I attended my first Shire Collective meeting in 2018, and immediately found a group of like-minded, small business owners. Everyone was passionate, dedicated and enjoyed being part of a collective that was supportive, informal and very welcoming.

I love the shire collective I'll never forget the first time I plucked up the courage to go to one of the meet ups, walking into a busy pub not knowing anyone is my worst nightmare! But Katie came up to me and said a warm hello and introduced me to some of the other members and we'll that was it, I was hooked. It's such a supportive group of people. Not only is it a great way to meet fellow business owners in the local area it's been brilliant for my business, I've had brand photography done, social media reviews, Facebook ads advice to name a few. The group also run brilliant courses that are just invaluable and really good value.

Owning and running a small business can be lonely and daunting. Prior to my involvement with The Shire Collective I knew very few people who were running their own business and only a fraction of those were women. The Shire Collective, for me, has been a place of friendship and support. You immediately feel welcome and no one there claims to know everything about everything! I have attended workshops with the group on Instagram, Branding, and FB ads to name a few and we usually have a guest speaker at the meet-ups. My advice to anyone that is toying with the idea of coming along is to join us is, please do! We don’t bite :-)’