Liz Weston is known as a “bit of a guru”, supreme networker and all round “smart northern bird”.  She was recently awarded a “Future 100 Award 2010” for her socially entrepreneurial business the New Baby Guides. Liz is keen on the “pay it forward” concept and encourages her clients to do this wherever they can. We asked her to tell us more about herself and her business.

Name of Business: Dodo Pad
Your Name: Rebecca Jay
Tell us about your family:
Having escaped London 8 years ago, I now live in Cornwall close to the sea on the north coast in an idyllic little village with my husband Trevor and James, our son, who is nearly 15.  Also Polly, the pussycat; 13 years old, sedate and rather resentful of Tinky, our playful kitten, and Wizz, our Hungarian Vizsla (nearly 5 but still thinks she is a puppy – especially when playing with the kitten!). Cornwall is home now and I …

If you are looking for a flexible way to work around your family commitments but don’t know where to begin, then Start a Family Friendly Business by Antonia Chitty and Helen Lindop is a brilliant starting point. It takes you on a journey from your first tentative ideas through to a point where you are ready to make a real commitment to start your business…or indeed decide it simply isn’t for you.

Name of Business:  Jo Jingles Norwich Area
Your Name and Age: Beckie Clifton, 32

HBC Proofreading
Name: Helen Cooper, 37, married with an 18 month-old daughter

We at Women Talking are looking for remarkable women with remarkable stories, to inspire and encourage other like-minded individuals to follow their ambitions. If you are a woman in business or about to launch your own company then we want to hear from you. If you are someone in the media with a message you feel the world needs to hear then we want to hear from you. If you are working for a charity or organisation aimed specifically at women then we want to hear from you.

“Antonia is an expert in the art of supporting mums who want to start their own businesses. This book draws on her experience and that of other mums who’ve made it. Take inspiration from the fact that if others can do it, so can you. This book breaks down the enormous task of starting your own business into easily digestible chunks, so before you know it you’ll be setting up shop for yourself.”
Media Life Coach Joanne Mallon

Workingmums.co.uk has announced the winners of its inaugural annual Top Employer Awards, celebrating the leading companies in diversity and work life balance. The Awards were presented at a ceremony at London’s Soho Hotel on 5 October where the keynote speaker was Lynne Featherstone, parliamentary under secretary and Minister for Equalities.

Out Now: Start A Family Friendly Business
Flexible working ideas, the pros and cons of being your own boss, choosing the right business for you and realistic advice from the UK mumpreneurs.
Here’s what people are saying about it:

“Who these days expects to be working for the same employer until they retire?” This was the question that I was asked when I started working life a little under 15 years ago. In that time the question has changed into “Who expects to be working for only one employer, possibly at the same time, until they retire?”. For it is likely that the working generation now may find themselves either by choice or by necessity working for a number of businesses.