After winning the title of 2019 Health & Beauty Entrepreneur of the Year for the Midlands, the Style Coaching team celebrated in style last week at the annual GBEA National Finals in London…

After receiving 3,000 applications, the 2019 national Great British Entrepreneur of the Year was finally named last week. In the end, it was Celia Hodson, the wonderfully inspirational founder of social enterprise Hey Girls, who took the National crown. Based in Scotland, Hey Girls is a range of sanitary products and a campaign to end period poverty. For every purchase of its environmentally friendly products, Hey Girls donates a pack to a girl or young woman struggling to make ends meet. Celia created the social enterprise with the philosophy that girls and young women should never have to compromise their wellbeing or health. Her work has captured our hearts, and those of thousands of women across the country. I think every finalist would agree that Celia’s passion for Hey Girls is incredibly inspiring and it was a well-deserved win.

In response to winning the award, Celia said: “It’s hard to believe. You come to these things and you hope. You look at the calibre of people who have applied and are finalists, you look at the judges and think ‘Wow!’. So to win is just something else! This will make a massive difference to Hey Girls. The recognition from the Regional Final made such a difference, so this will just be fabulous for our growth.”

We’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our fellow national finalists, who all have their own amazing entrepreneurial stories and are running ground-breaking businesses. We’d also like to say a massive thank you to all of our students and graduates, friends and family for their support and kind encouragement in the lead-up to the awards! With 3,000 entries in 2019, to have made it down to the final 7 Health & Beauty Entrepreneurs in Great Britain & Northern Ireland is a huge achievement for us and one that we will forever feel grateful to have experienced.

The gala awards evening in London was a lovely opportunity to get ‘glammed-up’ and reflect on how far we’ve come with both the Style Coaching Institute® and the International Association of Style Coaches™. We are so proud of winning the Midlands final, and it was an honour to be amongst such high-calibre entrepreneurs.

Another highlight of the evening was supporting the Micro Loan Foundation who enable some of the world’s poorest women to work their own way out of poverty by providing business training and microloans. MLF help them start successful businesses to build independence and financial resilience. As a result of learning about MLF, Kate is now looking forward to joining #TeamMicroLoan and taking part in The Royal Parks Half Marathon in London next year – so that’s another inspiring event to look forward to!

Taking part in the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Awards was a humbling and inspiring experience…

To be surrounded by people who are determined to make a positive impact in the world, and also to chat with some of the amazing entrepreneurs behind the household names we’ve come to know and love made this experience one that we will remember for a lifetime. Our warmest thanks goes out to Francesca James and team GBEA for the opportunity to reach a new milestone on our journey with the Style Coaching Institute®. As we prepare to enter a new decade (and our 15th birthday in February!) we’re excited to continue taking the Style Coaching™ community onwards & upwards into the future.