{"id":7701,"date":"2025-11-20T09:44:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/?p=7701"},"modified":"2025-11-20T09:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:45:11","slug":"skills-that-empower-how-mentorship-and-strategy-fuelled-a-leadership-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/skills-that-empower-how-mentorship-and-strategy-fuelled-a-leadership-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Skills that empower: How mentorship and strategy fuelled a leadership journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nicola Reeves <\/strong>is the Managing Director of Happy Hour Productions<\/strong><\/a>, a Bristol-based TV and video advertising agency that blends strategy, creativity and production under one roof. In 2023, she enrolled on the Help to Grow: Management Course<\/strong><\/a> at UWE Bristol, seeking to sharpen her leadership skills and steer her agency\u2019s next chapter with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olly Reid<\/strong> is a business coach, adviser and mentor, and Co-Founder of HUM4NS<\/a> – <\/strong>an award-winning professional development organisation based in Bristol. A UWE Bristol alum, Olly completed his BA, MA and PGCE at the university, and is now an Equity Coach on the UWE Equity programme, where he delivers the session \u2018Success Starts with You\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We caught up with Nicola to explore how the Help to Grow: Management course helped shape her journey, and how a powerful mentoring partnership with Olly Reid, forged during the programme, fuels her growth today – and continues to add value to both of their businesses.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nicola, please could you tell us a bit about yourself, your career journey, and what made you apply to join the Help to Grow: Management Course at UWE Bristol?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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I studied English at the University of Bristol and whilst I was there, some of the big advertising agencies came to present their graduate recruitment programmes \u2013 I saw M&C Saatchi and thought yep, I want to work for an ad agency in client services!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, I got my first job at McCann \u2013 one of the big global agencies \u2013 and worked across brands like Cathay Pacific, SimplyHealth, Badger Ales and Unilever. I worked my way up for around seven years before going travelling and working at smaller independent agencies, including a great agency in Sydney too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my time at McCann, I\u2019d met the Happy Hour team many times on TV production shoots and knew what a great bunch they were, especially Tom George, the founder and owner. So when I was approached by Tom to join Happy Hour as Client Services Director on their TV and video clients, I was excited for the new challenge of working in both advertising and production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve now been there for 13 years and took over the mantle of Managing Director in 2023. So, in that new role with newfound freedom to plan the strategic development of the business, I felt that the Help to Grow: Management Course would give me the support and new network that I\u2019d need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How was your time on the Help to Grow: Management Course?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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It did just that! It was a great grounding in all the fundamentals of running a business \u2013 some of which you know you have nailed, and some you realise quite quickly that you don\u2019t!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gave me dedicated time to work on the business, instead of just in it. The course was also perfect for meeting great individuals from different businesses and sectors \u2013 the group coaching and support that comes from an outside perspective is invaluable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Olly, could you tell us a bit about yourself and your career journey \u2013 from studying at UWE Bristol to co-founding your company, and becoming a mentor on the Help to Grow programme?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

My early career was in hospitality leadership and management, but in 2008 I arrived at UWE Bristol as a mature student to train as a teacher and completed a degree in Education Studies. That experience was genuinely life-changing. During my time there, I was elected Vice President for Education at the Students\u2019 Union – two incredible years that taught me a huge amount about people, leadership, and the power of purpose. After my term finished, I returned to complete my PGCE and later a Masters in Integrated Professional Development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve always been fascinated by how people learn, grow, and perform – that curiosity has really shaped everything I\u2019ve done since.