A journey fuelled by innovation, connection and experience: read Natalie’s blog to hear about why it’s important to keep an open mind and influence your own learning journey
Innovative learning
Natalie came to Team Entrepreneurship wanting to put theory straight into practice, and experiment with business ownership and teamwork.
As a student, Natalie found UWE Bristol to be an immensely supportive environment to study, with great spaces around campus from brand new rooms to a well-stocked library. Despite the impact of being online for a year and a half, she felt the TE team coaches always tried to be innovative about how to keep everyone engaged throughout the uncertainty.
Exploring through connections and experience
Natalie enjoyed speaking with the range of mentors, exploring business ideas with other students and being coached by each of the TE Coaches, who always made her feel heard. She also enjoyed being able to dictate her own learning, making use of the recommended reading but also supplementing this with her own reading around personal goals.
Throughout her time on the course, Natalie was surrounded by a wealth of coaching and business experience from the academic team, mentors, and local business owners. These connections have endured, and she credits this network with her current career success.
An ongoing journey
Since graduating from UWE Natalie has left a long-term career in hospitality to pursue a career in Commercial Management within the Tech/Rail industry at a Bristol SME, One Big Circle. Since starting in her role as Commercial Manager, she has learned an inordinate amount around financial management, contracts, sales proposals, and scaling a business. A year on she still thoroughly enjoys learning something new every week.
“I am so glad I went through the course with an open mind of what life after graduation may look like and that a career is a journey rather than a destination!”
Natalie says TE prepared her well for where she is now by giving her a range of transferrable skills including leadership skills and goal setting.