Nicola McGuinness of Lean In Newry on realising our potential

Nicola McGuinness, Founder and Chairperson of Lean In Newry – supporting women to excel and find their potential.

Expertise: Founder & Regional Leader of the Lean In Newry network. As a Lean In Regional Leader, Nicola supports a large network of women dedicated to achieving their potential through an inclusive, diverse and confidential support network, whilst also challenging bias.

• LinkedIn – nicolamcguinness
• Facebook:

Hashtags:

• #LeanIn
• #LeanInNewry
• #IAmRemarkable

“We are all remarkable and must credit ourselves with what we have achieved to date as well realise our potential.”

Video Interview with Nicola McGuinness 24-06-20

Nicola’s Bio:

• Founder & Regional Leader of the Lean In Newry network.  As a Lean In regional leader, I support a large network of women dedicated to achieving their potential through an inclusive, diverse and confidential support network, while also challenging bias.
• I organise events, hold training, facilitate networking sessions, and work with the Leanin.org team to grow and engage the Lean In community.
• I am a trained #IamRemarkable facilitator and wholly embrace all that it stands for.  #IamRemarkable is an initiative empowering women and under-represented groups to speak openly about their accomplishments in the workplace and beyond, thereby breaking modesty norms and glass ceilings.
• I am also a mentor with the Women In Business NI Mentoring Programme.
• In my day job I am an experienced Research Information Manager with 19 years of working in cross-border economic development, specifically with SMEs on the island of Ireland.

Is it your own business or are you an employee of the organisation?

Lean In Newry is part of a global organisation with over 44,000 circles in over 170 countries. It was started by Sheryl Sandberg the COO of Facebook.  Sheryl did a Ted Talk in 2010 on the way women are held back and the way we hold ourselves back.  Due to the overwhelming response to the talk, Sheryl then wrote a book on the same area which then led to the development of Lean In Circles. A circle is where a group of women can come together to share experiences and gain peer support.

When was it founded?

Lean In Newry was founded in June 2018

What services do you offer?

• Monthly meetings/workshops/training prior to Covid-19, now weekly webinars, taken by our members on their areas of expertise.  Past webinars have included:
• Financial Support for SMEs
• Wellbeing and Resilience
• Supercharge Your Health
• Managing your time effectively when working from home
• Zoom Training
• Level up your LinkedIn
• #IamRemarkable workshops
• Interior Design
• How to have more energy and confidence now and after lock down life
• Up-cycling your tired furniture

Describe your ideal client/member:

Any female who wants to grow their business and advance in their career and has a willingness to share their experience and knowledge to help other women in the network.

What are the main benefits of working with you?

We are a support network of like-minded women who willingly share their experiences and knowledge to allow other women to step out of their comfort zone and grow.  Relationships are developed, friendships are formed and business is done, although the main focus is on networking and developing relationships for personal growth.

What are the aspects/approach that are unique to you and your organisation?

There is no other network like us in the Newry and Mourne area.  We are part of a global organisation where there is huge support provided to the network leaders in terms of resources for meetings and programmes to follow.  Lean In continually conduct research and have gathered a wealth of research on gender inequality in the workplace and at home.  Our focus is to create more female leaders, thereby creating greater diversity on all levels which allows for a more dynamic and fair society.

Why would someone recommend you or your services?

If there are women out there who are feeling less confident than when they first started their career journey and need to find and boost that confidence, to fight through the fear that may be holding them back from achieving their ambitions, then Lean In Newry and the members are there to help.  Everything is done on a voluntary basis and not transactional.

AskTheExpert Video Interview with Nicola McGuinness 24-06-20

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