I joined the IT industry in 1983 and throughout my career have witnessed the constant shifting in technology. From the PC going into offices, to entering our home; the growth in laptops, the emergence of the internet, the power and destructive nature of social media, and most recently, the dependency we have had on access to technology throughout the pandemic.
My passion for the online world grew from my own immersion in it, and this all culminated when I met my husband, Thomas Power, and together, we built Ecademy.
We founded Ecademy in 1998 as the first online platform for the business community. For 14 years we led the most amazing culture of friendship and support in business with the same passion and purpose I started it with, “'o be friends in business'.
We connected over 650,000 business people to one another across 52 countries, using the power of blogging, community, events and the culture of *friendship first*. During this time, Thomas and I were also growing our own family, and we introduced our children, Hannah, Ross and TJ to the world whilst running the business. Balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship presented its own challenges, and the need for supportive communities became even more apparent to me.
As our competitors continued to emerge in the market, Ecademy and its members held strong. Thomas and I had thrown every penny and ounce of energy into it, however, the force of Linkedin took too much of a toll, and in 2012 we had to close the doors on the platform.
Personally, I was still dealing with the loss of Ecademy and the severe impact its downfall had had on our family. Thomas and I had put everything into keeping it alive, and were now faced with enormous debts to clear. We put our heads down and battled through, determined to do what we could to stay afloat, even if it meant selling our family home - something we eventually had to do.
In amongst all of the uncertainty of what lay ahead, I was absolutely sure that I wanted to use my experience of growing and building Ecademy, and if possible, use this knowledge to help shape the digital landscape. The passion for community, networking and the power of the digital world would remain the driving force for my next ventures.
I had this opportunity in 2012, when I launched the Digital Youth Academy (DYA). DYA was launched in early 2012 to develop a suite of qualifications and training programmes that enable young people to formalise their Digital Marketing and Social Media skills. The goal was to develop highly skilled individuals in the digital space to lead to sustainable work, and DYA achieved this.
Whilst I stumbled a lot throughout my career, my purpose and vision was recognised by the Queen in 2014. Possibly the greatest shock and definitely my greatest honour, a special moment of validation that I am so grateful for. The citation read “for contribution to entrepreneurship in the Social Digital Economy“.
Despite the OBE and the incredible career path I had in the background, personal adversity combined with a series of false starts was leading me down a dangerous path, and eventually, I had the kick I needed to re-prioritise my life and start focusing on how my professional and personal life need to look to fulfil me.
From 2017, I knew it was time to re-shape and take back control of the life I wanted to lead. My children had flown the nest, Thomas was by my side, and it was time to get back into the roots of what I wanted to do: Connecting people, combating loneliness and providing support for others.
I re-assessed my character, my drive and my values, and I threw myself into overcoming emotional blockers.
Building my own balance between my professional and personal life showed me how important it is, how fulfilled you can feel if you take control and how at home you can feel with others who are just like you.
Whilst I had to find this out the hard way, I didn't want others to have to.
The result was Social Power. Founded by Thomas and I, we built Social Power as the umbrella of our two support communities for business professionals, Mastermind (2018) and BIP100 (2020). I recognised the incredible value that could come from community learning and growth. The support that could be found between the networking of each other. Despite being a mentor to individuals, I would always push the group aspect, knowing how invaluable learning from one another can be.
Our Mastermind group felt like an extension of Ecademy. Whilst it may have been significantly smaller (approximately 649,900 people smaller), it was a hub of business minds, all united in the goal of connecting, networking and growing together at in-person events throughout the year.
We built on this in 2020, when we launched BIP100. An exclusive group of 100 members, BIP100 is not limited by geographical location - Covid-19 had ensured that this was a fulfilment we had to meet. Instead, BIP100 is an online community, built to support, grow and empower each other to lead a fulfilled life and business.
With over 35 years of experience, it's hard to believe how far the IT world has come in that time, and I've been right there, growing alongside it. Mastermind, BIP100 and mentoring continue to be what I spend the majority of my time on, and there is truly nothing more fulfilling than witnessing others live their best lives whilst you live yours too.
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