The Business Awards Show

Yolande De Vries has won awards and knows the photography world well, yet she still has mixed feelings about its biggest competitions. Our latest episode reveals why.  Debbie Gilbert talks to Yolande, an award winning personal brand photographer, about a career that began with a camera in Namibia. She shares how she retrained after the 2008 recession closed the door on photojournalism, moved from weddings into branding photography, and became one of the first in her field. She explains how she helps clients create a natural image, from detailed preparation and longer shoots to outfit planning and unique locations. Yolande also gives her honest view on photography competitions, including how the same names keep appearing on shortlists and why entry terms can hand over your copyright. She finishes with tips for new photographers, the rise of AI planned shoots, and the one piece of advice she wishes she had been given. About Yolande Yolande De Vries is an award-winning personal brand and power portrait photographer behind the images of founders who aren't just seen, they are remembered.    With 17 professional years behind the camera Yolande is one of the first personal brand photographers in the industry (since 2016), known for an editorial edge that makes founders look powerful, strong, and intelligent.   In the last 10 years she has transformed the presence and personal brand of over 400 coaches, entrepreneurs, C-suite executives and medical clinicians.   Yolande believes that every single person is photogenic, and everyone deserves a photograph of themselves that they love and am proud to put out there.   Her magazine-quality work has seen clients featured in Harper's Bazaar, Forbes, Condé Nast and Brand You Magazine. She is a 2023 F:Entrepreneur Top 100 Female Entrepreneur and the 2024 Silver Winner at the Best Business Woman Awards for Best Creative Business.   {1:42} Yolande's journey to a career in photography. {6:35} Moving into high end weddings. {8:03} Maximising the opportunity of branding photography. {8:46} Capturing a subject's personality and how Yolande's shoots work. {14:24} Industry awards in photography. {16:04} Yolande's favourite elements of photography. {17:01} Advice for young photographers. {17:56} The importance of client contracts. {18:53} Why clients need to be at their best for a shoot. {20:37} Yolande's future plans. {21:50} AI-planned shoots and workign with stylists and make-up artists. {24:21} How often people should have their images redone. {25:10} One piece of advice Yolande wished she had been given at the start.   Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk                                         https://bestsmeawards.co.uk/                                        Connect with Yolande:  https://www.yolandedevries.photography/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/yolande-de-vries-photography/home/                 https://www.linkedin.com/in/yolandedevries/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yolandedevries.photography/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YolandeDeVries.PersonalBrandingPhotography Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/yolandedevries_/

Kitty Lai has won awards, been a finalist and sat on a judging panel. She tells us what each side taught her about business and her personal brand. Kitty, an award-winning branding and packaging designer and founder of Me Brand, talks about her journey from senior roles at Ted Baker and Cath Kidston to running her own branding and packaging design business. Kitty shares how redundancy led her to starting an Amazon FBA business, which then led to a love of branding. From there, she grew her own brand, overcoming a fear of public speaking to talk on stage to hundreds in the US.  She explains how she moved into awards in the last two years, from winning at the Surrey SME Awards to becoming a finalist in two Women in Packaging Excellence categories. Kitty also describes judging for Design Rush, what makes packaging stand out, and why it should. We also review why AI makes designs that look the same. Finally, Kitty provides an honest view that awards results are still early in her business journey, and have not yet had the impact she expects in future. About Kitty Kitty Lai is a visual design expert, brand strategist, and the founder of ME BRAND. With a career spanning over 28 years at leading British brands like Ted Baker and Cath Kidston, she honed her skills in creating distinctive brand identities and packaging designs that speak directly to audiences. Her passion lies in collaborating with businesses to transform ideas into tangible, visually compelling products. Every design she creates is driven by a mission to help brands connect, resonate, and thrive in competitive markets.   {1:43} Moving from a career with Ted Baker and Cath Kidston to starting her own business. {4:10} Moving into personal branding while building her own. {6:32} Overcoming her fear of public speaking. {7:45} The women's packaging awards that Kitty first engaged with. {8:58} The robust entry procedure. {10:33} Becoming a judge for the Design Rush Awards. {13:00} The importance of packaging in the success of a product. {15:49} Kitty's advice to those looking to evolve their Branding and packaging. {17:08} The impact on Kitty's business of being involved in awards. {17:58} Future plans. {19:07} How AI is affecting branding and packaging. {21:11} Opportunities for further awards, podcasts and speaking bookings. {22:28} One key tip for listeners. {23:40} Sharing your corporate background when starting a new business. {24:30} What Kitty misses about corporate life and managing her work/life balance.   Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk                                         https://bestsmeawards.co.uk/                                        Connect with Kitty:  https://www.mebranddesign.com/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/me-brand-design-packaging/home/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mebranddesign/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mebranddesigns

