Women's Enteprise South East

Tough personal experiences prompted Jacky Charman to start The Community Coaching Initiative. Her mantra, ‘Believe in Yourself’, lifted her from rock bottom to set up a company in which she trains others to believe in themselves, set goals and achieve them.

Once described as ‘the most ordinary extraordinary person you could wish to meet’, Jacky values the description, stating: “It shows that people feel comfortable chatting to me whether I am stood in a bus queue or at Buckingham Palace.” She has now been appointed as a SEEDA Women’s Enterprise Advocate, a role designed to inspire other women to consider self-employment or business ownership.

Jacky’s business is inspired by people and by losing out heavily during the 1990s recession.  “At my lowest, I found myself and my family with no money, lost, scared, living in a poor housing estate without employment and not sure how to survive,” she remembers.  “It is difficult to realise you do have control in your life and with the tools to build yourself up, it’s amazing how far you can go.”

With few options, Jacky decided that she could either stay crestfallen for the rest of her life or do something about it.  “I wanted to be a role model for my sons so they would be proud of me,” says Jacky.  “I started setting goals and saw where I wanted to be in ten years. Without even realising it, I found myself in the world of life coaching.”

In 2004, after many years of working in deprived communities, Jacky was selected as a Community Pioneer to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace in recognition of her work empowering the local community.

Through this work, Jacky realised that there was little support for ‘hard to reach’ people to help them set goals, challenge negative thoughts and increase confidence.  “Over a five-year period, I took on extra training to find out about coaching,” says Jacky.  “I have taken the best out of different models, including neuro-linguistic programming and cognitive development, and devised ‘Unlocking Your Potential’, a programme written in plain English with many pictures which make it accessible to my target audience.”

Jacky’s start up business happened almost by accident last year.  She recalls:  “I started running my courses at councils, community centres, schools and government support agencies and after having run one for Havant Borough council, I had to open a business bank account so they could pay me.  I had some business cards printed at the same time and The Community Coaching Initiative was born.”

Jacky runs four-week courses for groups of four to fifteen participants, following initial consultations. “Within the first session, the opening few minutes are the most important as the client is judging me to see if I am a soft touch,” says Jacky.  “If I get the person to stay for the first session, I tend to have an amazing attendance record.  My clients are adults and I make sure that I treat them with respect and let them know that they are not going to be made to feel stupid.”

For many, Jacky’s courses are the first stage back to learning and many of her attendees take action to progress.  “I don’t tell them what to do, but rather help them to discover what they want and how to put their skills, talents and hobbies to practical use.”

Since starting her company, Jacky has found that people regularly call to request information about her courses.  “I felt a real sense of achievement the first time I received three different email enquiries on the same day through word of mouth referrals,” recalls Jacky.  “Hearing that people who have taken part in one of my courses have gone on to live better lives is a huge buzz and makes me feel proud to be a women entrepreneur.”

Much of Jacky’s profits go back into the company.  “Profits can support other people who want to come but have no funding to do so,” explains Jacky.  “Some deprived communities are rich in funding, but hard to reach people in richer communities may not have access to the same support.  Social enterprises keep giving back, and for me, it has never been just about making money.”

As a dyslexic, Jacky finds paperwork a challenge and struggles with numbers.  “I am very open about my dyslexia, which also helps put my attendees at ease as it shows that I have also had to struggle,” says Jacky.  “My biggest fear when starting up the company was the fear of failure, but I was so focused on doing business and tackling challenges as they arose that I didn’t think about the surrounding difficulties, I just did it!”

Jacky is excited about the future: “The future is only as limited as my imagination.  I am currently writing a programme to train people to teach courses,” she explains.  “Employing other trainers will give me time to build on the structure of the company – and as a social enterprise, we are eligible for grants, which I plan to put towards marketing the company.”

“For me, becoming a Women’s Enterprise Advocate is further recognition that my business matters and is on the road to success, which is really exciting,” says Jacky.  “I have achieved my initial goal of being a good role model to my sons.  Through their mum, they have learnt that you work to get yourself out of difficult situations.”

Jacky’s advice to other aspiring women business owners is the same as her personal mantra: “Believe in yourself!  Do your research and don’t spend too much time pondering.  There are going to be challenges on the way, but just break them down into manageable tasks and do them.  Each step is a step closer to your success.