Alison Theaker, founder and chief executive of Devon-based The Spark, explains why the business should win the marketing and PR category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
I am a business coach, mentor and trainer. I have also walked the 630-mile South West Coast Path. I put the two together and created Walk the Talk – coaching while walking. I tried it out on my teenage daughter when she was doing her A-levels and it seemed to work – we got along a lot better and I learned a lot about her thought processes.
I then found research to support the fact that people are 60% more creative while walking, and used that to promote the idea to business groups, networks and across social media.
I took my local Chamber of Commerce for a walk along the coast path nearby during a breakfast networking session. I set up a blog, Walkspiration, to discuss ideas I had while walking. I achieved a full page editorial article in Devon Life in February.
As a result, I gained four new clients worth nearly £1,400, and have continued to build on that success. I have been approached to devise a course to train teachers in further education to coach their students while walking, especially those with special educational needs.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
