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Women in Leadership: Kirsty Fisher from Lemon and Lime Interiors

Kirsty Fisher gives her verdict on the latest Women in Leadership course delivered by Nottingham Business School.

    Kirsty Fisher from Lemon and Lime Interiors

    This support is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund

    Through the Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project*, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access free bespoke, employer-led training, career coaching and advice to up-skill their employees in vocational and high-level technical skills.

    NTU offer a free 3-day course which is designed to help women in SMEs to develop their careers and their capability manage and lead teams within their organisations and we took the opportunity to speak to one of our recent delegates.

    Kirsty Fisher, project manager at Lemon and Lime Interiors

    Lemon and Lime Interiors are a home design consultancy company that provides professional property presentation throughout the East Midlands.

    They offer bespoke services that cover everything from de-cluttering lived-in homes to fully furnishing an empty property, and everything in-between.

    Kirsty Fisher is a project manager at Lemon and Lime, managing a team that includes a warehouse operative, an interior stylist and admin support.

    Being relatively new in her role meant she was on the lookout for useful development opportunities and found out about NTU's Women in Leadership module while attending a strategic management course run by the D2N2 Growth Hub.

    She commented: "This course seemed like exactly what I was after in terms of professional development. As this is my first time managing a team, I was looking for something that would help me in that area, which this course certainly has."

    Women in Leadership course delivered in Tuesday 3 December 2019

    The Women in Leadership course runs over three non-consecutive days, with two weeks between each date. Our fifth cohort attended NTU's City Campus on 5 November, 19 November and 3 December 2019.

    This structure offers opportunities for reflection and self-directed work in-between, which has worked well in Kirsty's case.

    "It would be difficult to go on a course and then try to remember and implement everything all at once – this format gives you an opportunity to let it soak in over time."

    Giving her verdict on whether she got what she wanted out of the course, she had some key take-aways.

    The best thing about the course was that it was very relevant to my own job. Suzanne [the course facilitator] uses real-life experiences to help you apply it to your business, and with the group discussions you get to learn a lot from the other women on the course.

    Kirsty Fisher, Lemon and Lime Interiors

    "There are women here from businesses of all different sizes so it gives you lots of great ideas to take back with you.

    "The part I found most interesting was around authentic leadership as it made me consider and reflect on my own leadership style, where I could improve, and what that would look like in my team.

    "I now need to go away, take stock of everything and make a plan for how to implement what I've learned."

    Interested in signing up?

    The Women in Leadership course is running a number of cohorts throughout 2020. You can register your interest and a member of the team will be in touch to discuss eligibility and suitable dates.

    You can also contact us via any of the below channels:

    * The Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project is part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is part of the High Level Skills programme. The programme is delivered by NTU as part of the High Level Skills consortium which also includes Derby College, Nottingham College, the University of Derby, and Nottingham City Council.

    Supporting social mobility and widening participation

    NTU is at the forefront of social mobility. The university recruits a quarter of its home undergraduates from households with a combined income of £15,000 or less, and has an impressive graduate employment rate. The university is a signatory to the Social Mobility Pledge, and is also a co-lead on a national centre to research and develop best practices for universities on how to improve social mobility.

    The Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project is also committed to supporting local people from under-represented groups including women, people with disabilities, BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) people, people aged 50 and over, and those who have not had access to traditional educational opportunties. Our Women in Leadership course is a contributing factor towards this.