‘The call was brilliant! Sheryl is so awesome and her energy is just infectious. Using Skype worked really well as I’m a mum of two, so we were able to have a break for baby feeding/lunch in the middle. I learnt so much – I have 6 A4 sides of notes and loads of action points to take away. Sheryl shared so much knowledge and I’m definitely reassured that I can go and do this! I can't wait to start my business.’

*Update* 1 month on from Anna's shadowing opportunity with Sheryl, she's setting up her website and has already met her first potential client!

I spent a day with Ali which I thought went very well. I was really concerned about spending £450 but I’ve spent more than this in the past… Ali has helped me focus on my brand, the vision for my business and my target customer. All of this makes me realise the mistakes I made with the investments I’ve made previously – in a way, I wish I had met Ali earlier as I now feel I’m on the right path.

She’s been really helpful and given me some contacts in the industry who might be best suited to my vision. I wasn’t sure previously how to price my products, so she’s talked me through how she does hers and has also given me a template business plan which we worked through, so now I have a much better and clearer idea of what I should be charging. All in all, to learn from someone who you know is successful is really reassuring. The fact she believes in what I’m trying to do and gave up a whole day to help me get there is great – consequently, I would happily recommend others do the same.

Through Viewvo I received a valuable introduction to Ben and his team and was able to shadow what they do for a day and witness that this is not always a straightforward or easy process. In truth, one day is not a lot of time to spend in an organisation but it is enough time to gain a powerful impression of the type and focus of the work and the calibre of the team. This can be valuable in making a decision regarding career direction or learning how to be a professional consultant and my day was hugely beneficial in guiding my future career path.

*Update* - 10 months on from Felicity’s shadowing opportunity, she’s building experience to work out exactly what field within Occupational Psychology she wants to be doing. Her time with Ben was really helpful in refining focus to enable her to do this, and she secured a starter position as a Research Intern working in Learning and Development.

I would highly recommend Viewvo to anyone looking to change their current career path. In fact, I already have! Prior to having my children I had a long career in the Financial industry. However, I’ve always been passionate about interior design...but had so many questions and doubts about how achievable this would be and what my next step should be.

After discovering Viewvo at a careers fair and noticing that Rachel Laxer was one of the mentors I saw this as an opportunity not to be missed - and the fee goes to charity so it was a win win. Rachel is a fantastic person to shadow, a real inspiration having made a hugely successful career change into interior design from a prior career in Finance.

Rachel later invited me to be involved in the amazing interior design breast cancer charity event that she is co-chair for, Holiday House which launched in London this month. Through helping out at Holiday House I have met a number of other designers and professionals within the design industry so it has been an immensely rewarding process.

I’m an accountant by profession. I’ve been making things all my life and I’ve got to the stage now where I didn’t want to do accountancy anymore as it wasn’t really fulfilling me.
I found the day with Susannah absolutely brilliant. She’s been really generous to me in opening up her contacts book so that I know who to go to now for leather suppliers and materials, and she’s given me really good insight into how the mechanics of the business work. the nuts and the bolts of it, the highs, and the lows. I’d definitely recommend job shadowing!

*Update* 7 months on Mary is looking at buying a leather goods production company, which would be a faster route to market for her. Meeting Susannah helped her decision by providing invaluable insight into the industry.

*Update* 1 year on Mary has taken a significant step – she has bought a leather goods production business in the West Midlands (so has moved from Ireland to England), she now employs 10 people and has big plans! The starting point was her time with Susannah – congratulations Mary we’re super excited for you and all you've achieved!

Dave was down to earth, realistic, and extremely open and friendly as we discussed the challenges of starting a business in what is a competitive marketplace. He gave me some great advice and it was fascinating and heartening to hear his story. All in all a really useful half hour chinwag!