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After teaching, I began blending my experience in leadership, management, and education – first with The Prince\u2019s Trust, then with the social enterprise Entrepreneurial Spark, before moving into the corporate world and leading the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator across the Midlands, South West, and Wales . Working with leaders and business owners,  I truly saw the power of mindset and culture in driving business success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That passion led me deeper into coaching and leadership development. I went on to complete an ILM Level 7 in Executive Coaching and Mentoring and, over the past decade, I\u2019ve had the privilege of coaching hundreds of leaders and business owners – from CEOs to founders – helping them strengthen their mindset, performance, and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, I co-founded HUM4NS, a personal and professional development company on a mission to help people and teams become happier, healthier, smarter, and kinder. We deliver programmes like HELP (the Empowered Leadership Programme), coaching for senior leaders, and team development experiences that build better humans, not just better businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this, I\u2019m Trustee at the Marmalade Trust and a proud mentor on the Help to Grow: Management programme, supporting SMEs across the UK to scale sustainably and lead with confidence. Watching leaders reconnect with their purpose and potential is what keeps me inspired every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How did you find the mentoring aspect of the course, and how has your mentoring partnership continued since the course finished?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Nicola<\/strong>: I\u2019d say the mentoring aspect of the course was the thing that makes it so valuable – you need that person to hold you accountable for putting into practice what you\u2019ve learnt. Your mentor also gives you the personal, mental and emotional support you need as a leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s a reason they say it\u2019s lonely at the top and having a mentor is such a good sounding board \u2013 if you get the right one!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I was lucky enough to find Olly who has stayed on as my mentor and coach since I finished the course over two years ago. We have regular 121 sessions and I\u2019m also now on the 12-month HUM4NS Empowered Leadership programme (HELP) run by Olly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olly<\/strong>: Great mentoring is a two-way relationship. It only works when both sides show up. The best outcomes happen when there\u2019s the right match: a mentor who listens, challenges and supports, and a mentee who\u2019s open, curious and ready to put things into practice. That\u2019s exactly what Nicola brought to the table. For me, the mentoring element of Help to Grow is where the learning becomes real leadership – it\u2019s the bridge between knowing what to do and actually putting it into action. I joined Help to Grow to give back, but mentoring Nicola has turned into an unexpected long term partnership that has added value to both our businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What have you been up to since?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nicola<\/strong>: We\u2019ve been busy at Happy Hour since Help to Grow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve refined our positioning, and overhauled the look and feel of our brand, including launching a new website, alongside fully integrating HubSpot to manage our pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We launched our own podcast \u2013 Happy Half Hour \u2013 where we chat to guests from production, advertising and media in our own purpose-build podcast studio. We\u2019ve also launched \u2018TV Essentials\u2019, which is a lower cost entry point for first-time TV advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the team, we\u2019ve had a handful of new hires, as well as celebrating two 10-year anniversaries. We\u2019ve made it to the number one spot in Campaign magazine\u2019s Top Regional Agencies (and number 27 in the UK\u2019s Top 100). We\u2019ve also recently picked up a Cannes Dolphin for our work on Arsenal\u2019s No More Red Campaign, a film promoting their work to reduce youth knife crime in London \u2013 something we\u2019re incredibly proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the future, perhaps another acquisition, and bringing a non-exec director on board to help focus our growth plans. Let\u2019s see where the future takes us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olly<\/strong>: I\u2019ve gone on to win two Help to Grow Mentoring Matters Awards, one for Innovation and the other for the Most Inspirational Mentor, alongside an Entreconf Award and being finalists at the National Start Up Awards, Great British Entrepreneur Awards and Bristol Life Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUM4NS has launched new programmes, expanded from Bristol, to Wales to Australia, and I\u2019m continuing to support the Happy Hour team through coaching, workshops and SLT days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Explore the Help to Grow: Management Course at UWE Bristol.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nicola Reeves is the Managing Director of Happy Hour Productions, a Bristol-based TV and video advertising agency that blends strategy, creativity and production under one roof. In 2023, she enrolled on the Help to Grow: Management Course at UWE Bristol, seeking to sharpen her leadership skills and steer her agency\u2019s next chapter with confidence. Olly … Continue reading “Skills that empower: How mentorship and strategy fuelled a leadership journey”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":7748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,2,1146,127,1489,748],"tags":[11,17,135,771,940,647,475,74,75],"class_list":["post-7701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-law","category-business-partnerships","category-cpd","category-research-business-innovation","category-rise","category-skills","tag-bristol","tag-business","tag-cpd","tag-help-to-grow","tag-mentoring","tag-professional-development","tag-skills","tag-uwe","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7701"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7841,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7701\/revisions\/7841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}