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When Ingrid Norrish finished school, she was interested in working as an actor or in any capacity involving the theatre; but things do not always work out as planned, so Ingrid applied for a clerical position at a local community college. She began to work in the Registrar’s Office and then with the newly developed Conference and Seminar Services Department and over time advanced from the original clerk’s and coordinator position to heading up the department as the Director. As Ingrid commented, when she got into this field, her whole life changed.
She did not choose meeting and event planning as a career, and when she began, she had no idea that this type of work existed. The department was created as a way to bring additional revenue to the college by running meetings in the summer when students were not there. This was successful, but very restrictive because of the limited time available to run meetings at the College, so her boss decided hold events off-site. With this shift, the department expanded and grew “by leaps and bounds,” and at its’ peak there were seventeen staff, managing 160 programs per year.
She felt that she was fortunate to have been “in the right place at the right time,” but with new leadership and a shift in the programming and service direction, she was devastated when she was downsized, due to a divisional re-organization. Self-employment and business ownership was not something that she had ever considered, but people encouraged her to continue her profession on her own. She registered for a seventeen-week government funded program called Self Employment Benefits Program where students learned about operating a business. She decided to give it a try, and it opened up a whole new world of entrepreneurship as a viable career option.
Ingrid has been operating her business since 1995 and is a firm believer of the power of a positive attitude and how networking has helped her business grow and evolve. When she first started her business, Ingrid was planning a Conference on “Re-Inventing Work”, and she invited a Toronto Star columnist who was also a speaker to do a presentation at the event, both of them connected and after the event continued to keep in touch. The columnist approached Ingrid and asked if she could write an article about her employment transition and how she handled it. The article was called “When the axe falls, self-marketing is a must” and it talked about self-marketing being used as an employment or business strategy.
A quote from the article about her transition sums up Ingrid’s mind-set at the time. “Walking this path ‘isn’t always easy,’ Norrish acknowledges. ‘But, I constantly remind myself that I’m working toward my goal. I’m focused. I know it will happen.’”
The relationship continued and soon afterwards they formed a successful partnership and planned a series of Conferences and training programs on “Career Strategies for the New World of Work. From a contact made with one of the speakers presenting at the conference, Ingrid was presented with an opportunity to be a workshop speaker and coach for a government funded program called “Consulting as A Career Option” targeted to mature individuals who had lost their job. She was able to help others from what she had learned and experienced. She loves networking and meeting new people and finds it extremely rewarding when she is able to help others. This is especially true when she can help them be successful, whether as a result of making connections or providing suggestions on how to market themselves where they can shine.
When she started her business she had numerous contacts, but wasn’t well known in her local community. She became involved in the Brampton Board of Trade and joined the marketing and education committees, as well as attending numerous networking meetings. She says that networking can be done at local business groups, industry associations related to your profession or those of your target market, and through ‘fun’ groups like the gym, tennis or golf club, and community groups. Be genuine in helping others with their business, and eventually it will help your business too! She reminds us though that you cannot expect networking results to happen overnight. It can take years to reap the benefits, but you never know when a business lead will come through from a contact made in the past. Aside from getting business through networking, Ingrid finds it can help motivate and recharge you personally and professionally, especially when you are working on your own.
As Ingrid stated, it is not always easy to remain positive, but she is a firm believer in the powers of a positive attitude. By practicing the principles and writing out positive affirmations, it helped bring her new ideas and opportunities. She also advised, that when working on your own, it can be helpful to put together your own advisory/support group – like a Mastermind group – where you help each other with your businesses, and to help maintain a positive attitude when times are tough.
No, life does not always turn out as you planned or expected, but like Ingrid, it can lead you down unexpected paths. Keep positive and stay focused and every cloud can have a silver lining.
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