NETWORKING EVENT

Talk: Look at the Big Picture and Propel Your Business Forward 

Date and Time: Monday 17th April 2023. 18.30-21.00 (Registration from 18.00)

Venue: Swift Suite, Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Ln, Dublin, D08 VRR7

Speaker: Michelle Lestas, Author, Keynote Speaker and Business Director

We all work day to day in our businesses to get things done but do we focus enough on the big picture and whether we are achieving what we set out to do?

Experienced businesswoman and Author Michelle Lestas will share insights on

• the importance of understanding what type of founder you are
• the importance of your attitudes, motivation, approach, preferences to the growth of your business
• positive changes you can make to increase your chances of success. 

Drawing from her book “In Business With Yourself” (2021, Orpen Press, Dublin) Michelle will take an unfiltered and practical look at how to shake up the business for success.  She will focus on how setting up, running and leading an effective small business is about more than being strong in the various functions (finance, operations, marketing, etc), it is actually a reflection of the capabilities and attitudes of the person at the helm - THE OWNER. Although there are any number of other influences, when it comes to the chase, a business will ultimately reflect its leader. Michelle will examine comfort zones, attitudes to risk, reasons for being in business, drive and support from others, that are fundamentally important to small business success. While these can hold a business back, addressing them can help propel a business forward

Michelle will use multiple examples and will share a number of tips and ideas to help you to make positive changes to how you run your business, increasing your chances of business success and moving your business from surviving to thriving.

The talks and discussion will be followed by a networking wine reception.   

Please register now:  https://forms.gle/H128WMH9wEGumZ2bA

Members are welcome to take display tables to display or inform about their product/service.   Please email leodcwomeninbusiness@gmail.com to book one.

Speaker Profile

Michelle grew up in a family business and so her inspiration to run a small business started with her parents and their real tenacity to build a construction business from scratch. Michelle went on to complete an and she became the youngest CEO of a Northern Ireland NGO tasked with providing funding for training initiatives for women. Yet, a typical entrepreneur (she identifies with” the Lifer” in her book) – she became increasingly frustrated with her roles. She eventually left a “substantial” salary to go into her own business just when she also had a new 5 month old baby!

Michelle currently holds directorships in real estate, food production and business services and has held a variety of board positions across economic development, education and government lobbying. As an Entrepreneur in Residence with the Northern Ireland Science Park, she advises high growth start-ups on preparing for investment. In 2021 Michelle was asked to become an Ambassador for Women in Business in Northern Ireland and is a strong advocate for supporting fempreneurs. Michelle also hosts a monthly business feature on Belfast89 FM and the Irish News - keeping listeners and readers abreast of the small business economy.

In 2021, Orpen Press (Dublin) published Michelle Lestas’ first business book - “In Business With Yourself”, Orpen Press (Dublin) – which takes an unfiltered and practical view to entrepreneurial leadership. It is the result of a lifetime in small business, as well as over 20 years as a business turnaround specialist to business owners, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.

An experienced keynote speaker, Michelle brings her story and energy to all her talks and aims to demystify small business leadership on several fronts. Her audiences are global with a focus on entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial leadership and so resonate with start-ups and early growth businesses including spin outs, techs and high growth start-ups. Michelle is delivering talks to audiences from 20 to 3000 business and in the past few months this has included the Theo Paphitis small business conference at the ICC, Birmingham, Enterprise Nation UK, BT Skills For Tomorrow, Barclays Eagle Labs as well as a network of over 30k women in business in Boston.

Michelle travels widely with her work but home is Belfast where she lives with her husband and two sons