Stress-busting business mentor gets a Boost

A Lancashire-based business mentor who helps companies look after their staff is set to expand her business after receiving support through Boost.

Michelle Bondesio, originally from South Africa, established Bondesio Communications & Consulting in December 2017, to help businesses adopt a healthier working culture for their employees.

She set up the business after receiving support through Boost’s Growth Support Programme and now reaches a wide network of business clients across the county.

Her Growth Sessions workshops help businesses to look after wellbeing and reduce stress in the workplace. They support business teams to build their resilience, unlock more of their creativity and improve their productivity. Michelle has worked with UCLan, Society1, and Boost via the Lancashire Forum Creative, and has a keen focus on the creative and digital sector.

Over the next 12 months, Michelle’s growth plans include launching a range of online training programmes and making her first hire. She also has aspirations to work with UCLan and Lancaster University to provide similar wellbeing and mentoring services to students experiencing stress and pressure during their studies.

Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub and is led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Boost’s fully-funded Growth Support Programme is designed to support individuals and SMEs in Lancashire to achieve their growth aspirations, and be better equipped to deal with challenges in sales, marketing, finance, business planning and recruitment.

“I’d worked for 20 years in communications and project management. From my own experiences working in this high stress environment, I recognised a growing need for employers to provide wellbeing support to employees. I had a vision for my business, but needed guidance to approach it as a consultant," said Michelle Bondesio

Rona McFall, head of entrepreneurial solutions at Winning Pitch, said: “We worked closely with Michelle to create a business model and allow for better pricing of her advice.

“She recognises that during the early growth of her consultancy business, she’ll need more mentors to support the delivery of her workshops. She is already looking to make that first appointment.”

Michelle said: “The masterclasses and coaching I received through Boost helped me gain the confidence I needed to get started. They have certainly made me think on a much bigger scale for my business than I expected.

“I am now working with Boost’s Growth Support Programme to develop and deliver my Growth Sessions for the next generation of entrepreneurs. I believe digital health and wellbeing is important in every working environment. It should be the responsibility of every employer to adopt a healthy working culture for employees and reduce work-related stress. My motto, backed by research and science, is ‘better selves is better for business’.”