Spending a day with Ali helped me realise I would be better off using my time at University studying fashion and not going with my 'safe option' of Business Studies. Ali is a brilliant designer but her being successful is a combination of creativity with strong business skills. All her business skills she's learned are specific to her industry: a business studies degree for example wouldn't tell me how to build a following on Instagram. I realised I'll learn and develop a huge range of business skills if I go into the fashion world, so I've decided as a result to study fashion.

Meeting Jonny has been a fantastic experience. I don’t think there’s any substitute for talking to someone that's not just in the career you want to do, but being incredibly successful in that career.

One of the things I was keen to ask Jonny is what were the skills he thought he had and that someone like me could learn. So, I’ve got a long list of things to do and I’ve got some equipment to buy as well. I’ve learnt a lot, had a fantastic experience and would highly recommend it.

I'm currently a project manager working in the financial services sector in London. I decided to do the job shadowing with Kiki because I’ve been pasionate about wine for quite a long time now, and I'm not that passionate about financial services!

It’s been really interesting, Kiki’s taken me through how she started out in her journey into the wine trade and the business she’s created. We went through some of my ideas and the things I’ve been thinking about in terms of what I want to do as a future venture. My utopian idea of what it might be like to run your own business have possibly been shattered, but then it's been really encouraging to see how much she's achieved here.

it's really opened my eyes to things I hadn’t thought about before, confirmed my thinking in a few areas, but also made me think about challenges I hadn’t expected so certainly it's been really useful. I’d really recommend ViewVo and job shadowing to anyone looking to change career in a slightly, or completely, different direction.

I worked as MD at a large investment bank in Canary Wharf managing over 300 people. I really enjoyed the people management side of the role, so after 20 years thought I might like to move more into coaching. After spending a day with a Hannah I realised I would miss being part of a bigger team and having a more strategic business remit and operations to guide.
I'm now working in consultancy helping companies go through change management processes - so very much focusing on people management, but giving me more of the strategic business focus I realised I needed.

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!

‘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!