&#8216;The Wyseway&#8217; series

6 min.

Simplicity is hard to achieve but having a clear purpose can go a long way towards helping you reach it by unifying everyone around what it is you stand for. The power of purpose brings greater simplicity by ensuring agreed ways of working and support for changes that you, the founder, set out to make.

Get out of your own way on the path to business success – ‘The Wyseway’ series review 1

7 min.

Are you a female entrepreneur who’s blocked and overwhelmed by the to-do list and thinking it wasn’t supposed to be this way? At the start there was passion, energy and most importantly, purpose. You knew your idea was good and intuitively you knew all the steps necessary to make it happen.

Out of line – how to tell if your business is misaligned or on the right track – ‘The Wyseway’ series review 2

6 min.

They may sound like jargon, but vertical and horizontal alignment are really important factors to get right if you want your business to flourish. If you’re a founder whose company’s off to a kicking start, it’s easy to be swept along on the tide of success in a buzz of excitement and energy.

‘Growth begins with you’ part 2

5 min

Goodbyes can be hard. Knowing when it is the right time to say goodbye is even harder. As female entrepreneurs we are skilled at juggling priorities and managing the many demands on our time, efforts and emotions.

Can business leopards change their spots?

What is it that makes these nations so unafraid of change and how can we, as entrepreneurs, take inspiration from them to keep on growing and innovating?

Why change (usually) fails

by Arjen Hoven

9 minutes

Spend 5 minutes on Instagram and you would believe that just by being focused, mindfully Zen, practising positive thinking and eating healthy you can achieve anything.

Is purpose an overused buzzword?

Has ‘purpose’ become a buzzword that’s had its day? At Wyseminds we believe the opposite; it’s more relevant than ever.

What does growth mean to you in 2023?

Growth. A simple, monosyllabic word of great importance.. And yet, the process of growing a business is not always as simple as it sounds, which is why it is useful to try to define it. So… what does it mean to you – and more importantly – how can you achieve it and sustain it?

Founder’s story – are you Sofia?

12 minutes

Are you Sofia? In this cartoon and workbook we introduce you to the founder of a new company, Dragon Backpacks, and take you on perhaps an all too familiar journey of a start-up that is desperately seeking to maximise every sale opportunity, but at what cost?

What’s in a name?

Your title and that of your company can have a direct bearing on how successful you are. Julie explores how to be clear about the title you give yourself, understanding its power within our organisation and how we are seen by others.

From passion to purpose

There’s no doubt that entrepreneurs are passionate creatures, brimming with enthusiasm for their ideas, but turning that passion into a healthy bottom line is a different story altogether. Julie Perkins explains more.

WTF is Purpose-led?!

WTF Series: Research shows a strong connection between business performance and purpose. When leaders, employees and customers all believe a company has a strong purpose, it is more likely to have better performance and return - but what actually IS purpose?

Do you speak-a my language?

The way you talk about your business - your business language - evolves and grows. But it shouldn’t ever be an exclusive club. Julie Perkins explains more and also introduces our new WTF series, an invitation for you to truly become part of our community and belong.

WTF are Growth Phases?!

WTF Series: Your business is unique, but business growth is not. There are trends, patterns, and common experiences, and we can use this knowledge to our advantage. There are 5 phases of business growth - but what actually are they and what do they mean?

WTF are Capabilities?!

9 minutes

WTF Series: Every company needs certain things if they want to operate successfully. They are often called ‘operational capabilities’ - the functions, structures, and processes you need to run an effective business. But what actually are capabilities and why are they important?

The power of adversity

with Julie Perkins

Being an entrepreneur is the best feeling in the world, until it isn’t, but losing your business mojo is not the end of the world. Read on to discover how you can turn your doubts into dreams.

Do people not value free things?

At Wyseminds, we’ve been offering our Lift-Off programme completely for free. Julie Perkins explores why, and whether ‘reassuringly expensive’ is a more powerful proposition. Spoiler: it's still free so you can sign-up now!

International Women’s Day: why feminine traits are crucial for business success #breakthebias

by Henk Jansen

This International Women's Day, Henk Jansen continues our thoughts on the importance of breaking the bias and lays out the reason (and the historical proof!) as to why feminine traits are what today’s business world needs and what could be lost without them.

Holding out for a hero

Julie Perkins explains how starting a business can be like going on an amazing adventure and to survive the twists and turns in the road and changing external forces, the answer lies closer to home than you might think.

Balance in all things

Taking your company forward into 2022 can be a bit like playing Buckaroo. Success can often be a balancing act and if you add too many strategies all at once it could buck and buckle under the strain. A little precision is required, so it’s time to saddle up and take your business to the next frontier. Yee-hah!

