Female empowerment mentor feeling positive with start-up funding
A Gloucestershire entrepreneur has secured £5,000 in funding from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme via SWIG Finance to expand her online support sessions, helping women build mental resilience.
Susie Mackie, 67, from Cheltenham, has used the funds to create a website and invest in marketing her services, which include group and one-to-one sessions designed to build resilience, confidence and positivity in women aged 45-plus.
To tailor her offer, Mackie drew upon her own personal experience of life’s rollercoaster ride, including strict parents, authoritarian school, three divorces, illness and bereavement.
“I’m a natural-born optimist, and have never succumbed to what life has thrown at me – which is quite a lot,” she said.
In a previous career as a professional photographer, Mackie produced two books celebrating Women of Spirit. The project inspired her to channel her energies into female empowerment, and she undertook mental toughness training in 2021. She now offers a 10-week online course in this discipline to pass her learning onto others.
“I’d recommend Start Up Loans to anyone. If you have a belief in what you are doing but not the funds, it’s an excellent process to go through,” Mackie said, who also offers corporate workshops and public speaking engagements, and hosts the Our Spirited Life podcast on YouTube.
SWIG Finance’s Suzy Lowe added: “Susie has created a business from her own personal experience, that will connect with women of a similar age. She is a force of nature for the good, trying to do something that will make a positive impact, and she has found her audience. There are so many channels of opportunity for her, and the Start Up Loan will help her reach a larger market.”
