‘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!

Coming out of the army, I almost have too many options! I'm looking at several things, one of which is journalism. It's so hard to get to speak to anyone! I'd tried several places, smaller magazines, local papers, but no one would even talk to me, so when I heard about ViewVo from Careershifters it was amazing! I got to speak to Shafi pretty much straightaway. He's such a great guy, and clearly has some interesting views as to how to get into the business. He's pretty adamant you don't need the specialist journalism qualifications which training businesses are keen to stress you do need, so it's possibly saved me 6 months! Instead, I have some ideas on how to pitch to editors so will go down that route first. Thanks ViewVo for taking the pain out of the closed doors!

I found Jehane very warm and welcoming, lovely and easy to talk to. Jehane gave me feedback on areas in my portfolio which could be improved & developed. I found it useful to get Jehane’s opinion on where she thought my work would fit in the industry. She encouraged me to keep pursuing personal projects and was able to offer really constructive feedback on my portfolio which will hopefully see me improve my work and gain more freelance job opportunities in the future. I would definitely highly recommend Jehane to friends looking to publish and license their work.

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've come to the UK from Australia and have a range of things I'm looking at: youth worker, school counsellor, careers advisor. I spent time on the phone with James Hawes (counsellor) Hannah Courtney Bennett (careers advisor) and Jay Blades (youth worker). From talking to them all, I got a better idea of what each job involves and what qualifications I do really need to do to take the next steps. Of all the roles, I think counsellor is the best suited to me. James was great at clarifying where I need to start. I wasn't sure if my Aussie qualifications and degree would count towards anything here, but from what he was saying, I do need to get qualified - so I'm starting my counselling course in January!

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!