This is the story that led to the birth of QUCo in April 2022.
Marla and I first started working together back in 2016. She invited me to work with the management team of a business she was running in the Northeast of England. Unsurprisingly her team were sceptical that a ‘Southerner’ called Quentin could relate to them.
I facilitated a Customer Experience workshop that apparently won them over. But that day I am sure I learned more from them than they did from me.
Unincumbered by higher education, the team’s ability to get to the heart of issues deeply impressed me. A few weeks earlier I had worked with ten senior executives from a ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm. I set a task that took this highly educated, highly paid group over an hour to complete. In stark contrast, Marla’s team solved the same exercise in less than two minutes and the result was far superior!
Intelligence
I was fascinated by the innate intelligence her team demonstrated.
Marla’s team was far more intelligent and capable than they realised. The challenge was to break down their perceived barriers and unleash this team’s untapped potential. With Marla’s guidance, this team grew in stature and confidence. When the time came to sell this business, the culture Marla had created significantly increased the valuation. She could proudly leave a legacy behind her.
On further reflection, I concluded that our education system is far too narrow in its assessment of intelligence. If you are not good at learning and regurgitating information in exam conditions, the system leaves you believing that you are unintelligent. Simply put, our education system scars too many people.
Insights from ‘minority entrepreneurs’.
After Marla successfully sold this business in 2020, I had the privilege of being her business coach. We started work on her personal brand.
She began building her profile and network. She spoke at events and met entrepreneurs and executives from many different minority groups. As a female Asian Kenyan, Marla had the happy knack of appealing to entrepreneurs regardless of sex, colour, region, education, or ethnicity.
Increasingly a wide array of other minority groups approached her for advice and guidance.
From these discussions, some common themes emerged, notably:
- Feeling like an ‘outsider’
- Imposter syndrome
- Failing Diversity and Inclusion policies
- A lack of relatable role models and mentors
- Accelerator programmes didn’t work for them. They wanted ‘hand-holding’ through the process
They also wanted a ‘safe place’ to share their business challenges.
They wanted a learning environment that would enable them to break through the real or perceived barriers of the traditional business environment.
Something needed to be done.
Accelerator Programme - with a Difference
With Marla’s business acumen and with my background in training and business mentoring, we realised we could fulfill this need. It was time to change our working dynamic. So, I sacked my client! The coach and coachee became business partners.
And QUCo was born.
How could we help these entrepreneurs who felt like outliers?
The solution - a combination of mastermind groups, training a business mentoring.
The 'secret sauce' - to handhold entrepreneurs like you to create both an extraordinary personal brand and sustainable high-growth business. You will be part of an extraordinary group of like-minded entrepreneurs who want to be stretched and supported to explore your untapped potential.
In short...
QUCo provides a safe home for entrepreneurs of all backgrounds to share, learn and excel.
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