Caroline Martin
Caroline Martin tells us that, “I’m a Mum of 3 from Norwich Norfolk UK and I’m a Business Development Coach and Mentor for established online service based businesses. I help input the right systems, processes and offers to enable the business to scale sustainably. My passion and mission is to empower people with a gift to share with the world to do so regardless of other people’s opinions. To be all they can be doing what they love.”
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your corporate journey/venture/initiative.
I really had a dream childhood. Ponies, ski holidays every February half term, Disney World Florida every other year. I was a very well travelled little girl. But I always knew I was never going to be like everyone else and just go with the flow, go to university, get a boring job and just settle. I did very well at school but that path just wasn’t for me. I always say “I was never meant to be a sheep and follow the crowd”. Even the lady who ran my nursery said she knew when I was 2 years old I was going to grow up and do my own thing.
Every industry that is now a large-scale, top-notch business once started as a small idea in the minds of entrepreneurs. What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business /initiative? What motivated you within to say YES, go for it!”
In all honesty it was my need to reclaim my own identity after having children that really gave me the push. That and wanting to present while my children grew up. I was tired of being introduced as or described as “just” someone’s wife or mother. I wanted to be recognised as ME. I wanted to be the woman who runs X business or does XYZ as well as being a wife and mother. No that there is anything wrong with being a housewife or stay at home mother at all. I did it for several years. I just wanted more for myself and to use the big brain in my head to make a contribution to the world.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
I want to see women with BIG ideas, something different to say, a gift to share with the world, standing up and saying what it is they have to say and shouting it from the rooftops until people pay attention. I want to encourage them to follow their own path no matter what other people have to say about it, no matter whether they support you or not, understand you or not. If it’s in you it’s for you.
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women leadership today?
Wealthy women can change the world. We need more women to stand up and be a voice for others, to shine a light on what’s possible and to do the work that will influence change for us as a collective.
What’s the most important thing you have learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
You weren’t given these ideas and dreams by accident. You were given them because you are capable of making them reality.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
Keep going. Just keep going. It’s ok not to know all the steps along the journey, that’s what experts are for. There is literally an expert out there for everything and all the resources in the world to help you fill in the gaps.