When Networking Leads to Lots of Happy Endings

January 2014

Ten2Two North Hampshire was launched in January 2014, and as so many smaller businesses do, I began finding networking leads in earnest!

June 2014

At one networking meeting in June 2014, I met Linda Huckle of People Development Solutions and we exchanged contact details.

October 2014

In October 2014, Linda launched her first Athena Networking group in Farnham. I love the idea of one business supporting another and so I was delighted to be invited.

Whilst there, I met Kristina Le-Roux Harvey who was just setting up her own St James’s Place Financial Planning Practice and thinking about taking on an additional team member.  After the meeting we spoke, she really liked what Ten2Two offered and said she would be in touch once she was established.

December 2015

Move forward to December 2015 – Kristina got in touch to see if I could find her Mrs or Mr Amazing to be her PA and help grow her business.  By this time, I also knew that I would soon need to start looking for my first team member.

I was delighted to be able to help Kristina. And from an initial list of 48 candidates I eventually screened to a short-list of 6. One of those was a candidate who had impressed me a year before, whom had I known was looking, may have snapped up myself!

But in the interests of remaining professional, I said nothing to either party.

February 2016

My impressive candidate made it to the final 3, and as luck would have it (for me, anyway!), Kristina chose to offer to 2 of the 3. And no, my previously placed candidate was not one of them!  So the outcome was that Kristina took on 2 part-time team members and I offered Stephanie a part-time role here with me at Ten2Two.  All accepted and, as far as I am aware, all are happy in their new roles.

April 2016

Kristina was building a team so quickly, in a new and growing business.  With a lot going on, it was to be expected that sometimes things could be a tad fraught.  But the beauty is that Kristina was able to ask Linda to come in for a day and help them all to bond better as a team. The day was a great success. It led to some clarity in what each team member expected from her co-team members, and has really helped to move the business forward.

May 2016

It is amazing how much can come out of one meeting over such a long period of time. Kristina is now my trusted Financial Advisor. Competently sorting, organising and advising on all things pension, savings and more. I will soon be organising a date for Linda to come in to my team (now also 3 of us) to do some team bonding work with us as well!

You never know, maybe one day Linda will need to take someone on part-time – I wonder who she will call first? And what does the future hold for Kristina and Ten2Two?

Keep networking, keep in touch, and keep looking forward.