The name is Bond, Ms. Bond in this Female Entrepreneur Startup Interview. She has been planning events for 'corporate ladies' and 'luxury ladies', albeit women & tech are also within the target market.  Because as she says:

Let's face it, the world of corporate events and reward schemes is usually male-focused with meetings, conferences, business entertaining or company "thank you's" geared towards men.

Female entrepreneur Caroline Whitmey knows that the quality of an event she organizes lies in her energy level & her eye for detail, and thus she creates 'bespoke, innovative and exceptional luxury experiences created especially for women, by women'. She participates in The NextWomen startup series.

What's your start-up about?
Ms Bond is our specialist service, events for women in business, and starting to gain profile. In short, we create and manage outstanding events. Our main area is within executive level corporate hospitality however we also look after various private clients.

Recently, I have expanded on from the concept of Ms Bond, which means we target mixed events too and it is really exciting. We are getting very nice feedback for providing something which defies clichés!

Who is in the team, where did you get them?

I am very fortunate to have a brilliant team working with me.
Where did I get my team members? Recommendations!
When choosing new team members, I do not necessarily look for event management skills but for a breadth of expertise in something which I feel will bring value to, and compliment, the other skills already within the team. For example, one of our interns has just finished a psychology degree. It seems unrelated but in fact this bring a hugely insightful perspective to our event design

What is most important to me with the team, freelancers and suppliers we work with is that they have mirroring values to the company – passion, drive, imagination and warmth as well as flawless standards.

By bringing these people together we have one successful – touch wood – format (and a lot of fun).

How did you fund it, with how much money?I initially received a grant for £1000 and loan for £3000 from PSYBT. Business Gateway also gave us £1000.

This support at the beginning was invaluable to me and allowed me to build a website and gain presence in the market.


What makes you different from other players in your sector?
Our approach.

With both my original company, Ms Bond and the expansion of Caroline Whitmey Events, I wanted to create an experiential service which defies clichés of the ‘typical corporate event or private party’. We create experiences by personalising each and every detail. I set out to build a company to mirror how I, as a client, want to be treated. Based on this, unlike other events companies, we have an honest, ‘no mark up’ policy.

What was your biggest challenge during the startup phase?
The biggest challenge was  - without a doubt – learning the ins and outs of running a business. I am a young lady with passion, determination and a natural love and flair for creating experiences. The business side of me had a lot to learn at the early stages. And I continue to learn every day. But you know – I think life would be boring if that did not happen!
Where is the company in 3 years?
We will be globally celebrated as the premier events service.

I hope to be looking after clients all over the atlas and constantly adapting to significantly altering tastes and preferences. This is key to creating the right event for each client.

CWE is all about personalisation and complete focus and attention to our clients therefore my aim is to balance growth with consistently and religiously achieving our flawless standards.

I also have a few business threads sizzling in my head, but for now, they will be kept up there. I would rather build slowly than try to do too much with the company before it has had time to reach certain goal posts.

Any super business events we should go to?

The Next Women events are rumoured to be THE best out there – obviously!!

To be quite honest, I would not recommend one particular business event. For me, successful networking is has to be natural  – being out and about and allowing yourself to dip your feet into situations that may not seem related to your business or may feel uncomfortable can lead to the most promising opportunities.