Lightbulb moment: Self-belief can be your superpower

with Loviisa Maasson

There comes a time in most of our lives when seeds of self-doubt can take root, but in business that can seriously impact your passion for growth and development. In those times, as Finnish entrepreneur Loviisa Maasson discovered, you need a ‘lightbulb moment’ to highlight your strengths and banish your weaknesses.

Seeking out the 10% that will drive the ‘wow’

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘when the stars are aligned’ and in business that means when your unity of purpose is clear and bright. It’s time to rediscover the joy and power of your original vision.

Finding Norm

Growing your business can be like riding a series of waves, some mere ripples and others so titanic they threaten to send you down to Davy Jones’ Locker. However, if you build resilience you can weather any storm and thrive in the New Norm of the post-pandemic waters.

Lightbulb moment: “My business was purpose-less…”

by Tessa Parry-Wingfield

Tessa Parry-Wingfield is the founder of The Power of Words writer collective – who encountered not one, but three lightbulb moments during the free entry level of the Wyseminds’ training programme. We're excited to share them with you.

Through the kaleidoscope: the twists and turns of growing a business

An interview with Jacquie Irvine

Are you trying to visualise the future of your company? No matter how hard you squint, does it feel like your vision is blurred? It can feel a bit like peering down a kaleidoscope; it can seem confusing at first with optical illusions and colliding colours. Julie explores how to find that clarity in business growth.

The art of corporate responsibility

Jacquie Irvine of Good Values understood that businesses could benefit from charitable partnerships long before Environmental Social Governance and Corporate Responsibility became corporate lingo. Here she explains why we all should do more - or get left behind.

Purpose is your quick release cord

by Henk Jansen

Here Wyseminds’ behavioural psychologist, Henk Jansen explains that finding purpose in what you do can be like a quick release cord - opening up unknown opportunities, freedom and joy.

Reuse, recycle, repair – how decluttering your business can work wonders

An interview with Peter Rijsdijk

Inspired by Japanese ‘organisational consultant’ Marie Kondo, Julie unpacks the theory behind her approach putting it into the context of your company as it is now and what you might want to take with you to grow forward.

Teamwork makes the dream work

An interview with Doug Perkins

The Power of Partnerships | Part 3: Business advisor Peter Rijsdijk explains how going into partnership can help you grow as a company, and ways to challenge yourself into asking the right questions to make it a perfect one.

The Power of Partnerships: an interview with Doug Perkins

An interview with Quirine van Maanen

The Power of Partnerships | Part 2: Doug Perkins brings us in on the secrets behind finding, forming and maintaining perfect business partnerships and how it all came to life for him as the co-founder of Specsavers Optical Group.

All’s fair in love and business

The Power of Partnerships | Part 1: Quirine draws on her 10 years spent specialising in mergers and acquisitions at Baker McKenzie and her current role providing legal and strategic advice to start-ups, to explain how going into business together is a bit like marriage.

Resilience: is collaboration your competitive advantage?

Introducing ‘Stronger Together: The Power of Partnerships' blog series. Julie Perkins kicks it off by taking a look into why collaboration can - when it's right - build greater resilience.

Time to talk talent and purpose #3

with Kate Brown

We hear from Kate Brown, Group People Director at Specsavers Optical Group, who offers some excellent insight into the importance of inspiring ideas, spark and team spirit.

Time to talk talent and purpose #2

with Hanny van de Weerdt

by Fiona Adams and Julie Perkins

We sit down with Hanny van de Weerdt, Learning & Development Business Partner at the Heineken Company, to discuss how people are the true value and difference in a company.

Time to talk talent and purpose #1

with Edyta Ozbek

30 minutes

The story of Edyta Ozbek and her company. Polish-born Edyta Ozbek founded her company NEU professionals back in 2013.

Time to talk talent and purpose

In this blog, Fiona and Julie talk about talent, purpose, and the superpowers of the entrepreneurial business. Enjoy!

Stepping back to growth

Read how three inspiring entrepreneurs took a step back to their purpose, and really helped take their business to the next level.

When did freedom get so hard? And how to stop it making us stuck.

Remember back when jeans came in only one flavour? Mine were a trusty pair of Levi’s, oh and the stories they could tell…

The Powerball, a different way of looking at growth

10 minutes

Julie, founder of Wyseminds, talks about the powerball, a different way of looking at growth and its challenges to achieve a seamless growth journey.

Why wait to know goodwill’s earning power?

In this Blog, Wyseminds’ Founder, Julie Perkins, explains how goodwill not only fuels growth, but your customers are now demanding it.

Building your ecosystem with Adventure photographer and filmmaker, Melody Sky

with Melody Sky

In this blog, Melody speaks about her passion for telling a story in every photo or film she takes, and how she naturally builds an ecosystem as an adventure photographer and filmmaker.

