6 minute read
Alison Cork ‘Make it Your Business’, Interview, & her Ukraine Appeal
Just wow! You know that question that often pops up – if you could choose just a few people to have dinner with, well, Alison Cork would certainly be on my list, she is an absolute powerhouse, doer, thinker, entrepreneur and all round great lady to support, motivate, inspire, whilst knowing how to pull something out of the bag in an absolute humanitarian crisis to help us all do SOMETHING, when we may feel we can do nothing! I had the pleasure of interviewing Alison on Sunday March 6th 2022; we had planned the interview to talk about her journey in business, politics and health, but as the Ukraine Crisis unfolded, Alison also launched the #smallbusinessbigdifference campaign, which you can learn about on the next few pages.
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You've been an entrepreneur for well over 25 years. Tell me a bit about how You started and grew your businesses. You've always been a supporter of women in business and started a charity to support women to start a business. Why?
I always wanted to run my own business; by process of elimination, I learned that I would be better off ploughing my own furrow, as I was very independently minded. In the 80’s that was quite unusual; I was inspired by Martha Stewart and began to focus on what I wanted to make my long -term business. I launched Alison at Home, that became an on-line business and I presented television programmes, my favourite being Home in the Country, which was filmed from my then cottage in Wales, and to rapidly condense the last 2 years I have started working on shopping television and launched Alison at Home on QVC, and I pleased to share that during the pandemic we have launched in America. I have always been a great champion of women’s empowerment. I went to an all-girls school and that I think had quite an impact on me supporting women to fulfil their potential. I realised as a woman in business there was a real lack of parity between men and women in business and so I launched Make it Your Business, which is a not-for -profit, to help and support women running their own businesses. Currently only 1 in 5 businesses are women lead, which isn’t good enough, apart from being a complete economic miss. As an economy we need that contribution from women, and we just don’t have it.
More recently you've moved into politics what prompted that?
As part of my journey in business and supporting women in business I became very interested in Politics, and actually stood as a candidate for London Mayor in 2018, which I didn’t get but it was a fascinating process, and interestingly, I think only 1-5 or 20-30% of MPs are women, which again, not good enough, and so through business I have developed an interest in Women’s Rights, Women’s Empowerment, and more latterly politics.
You've had a lot of national media coverage recently about your recent health and fitness journey and weight loss. Why did you decide to make this change?
I got into my late 50’s, and I wasn’t particularly happy with how the menopause had affected me. I do know the tricks of the trade via TV, but you know how you feel inside, and I did not feel my best. I am great believer that whatever body or mind you are given you can always make the best of it and be the best version of you you can be. I was not happy, and I did not want to slip into a silent despair of feeling unattractive or unfit, like it was all over for me, but actually, it is women over 50 who are the fastest growing entrepreneurs, we realise we have a lot of life ahead of us, and I wanted stamina, and to be in peak physical condition for longevity of my career etc. And so I went to a gym, but a gym that teaches you about diet as well as exercise. We absolutely must get processed foods and sugar (continued over)
In the past week you've launched a national campaign to encourage small businesses to donate to the Ukrainian humanitarian effort - tell me about this.
It dawned on me that I have spent years establishing good contacts in the small business community, they are resilient, and they understand the principle of challenge and hardship in their own way. I thought if every business could just donate £1 (there are 5.6 million small businesses in the UK), the together, we could make a big difference, hence the tagline ‘Small Business – Big Difference’. By a stroke of luck I spoke to the Daily Mail, who have launched a campaign, and their beneficiaries are British Red Cross, who is exactly who I wanted to donate via as I know that 95% of their money goes to the intended recipient. And so via the Mail Force registered charity, they are giving 100% of that money to the British Red Cross and CARE International, and in return the Daily Mail are supporting the small business community with some PR, which in turn helps us as we help others. As you know, press PR can be completely transformational to a small business.
We talked so much about Alison’s work, the British Library, sugar, diet, food budget, confidence, inspirational role models and more, please have a listen! Alison and I both say – don’t give up hope – it’s not game over. We are working our magic!
(continued from page 95) out of our diet. I walk 20’000 steps a day, that’s nonnegotiable, I get up at 6am every morning, and I lost around 4 stone over 8 months, and it was completely life changing. I feel so much stronger; I love the compliments, but it is more about how you feel inside, and how people respond to you more positively when you radiate positivity. I have now signed up to climb Everest in October, because I can!
In light of the unfolding events in Ukraine, Alison at Home will be donating £10 for every order to Mail Force Ukraine Appeal
We stand with Ukraine
Alison has great knowledge of the UK business infrastructure, and with 5.6 million UK small businesses, had a clear vision that we only needed to donate a single pound each, to collectively raise near to 6 million pound to support the Ukraine Humanitarian Effort. Alison is well educated and knew that she would want this support to be realised via the British Red Cross, as they ensure that 95% fees go to the intended recipient. With that, Alison very quickly gained the support the Daily Mail, who, via their Mail Force Charity are running the Ukraine Appeal to provide much needed money to charities giving aid including shelter, clothes, and food to refugees who need it most. This is being delivered through the British Red Cross and CARE International.
Just £1 – that is all it takes to be part of making a massive difference. We (the Single Mums Business Network) have pledged to donate that for every SMBN member for three months, February, March, and April. You can donate your £1 here https://www.mailforcecharity.co.uk/
and mention that you are donating as part of the ‘Small Business Initiative’ .
