How did Quantum Rise come about? Erica tells all!

I went to work that Sunday, all excited by the fact I had a company name which was going to represent me, the impact I want to make on learning and development, the thing that will set me free and communicate to the world the difference I can make – Welcome Two.

Shortly after that came a logo, first, then second go at the website, social media pages, emails to the network and lots of congratulations from friends and family. I couldn’t tell you how excited I was. I just couldn’t contain it.

I had chosen to continue to be employed at this point as being the sole bread winner and loving my life, being guilt of having expensive taste, I wasn’t going to jump full in, but build up the business until I got the point that I was forced to make the decision to work for myself and brave the big world on my own.

That time came much quicker than I had anticipated due to the business being a real success in the first 6 months and all the support I received from my first followers, collaborators, and clients, many who have been on this amazing journey with me.

Things were starting to feel a bit more serious. I knew I needed to invest, take the business to the next level, position some serious marketing, and become a ‘business grown up’. But not having done this before, I didn’t have any kind of template, instruction guide, mentorship, or plan.

In steps the Incubator….

So, I’m browsing through LinkedIn one morning and an interesting post from a certain Perry Timms which caught my eye. A post which talked about seeking ambitious start-up businesses in the HR and L&D space, who were looking for an opportunity to immerse themselves in support, mentorship, challenge, and resources, with the offer of the chance to understand what the business is, and potentially, what it could become.

I was quickly in conversation with the team at PTHR who were obsessed with understanding my vision for my new little business. We were into the serious conversation straight away, which challenged me to think bigger than I ever had before, with the safety net of PTHR and the expertise of the team.

Mind mapping, strategy building, marketing, we did the lot. Welcome Two starting to look and feel like a serious learning and development business, and the market started to respond.

Then Covid-19 decided to rock up….

And we know what happened there. The first month of covid threw everyone and everything up in the air. I had doubts that I had done the right thing; leaving a very well-paid job in a function I loved with a great corporate brand, to chase a dream which might fold overnight. Alongside this, a sector which historically has relied on in person interaction paused everything overnight and was full of panic struck and paralysed budget owners and decision makers who didn’t know whether their job would exist the next day.

I listened to my gut and talked to a lot of people. I knew the digital learning thing had legs and I was onto something, however, was losing confidence and worried about what the future of my dream would hold. I needed to engage with those who could see past the immediate situation and support my gut feeling to commercialise my experience and talents.

Once again Perry was part of these conversations. Even when we were all challenged, and face to face work was being ripped out of diaries, the PTHR team still supported my little business by commissioning a virtual training upskill on Zoom, which I was overjoyed to deliver for them, and helped to enable them to continue to work with clients. Win win.