When should I follow my gut?

by Richard Doughty

Which is better: following your brain, or following your gut? It depends on the circumstances, right? In this blog, Richard describes what we can do to get the most from both our analytical and intuitive strengths.

WTF is a Powerball?!

WTF Series: Richard throws light on Wyseminds' tool that supports entrepreneurs run purpose-led businesses. The more you understand what your Powerball tells you, the more seamlessly and joyfully your business will grow!

“I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

The opportunities are beginning to shine brighter than the crisis warning lights. We are now in a transition period; an essential time to regroup and shift from a crisis style of leadership into a style that seeks opportunity. Are you ready to embrace change?

What chess teaches you about entrepreneurship

by Peter Rijsdijk

As a fanatical chess player, Peter Rijsdijk explains why the art of chess has more similarities than you might think when it comes to strategically tackling the 64 squares of your business.

Peter Rijsdijk’s interview with Julie Perkins

by Peter Rijsdijk

Wyseminds’ purpose-led financial advisor, Peter, talks to Julie about what he is currently seeing on the front line of entrepreneurship, 5 months into 2021.

What’s your signature dish? What story did it tell during the pandemic?

An artist finds their own style, an author finds their own voice and a chef finds their own showcase! What’s yours? And how did it make it out the other side of the Covid pandemic?

Introducing Susan: business owner and festival enthusiast

by Susan and Henk Jansen

A story of passion, purpose and partnership: Susan, business owner and entrepreneur, recently worked with one of our Wyse thinkers in the wake of Covid-19 when she was facing its detrimental impact on the events industry.

Perfectionism: your greatest ally or worst enemy when building your company?

by Emma Runia

Perfectionism can have its benefits for your company but more often it will hold you and your business back. Guest writer and business owner, Emma Runia, discusses the benefits of managing perfectionist tendencies.

Onboarding your most expensive employee | Part 1

by Quirine van Maanen

Ask not what you can do for your investor, but what your investor can do for you. Wyse thinker, Quirine, describes two types of investors and the key parameters to consider in your negotiations.

Defining your freedom: paying the right price

Freedom is one of our values, something we believe should be felt by all entrepreneurs especially during periods of growth. Julie explores the factors that make up freedom and the importance of defining it for yourself to bring you the most joy.

The role of mindset in answering your purpose

by Henk Jansen

Henk continues his series with Trep, gaining some invaluable insights on the importance of shifting your mindset and having a more flexible way of thinking in order to tackle some of life’s challenges, along with tactical advice you could action right now.

Agility begins with simplicity

Julie explores the role of simplicity in planning growth and how it’s this simplicity that really allows business owners - and communities - to be as agile as they need to be in these times, bringing to life this balance with a moving case study from her home island.

Your voice: the power of personal purpose in decision-making

When things grow and progress, your inner voice that has led you to this place can sometimes get lost. Julie explains through Luce’s story how it’s the most important thing to reconnect with during moments of chaos or uncertainty.

Teaser: growing a social enterprise without losing soul

1 minute

This month Julie has been investigating a question that was put to her by one of our female entrepreneurs. It’s one she's still working on, however, we thought you might like a sneak peek into the journey.

Make it matter with a platter

with Claudia Canizares and Julie Perkins

Observing your customer’s behaviour in these challenging times is a super power of many purpose-led companies. Julie describes how one business took their values and an everyday insight to create an opportunity that we can all be inspired by.

The beauty of simplicity in the whirlwind world of business – ‘The Wyseway’ series review 3

by Julie Perkins

6 min.

Growth stories

Claudia’s growth story

with Agnes Weber and Leah Duquemin

Claudia is an interior designer M.A, design enthusiast and the founder of WAW - Wellbeing At Work, an interior design consultancy, which she started following many years working as an interior designer back home in Colombia.

Agnes’ growth story

Agnes is the founder of Mended, a circular platform that enables you to care and repair everything you wear. Agnes takes us through her journey with Wyseminds, and how her work with Julie was an essential part of preparing Mended to grow - and for discovering such clarity in doing so.

Shokoofeh’s growth story

with Shokoofeh and Leah

Shokoofeh is the founder of Tanfit, an ecommerce platform for female sport clothing that she started during Covid when her original business idea had to take a back seat. With a personal passion for everyone to have equal opportunities, to be seen and to be heard in society...

Merel’s growth story

by Julie and Merel

I’ve always lived my life with a feeling - and outlook - that everybody matters. And as such, I often place myself at the forefront of things that will see this come to life. So when it comes to healthcare and bringing it into a community that needs it most, I knew I had something to offer.

Helen’s growth story

by Julie and Helen

I lead a charity called Arts for Impact, which uses art to bring people together in an environment that creates a way of achieving greater fulfilment and connectivity to support better health and wellbeing in people. We truly believe that everybody has a strong contribution to make in their community.

