand?
A lot of my awareness has come from recommendations from ex colleagues, or now clients or people that move businesses and have experienced first hand how much we can help.
What strategies helped you secure funding and scale your business?
It’s all been through organic growth we haven’t had to secure funding to get us to our growth to date.
What have been your biggest successes so far?
Winning Pizza Express was definitely a highlight on the client roster, as let’s face it who doesn’t love Pizza. But getting to empower and work with this amazing group of individuals every day is a success story.
What challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?
Running your own business is always full of highs and lows and all the bits people don’t see like managing cash flow, chasing payments is a full time job in itself. So luckily for me I’ve got a secret weapon in Kerry that does all the behind the scenes running of the business to make it look seamless.
What are your plans for the future?
Keep growing, keep loving what we do, continue to work with brands that share our values and want to work with hard working individuals that put family central to their life at the same time. Embrace change and AI and whatever the future of marketing holds as if you stand still this could all pass us by and leave us behind.
What advice would you give to aspiring female entrepreneurs?
Go for it, keep learning, keep asking questions, learn from everyone around you as that’s the only way you can make it happen.
What are your top three tips for entrepreneurial success?
Listen. Sometimes people listen to talk but I’m a big believer in listening to understand and that makes a real difference.
Be brave – you’ve got to go with your gut and run the risk you’ll sometimes get it wrong.
Employ people who are brilliant – never be scared by having people more talented than yourself, that’s what makes it work!
Who are five people who inspire you the most, and why?
Anita Roddick Body Shop – for obvious reasons!
Coco Chanel – again pioneered where no female fashion designer had before
On a more local level – Sara Davies and everything she champions through her businesses as a voice for empowering women in business in a likeable and authentic way.
My daughter – She gives me the inspiration to want to change the gender pay gap, the gender health gap to show that women can thrive in business and be nice. I love it when she gets the chance to tell people my mum runs her own business.
And all of the Brand Champions team many who are living the struggle of being working parents yet give me 110% dedication to work – it would not be possible without them and they make it look easy (most days )
What are your favourite inspirational or motivational quotes?
The phrase I hate the most is there are no friends in business – it’s absolutely not true. It was the first piece of advice I was given and I’m so glad it’s absolutely wrong.
Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and Make them. Audrey Hepburn.
Where can our readers connect with you?
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-brand-champions-london-ltd
