The Wales Business Insider has included ICE Campus Director, Jamie McGowan on their list of Rising Stars 2018! Also featured were ICE members Vicky Mann, Jade Fisher and David Williams.
The Insider Rising Stars highlights high achieving, ambitious entrepreneurs from across Wales, all under 40 years of age who are succeeding in industries as diverse as manufacturing, finance, software and leisure.
Jamie was thrilled to be included in the list:
“It was amazing to be included in this years business insider rising stars, its great to be recognised alongside some the very best entrepreneurial talent in Wales. The best thing, is that loads of my friends and other ICE members were listed alongside me!”
Jamie’s motivation is helping people earn their living doing what they love. The more space we provide and the more diverse our community, the more we can help. His top tip for other entrepreneurs was-
“If you accept that you will always need to learn and improve then there’s no limit to how much you can develop and learn as a person and as a business.”
Also included was Vicky Mann, Chief Executive of digital highstreet app, NearMeNow. Vicky was motivated to start the innovative app after spotting a gap in the market for helping small local businesses:
“Independent businesses are collectively a force to reckoned with, but are often working in silos, with political or social divied across high streets making collaboration difficult. I saw an opportunity to bring all their basic digital needs together in one place to help them work independently within an app that harnesses their collective power, locally and nationally.”
Illustrator, Jade Fisher also made the list. Jade designs illustrated greeting cards and paper goods. Since 2016, her business has gone from selling cards direct online to being stocked in more than 200 shops in the UK, Europe and Australia, and is beginning to grow a stocklist base in the US. Gift wrap and calendars are in the pipeline for the end of 2018.
Jade top tip is:
“Trust your gut. You can hold back by doubting yourself and listening to the doubts and opinions of others especially when starting out. But, in my experience, the voice inside telling me to just do something one way or the other is always right.”
David Williams, Director of The Youth Development Agency and KATAG UK was also named as a Rising Star. They provide sector experience-based learning for young people around the world including geography, geology, debate, reflective practice and critical thinking. David started
“My business partner and I were frustrated with what we saw as a lack of services for the international schools market when it came to quality experiential learning opportunities. As former educators we wanted to support teachers in the amazing work they do and provide world leading programmes for students.”
It’s fantastic to see Jamie, Vicky, Jade and David on the list and we’re sure there will be even more members from our amazing community highlighted next year. Well done, everyone! The full list can be found here.