Luce’s growth story

by Julie and Luce

My business was stuck; I seemed to be moving around in circles and certainly not moving forward. I faced competitors who were larger than me and could easily beat me on price, which my customer seemed to find important.

Rose’s growth story

by Julie and Rose

I’ve been in the hospitality industry my whole life, however, never in all of this time have I had to see my business through a global pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, I initially couldn’t see any clear way through, and I was resigning myself to it being the end.

Linda’s growth story

by Julie and Linda

As an experienced project manager, I would often be responsible for the creation and delivery of highly specialised products; 1mm out and I would be left with a pointless pile of metal. Never have I relied so heavily on effective teamwork and delivery.

Julie’s growth story

I remember so vividly how much I wanted the next era of growth to get going. Everything seemed in place. Every part of the brand seemed ready to go. The company should have leapt forward and taken off into its next phase. It didn't, it was just chugging.

Wyseminds video channel - live!

‘The Wyseway’ series

4 min.

We all hear about hard graft required for business success. But what we don’t generally hear about is how many female founders get stuck at the point of overwhelm after their first wave of growth.

‘Growth begins with you’ series

You and your business are definitely unique, but the way business grows is not. Understanding this process helps us to understand how we can make our own growth pattern more seamless. If we understand how something grows we can support it, feed it in the right way.

A different way of looking at growth

9 minutes

What if the pattern of a Rubik's cube could support your to-do list into becoming something that you truly love and do every day? In this video Julie talks about the Powerball, a different way of looking at growth and its challenges to achieve a seamless growth journey.

Step into ‘Your Journey’ – video demo

'Your Journey' is our interactive training programme designed for female entrepreneurs to discover the right, most relevant path to purpose-led business growth. Watch this video for a quick walk-through of the platform.

Time to talk talent and purpose #1

with Edyta Ozbek

30 minutes

The story of Edyta Ozbek and her company. Polish-born Edyta Ozbek founded her company NEU professionals back in 2013.

Finding Purpose

by Julie with Mary Perkins

10 minutes

Julie, founder of Wyseminds, talks about purpose and purpose-led, and how to make it matter.

Interview with Art Director, Alan Gilmore

with Alan Gilmore

8 minutes

Alan Gilmore, Art director for films such as Harry Potter, World War Z and X-Men, discusses with Julie Perkins how you build an ecosystem that transports millions of people through 2 hours of escapism.

Interview with Mary Perkins – episode 3

In our final episode with Mary Perkins, we talk about the strengths that take companies through challenging times, and how the Specsavers values play such a key role in survival and growth for the future - it might get your thinking about yours.

Interview with Mary Perkins – episode 2

by Julie with Mary Perkins

In this second episode we discuss the structure for growth and how it takes an evolution of people and yourself. How did Mary manage to do the things that many of us find difficult? How do you let others, more qualified than us, move in?

Finding freedom for Linda

"The greatest change that happened for me? Freedom." Watch as Julie Perkins explains the steps that we took with Linda to make the path ahead clearer than it’s ever been.

Pushing beyond Luce’s comfort zone

"I couldn’t see where the opportunities were going to come from. The spirit was flat, growth wasn’t there." Watch as we explain the purpose-led steps that Luce took that saw her gain confidence and a greater sense of fulfilment.

The power of purpose with Henk & Julie

by Julie and Henk Jansen

"The alignment of purpose affects the way in which we do everything, it's the very fuel that runs through the flywheel of our business and without this the business just 'chugs' along." Julie and Henk discuss the power in aligning yours.

Discovering Rose’s right next step

In this video, Julie explains Rose's story and how we used the Covid-19 pandemic to fast track her to have a stronger business that is now growing for a better tomorrow even more ‘bullet proof’ that it was before.

An introduction to your growth guide

Julie introduces what we want to bring you through the Wyseway growth guide and how the Wyseway questionnaire will determine the alignment in your company so you can use this to grow faster, quicker and stronger.

The beliefs behind the Wyseway

by Julie with Mary Perkins

Everything we do comes back to achieving the right growth - whatever this looks like for you. In this video, our founder, Julie Perkins, explains what the Wyseway is and what it means for your growth journey.

Keeping Helen’s soulprint

by Julie with Helen

An open and honest video interview with Julie and Helen, leader of a charity Arts for Impact, where they explore what was holding Helen back from growth, and how together they unleashed the potential of her business.

A video interview with Mary Perkins – episode 1

Episode 1 of our series with Mary Perkins: in this episode Julie asks some probing questions about growth, why it worked for them and how after creating 2 leading businesses she looked after herself to enable her to lead and still play a full-time role in her company.

Case study: the impact of losing the founder’s purpose