Kayleigh Clover helped her clients win awards for years before she dared enter one herself. She tells the Business Awards Show what finally convinced her to have a go. Kayleigh, founder of Little White House Marketing, built an agency from her kitchen table during lockdown, developing it into a growing team based in Bournemouth. She specialises in human first marketing, explaining why it beats AI generated content in a world craving engagement. Furthermore, she offers social media tips for our finalists heading into an awards night, looking to raise their profiles and connections. She also opens up about why it took six years to enter an award herself, despite writing entries for clients. Imposter syndrome played a part. But happily, Kayleigh achieved a surprise double win at the Christchurch Business Awards, including an unexpected Rising Star nomination. The genuine PR, SEO and new leads that followed were a huge bonus. About Kayleigh Kayleigh Clover is the founder and Managing Director of Little White House Marketing, a social-first creative agency in Southbourne, Bournemouth. She started the business from home during COVID after a decade in the travel industry. Consequently, it has grown entirely through word of mouth into a limited company with a wide range of clients across the UK and further afield. The agency covers all elements of creative marketing, from organic social and paid media, to photography and video shoots. Kayleigh believes social media works best when it sounds like a real person and looks like the real business. She has spoken openly against AI-generated content and would rather a client posted less and meant it. In 2026, Little White House won Best Independent Business at the Christchurch Business Awards, where Kayleigh also took home the Rising Star Award. She's now a finalist in the national Best Businesswomen Awards, in the Marketing and PR category. She's a vocal supporter of other business owners, particularly women building companies of their own. Outside work, Kayleigh is a mum and is married to Sam, her biggest supporter. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ {2:04} How Covid resulted in Kayleigh starting her own business. {4:45} When Kayleigh realised she could no longer do it on her own. {5:11} Growing the team. {6:55} What human first marketing means and why it matters to Kayleigh. {9:24} How to engage authentically on social media. {10:28} Kayleigh's favourite social platform. {11:55} Why you should step out of your comfort zone on social media. {13:12} Maximising exposure at awards events. {15:00} Why it took 6 years to enter business awards. {16:13} Winning two Christchurch Business Awards. {20:30} Combining family and business. {21:12} Future plans.   Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk                                         https://bestsmeawards.co.uk/                                        Connect with Kayleigh:  https://www.littlewhitehousemarketing.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/littlewhitehouse/                  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleigh-clover-57293419a/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlewhitehousemarketing/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlewhitehousemarketing/  

Saira Mashru read her finalist email again and again, convinced it had to be spam. It was not, and it changed how she saw her business. It's inspiration for any aspiring young entrepreneur, as the women's nutrition coach reflects on winning Silver for Best Young Entrepreneur at the Best SME Awards allied to a Shining Star award. Both have boosted her confidence, credibility and client trust. Saira, founder of Saira Nutrition, discusses building a nutrition business as a young entrepreneur. She explains how a healthy relationship with food growing up, combined with a background in dietetics and public health, led her to support women through sustainable, guilt free weight loss.  Saira also discusses the leap from part time side project to full time business. Illuminatingly, she shares the challenges of being taken seriously as a young business owner, including negative comments about her age and appearance. Finally, she explains how coaching on confidence and presence helped her overcome this.  About Saira Saira Mashru is a multi-award winning Registered Nutritionist and founder of Saira Nutrition. By combining evidence-based nutrition with psychology-led behaviour change, Saira helps women lose weight sustainably without diets, restriction or guilt. Her clients experience transformations that go far beyond the scales, ranging from sleeping properly for the first time in years to having the energy to run around with their grandchildren. She works with clients across 1:1, group and corporate settings and has delivered workplace wellbeing sessions for organisations including British Airways and David Lloyd.   {2:32} Why Saira became a nutritionist. {4:13} Saira's path from school. {6:23} What convinced Saira to start her business. {9:02} Who inspired her when she started her business. {10:41} School's failure to prepare young people for starting a business. {11:34} The challenges for young entrepreneurs starting out. {16:13} Deciding to work in her business full time, and the progress she's made since. {18:09} Saira's range of services. {21:30} Being a finalist at the Best SME Awards. {22:55} The feeling of validation being a finalist engendered. {24:45} The PR winning awards has created. {25:49} How Awards have brought in new business. {26:41} Saira's advice for young entrepreneurs. {27:21} Future plans.   Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk                                         https://bestsmeawards.co.uk/                                        Connect with Saira:  http://sairanutrition.co.uk/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/saira-nutrition/                 https://www.linkedin.com/in/saira-mashru-31a2b11b0/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sairanutrition Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556979441081&rdid=69kOotgnwrhUrx92&share_url=https%3A%2F%2F  

Hayley Plumb entered her first ever award full of excitement. What followed was a night she will never forget, for all the wrong reasons. Debbie Gilbert talks to Preston nail technician Hayley, founder of Nailed It by Hayley, about her first ever experience entering business awards. Hayley shares how she built her nail technician business from scratch after losing her job while pregnant, building a studio in her garage. After two and a half years her competitive streak led her to enter a major industry awards ceremony. She describes a lengthy, repetitive application process that led to her being told she was a finalist while entries were still open. Next came a chaotic awards night involving long queues, no food, mismatched presentations, and winners left stranded far from the stage. Debbie shares a similarly disappointing experience of her own, and the two discuss what credible, well run awards should look like, and why poor experiences risk damaging trust in the awards industry as a whole.   {2:20} How Hayley came to set up her nail business. {5:35} Why she entered the Health & Beauty Awards. {6:23} A convoluted entry process that did not allow her to showcase her work. {9:30} The questionable next stage of the process. {10:45} Buying tickets for the final. {13:10} The queue for photos. {15:23} The awards begin. {20:00} Categories with fifty finalists. {20:32} Hayley's feelings about awards after her first experience and what happened with her category. {22:08} Debbie's bad awards experience in June. {25:22} Hayley's lasting feelings. {29:37} How those awards could have been run differently. {35:40} Judging using AI.   Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk                                         https://bestsmeawards.co.uk/                                        Connect with Hayley:   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Nailed-it-by-Hayley-61557313196357/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenailedit_byhayley/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@naileditby.hayley