Leading the way - Entrepreneurs mentoring female students at Bangor Business School

As part of the Bangor Business School Athena SWAN agenda, which is a commitment to gender equality and boosting female careers within the School, three female students have taken part in a mentorship programme with local successful female entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs included Jess Lea-Wilson from Halen Môn, Sally Bowyer, the owner of Brynteg Glamping and Julie Williams, owner of The Coaching Den 4 Life.

All students gained valuable experiences and guidance from the entrepreneurs, with one commenting that she not only gained hands on work experience, but worked closely with the entrepreneur throughout and received career advice. “Jess helped me set up goals for the duration of the mentorship and beyond, I got to explore and work with her in product development for the company, along with research work to understand their competitors. It was a fantastic experience”

One entrepreneur even inspired and supported one of our students to set up her own business, “Through this mentorship programme, I have gained confidence in networking and my abilities as a whole. I have started a company called Be Heard, with the aim of raising awareness of neurodiverse conditions. The aim is to support young people with neurodiverse conditions in education and into employment. As well as working to develop training courses for organisations so they can support individuals the work force as a whole. I feel like I have a future career path out in front of me now”

Rebecca Bowyer, who has set up Be Heard is also planning to attend Karren Brady’s Women in Business & Tech Expo in London.