WOBN 001 Rachael

Ria Reynolds and Rachel Gallagher co-own Women Own Business Networking. They started the group because they felt other networking groups were missing a sense of community. The group gives back to the community by donating a portion of the fees to a local football team. Ria also shares the story of how she and her partner Tom started their business, Pine Oak Glazing, which specializes in double glazing. They decided to start their own business after realizing they had the necessary skills and experience. Ria took a voluntary redundancy from her job to focus on the business. Tom eventually left his job as well, and they have been running the business successfully ever since. My name is Ria Reynolds and I'm really excited to be doing this, I'm sure you can tell. I own a second street and I also co-own Women Own Business Networking with my very good friend Rachel Gallagher. Who is one guy, you know Rachel? Hiya! And she's coming on, listen, thank you. And I think that, listen, we're about to, or I'm about to, you know, come on the podcast with 26 other women in our group. So let's talk about it, let's talk about our Women Own Business Networking group first. Shall we explain how we first met? It's really what you explain. Yeah, no, great, yeah, I'm excited, it's my first ever one. So we met probably about two years ago via another networking group. I always remember you didn't come to the meeting but your friend came to the meeting and then she, yeah, she called you. That's right. I think it's going to be really good for you, you know, you gave me a call. I think I missed your call but you're so polite. You're so polite. Yeah, I'm probably polite, yeah, you do, yeah. And I'm so busy, I think, for the first couple of days. But yeah, we spoke and then you come to the next networking meeting and then we just sort of hit it off from there really. So yeah, about two years ago now that I've met you. I can't believe that's two years, that's just mental, that's more than that time. Yeah, and then we, I think between us both, we then started to go, we then went to another networking group together, didn't we? We did, yeah. Yeah. So that was local, that was local, wasn't it, just up the road as well. Yeah. More community based, so we thought we'd try that one out and that was cool. Yeah. We decided that one together, I think it was a year ago. And then obviously we then thought, well, you know what, what does our area need? You know, obviously we're based in Kent, you know, we're in the sort of wedding, bed, tree, heath area. What does our area need? It needs something like this, like a community spirit type of women's own business networking, wasn't it? It was, yeah. So I think what we did, if I remember rightly, we were in a meeting and we were sitting next to each other and he had the idea of, as he said, a bit of paper at the table, like old school, like, let's start this up. And I was like, oh, okay. And before we, I think, even realised what we were both saying, we said, yes, let's just start this up again. There was something missing. As much as the other networking groups were good and they were and, you know, we still were telling them, there was something missing there that we felt that we needed a little bit more. I think that was a community of ladies, because when we're giving them back already to a local football team, that we were so much like, what can we do that helps that grow and helps our community, but not only for its sponsorship purpose, but also from a business, local business group that we are. Yes, no, no, exactly. And to be fair, we are the only women networking group that give back. Just to clarify, yes, what happens is when, basically, the ladies pay their fees for the year, a third of those fees go to, at the moment, Craig Wander's football, ladies football team, because they don't get paid by the FA. So, you know, we're, as a community, we're paying them, obviously, every time somebody joins us. And, obviously, the rest of the money in the pot goes to advertising for bringing in new ladies, basically, for the group. Absolutely, and I think that was part of our point. For us, it wasn't about making the money, it was about how can we help people. Now, I've been in corporate industries, as you know, I've been for many, many years, and if I'm networking, I've done networking, and it's just a case of there's a gap, but also, we don't care for the money. We don't care for the money. Exactly. Advertising for one bit itself, advertising for the Craig ladies, at the moment, because there's a serious response of Craig Wander's ladies, but also, how can we promote each business within a group? And that's where the money, obviously, goes. So, yes, we are a lady group, and I can see it gives back to the community what we're doing. Yes, 100%, 100%. So, okay, right, well, let's start this platform thing off. I want to know about Pine Oatmeal Glazing. Tell me, tell me, over to you. Okay, so, Pine Oatmeal Glazing, we started the business five years, come up to six years. When you say Pine, yes, but wow, six years ago, it was a lot longer. It's a family-run business, so I ran it with Tom, who is my partner. His background was double glazing. My background is HR and nursing. But around about six years ago, both of us were a bit like, well, why can't we do this ourselves? You know, Tom's got 20 years' past knowledge in the industry, his surveys, his measures, his fits. So the only thing we could do was generate leads for the business. So we were a bit like, all right, okay. And we sat on that idea for a good few months. But ultimately, I went in, as we do with HR people, for January, and it was a case of, like, there's something for businesses coming up, and we're looking at the HR department. And suddenly, you tell me, well, I'll take it. Let me just get this. Let me help you do what I like to do, which is become a bit redundant, please. I can take VR, because then that gave me a package that then helped Tom and I be secure enough for three months, I had a three-month plan. Yeah. Or we don't. Yeah. So I don't want you to make that story for me. Yeah. Most people think that's really scary, and a lot of my family, and I didn't really tell them, if I'm honest, at the beginning, because I was a bit like, they're going to put me off of it. I was a bit nervous. You know, but both of us had good salaries. So Tom had already done quite the job. Some of us had done it on the weekend, so it wasn't costly. We had a lot of work and private work. But there were so many problems that we can do this, and it's the most terrifying feeling but the most exciting feeling at the same time. So to start the business, it was literally, I got a lightbulb out, put it on top of, we hung it up in the living room, actually, and as we were going to look past it, we were writing names for our business on there. Right. And we come up to them and we're like, what on earth is this? Yeah. It was something like this. Do you remember seeing those? No, I can't. But I just saw the list of them, and all of a sudden, I was, I just stood and looked out the window and I was like, oh yeah, it's your point of view. You know, your point of view for the role, it's your point of view, it's your point of view. So that's where the name comes from, the UK name. Ah, I see. At which point, it was around about March, and I said to Tom, does that suit the company? He was like, yeah, it does. So March, we went on the website, we created the name for the company, and we were like, right, let's do this. So our next panel, we figured ourselves out. Tom had cut back, so he went into work and said, well, I'm cutting back my hours. They weren't very pleased because it was December 1st, but he was like, well, you know, we'll do my own thing. And by the end of the year, our panel, we had won our own business. Yeah. That was fast forward. As soon as they told us, well, see, we need to do more, they were like, thank you very much for your time. I think it's time we part ways. I don't want to say shit at home. Yeah. So March, it was like, oh, right, okay. We've got to now make this work even quicker. Did you say yes at this point? No. So that was in March, and I was leaving in July. So I knew from March to July, I could start sending out a few emails, you know, get you a trade account, you know, start putting figures out. But constantly putting figures out. Now in London, it's Saturday at the end of the year. Yeah, yeah. So every month. But obviously, the London holiday, which was in, what, May, on the way back, I was on the way to London for my job. Tom rang me and was like, is it the company? No. Let them know that we're running reduced. You know, by the end of the year. So it was a bit, you know, people weren't going to leave on anything but a letter of leave. A letter of leave was given at the time of the company. Yeah. It was, yeah. And it didn't mean anything bad. It didn't mean anything bad. Tom didn't want to know that. But I think it was a conflict of interest. Knowing how good Tom was at winning the trade, his boss said, let's shake hands and move on. So Tom was like, absolutely great. He knew what he was doing. He knew what he was leaving for. Yeah. Yeah. You know, as an ending situation, if you're transparent and honest, that's the best place to be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 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