The Starting line – Building your Business

This event is for young entrepreneurs looking to learn the skills they need to grow a business

The event itself will feature networking at a relaxed setting by the sea. Entrepreneurs have the chance to connect with people growing their own skills or even established business owners.

We will also be featuring three unique guest speakers with diverse experience around growing a business:

• Magdalena Mahdy, a qualified financial strategist, bookkeeper and tax accountant with extensive entrepreneurial experience, is the founder of ProfitMIND, from DIY training to full-service strategic consultancy, bookkeeping and accounts, supporting businesses at every stage. Combining her background in business mentoring at the University of Essex for the past 9 years with her extensive experience of running small businesses, she empowers entrepreneurs to better understand and leverage their financial data, helping them connect, engage, and thrive with their finances to drive better business decision-making.
• Gabrielle Burt, Owner of ‘Gabs Grazing’ and ‘Gabs the home of Gabs Grazing’ a 23 year old self made business owner from Southend who set up a Grazing bar, Deli and night time vibe venue in Leigh on Sea.
• Jessica Revell and Gareth Prior are the co-founders of Pocket Power, a psychology-led wellness and life-coaching app created from lived experience, professional expertise and an unwavering belief that access to support should never depend on money.Neither Jessica nor Gareth came from a tech background. They stepped away from established careers, taught themselves to code from scratch and built Pocket Power from the ground up, driven by their own experiences of adversity, recovery and personal transformation
• Jessica’s background includes lived experience of disordered eating, serious physical injury, and Sarcoma recovery, alongside years of study in nutrition, fitness and holistic health.
• Gareth is a psychologist specialising in human behaviour, habit change and neurodiversity, with a late diagnosis of Asperger’s and dyslexia shaping both his work and advocacy.Together, they built Pocket Power with one clear mission: to remove financial barriers to mental, physical and nutritional support and to give people practical tools to change their lives, not just their outcomes.Pocket Power is live on both app stores in 175 countries, is completely free to use with full access, and has been recognised with multiple industry awards, including being named in the Essex Top Tech 50, winning Wellness App of the Year (London & South East), and Jessica being nominated for the WomenTech Global Awards – Female Founder Rising Star.

At The Starting Line, Jessica and Gareth will share their journey. Not just the wins, but the reality of starting with nothing, learning as you go, leading with purpose and building something meaningful from the ground up.

Following the presentations the group will have opportunities to ask questions and learn more about those in the room.