A fresh start
Priscilla Chandro remembers very clearly the major turning point in her life. It was two years ago. She was 37 years old, a single mother of a four year old and it was Thursday night.
“It was like something out of a film,” she says. “I was going upstairs and had a headache and pains in my arms. It was weird. I went to get some paracetamol, but felt a sudden rush of heat. I went outside. I needed to calm down. I went to get paracetamol and passed out in the kitchen. When I came to, I was looking at the ceiling. My first thought was for my daughter upstairs in bed.”
Priscilla, who lives near Woking, went to bed after taking some tablets and rang her mum who worked nights. Her dad, a retired nurse, came over and called an ambulance, but she was told it could be flu. She went to her GP the next day who sent her for an ECG and told her to go to A & E if the dull ache in her chest didn’t get better over the weekend. It didn’t.
By the end of the weekend she was diagnosed as having had a massive heart attack. No-one could quite believe it. When she went to the coronary care unit everyone looked at her.
The doctors eventually discovered that she had a 100% blockage on the left side of her heart. Her heart had been doing its own bypass for quite some time. Priscilla doesn’t know why she had the heart attack. She had no family history of heart disease and she didn’t have a particularly unhealthy lifestyle. The doctors said the problem could have been building since her teenage years.
The whole experience forced her to look at her life and inside herself. “It was a huge awakening,” she says. “I did a lot of soul searching and drilled down to my childhood and my lack of self confidence.”
Acceptance
She says she eventually came to an acceptance of all that had happened to her up until then and started looking at how she could improve her life, including her working life.
She had worked in various companies, including Barclays, before her daughter was born and went part time afterwards. She then switched to working in education and took voluntary redundancy from that job just a few months after her heart attack. She had been working three days a week, but two of the days were until 4.30pm. She found her next job on www.workingmums.co.uk working part time but within school hours for a finance company. It suited her as her daughter had just started school and she didn’t need after school care.
But she was still reconsidering her life.
A friend worked for Business Link and suggested she start her own business. “I had never considered it before,” she says. “I thought there must be something I am passionate about. I knew that I loved karaoke and I thought why not?”
She decided to start up her own karaoke business, PrisAnU [named after Priscilla and her daughter Anusha], which would allow her to work mostly evenings and at weekends when she could get childcare. She says she earns in a night what she used to earn in a week of part time hours. “I can fit it round my daughter,” she says, “and that is my priority.”
She has had a very good response since she started the business, including quite a bit of media coverage. She has also done some gigs for the charity Mind and for her daughter’s school. The business includes its own quirks, such as props for particular songs - she has Pink Lady and T Bone jackets for Grease numbers, for instance. She also runs a competition, but the prize is not a cash one but the chance to spend the day in a recording studio. She knows from being a karaoke groupie that this is more sought after and cheaper than a cash prize so she can offer second, third and even fourth prizes.
Business Link
Priscilla says she owes a lot to Business Link who helped her to set up the business. Business Link is a free, Government-funded resource for anyone wanting to set up or improve their own business. It runs a huge range of programmes, including advice on how to grow your business, high level financial advice, training in soft skills like communication, help on how to come up with a business idea and a start-up package of sessions on everything from whether being self employed is right for you to how to write a business plan and sales and marketing.
“When they first spoke about business plans it went right over my head,” says Priscilla. “I did a draft which they commented on and then by the second draft it was done. It really boosted my confidence and made me believe I could run a business.” In fact, Priscilla says she found this kind of “emotional support” more important than the practical business support.
Barbara Morton, Business Link Enterprise Gateway Director for Surrey and Northamptonshire, says confidence is a real issue for women thinking of starting their own businesses. “Women have issues around confidence,” she says. “Quite often they have a family they want to work around and self-employment can be a way to achieve the balance they need, but they often underestimate their transferable skills. If you have been a mum you often have to work to a budget so you have good financial skills. A lot of mums do work for school fetes or charities. All knowledge builds confidence.”
Part of Business Link’s purpose is to help self-employed people to network more effectively. “Networking can be as important as the seminars we offer,” says Morton. “Being self employed can be lonely and you need support.” Business Link offers links to other networks which can be supportive, such as women in business networks. It also has online advisers who can give instant help.
Morton adds that confidence can sometimes dip after the initial euphoria of setting up your business if the going gets hard. “Being self employed is not an easy option,” she says, “but it can be a very rewarding way of life.” She adds that it can be a particularly good option for those who have been unemployed for some time or made redundant and are finding it difficult to get another job. “It is good to have in place something that will help you to move forwards,” she says.
Priscilla has been asked to speak at Business Link events and would like to do more to motivate others to seize the initiative and work for themselves. “It’s about taking hold of your life,” she says. “I want everyone to feel like I do.”
More information:
Business Link
PrisAnU
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