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Louise Heasman
 Co-founder of The Athena Network,
Louise Heasman began her business career with Barclays.
Building an impressive track record in sales and
marketing she won several awards and received
recognition from the Chairman for her outstanding
performance.
They say there is genius in simplicity and Louise
Heasman hit on something approaching that when she
created the Athena Network.
With the insight that “women do business differently”,
Louise was able to create a unique concept that in its
simplicity makes you wonder why no one had thought it
before. The Athena Network provides all the composite
components, which enable women to achieve success in a
way that feels effortless and right for them. Genius.
“I
wanted to create a way of networking that supports
women, fits into their lifestyles and is free of the
competitiveness and machismo of similar set ups”,”
explains Louise.
.
Upfront, gutsy but undeniably feminine it is this
steeliness mixed with a generous measure of bubbliness
that makes Louise Heasman such an iconic figurehead.
She is inspirational, ambitious and understands the
dilemmas of women wanting to succeed in business. She
talks our language and always keeps it real.
Louise started out at Barclays where she built an
impressive track record in sales and marketing; picking
up several awards and receiving recognition for her
outstanding performance during her nine years. Then
moving to Business Network International (BNI) as
Director of London and Birmingham, she successfully
helped to set up and support over 40 networking groups.
After five years with BNI, Louise set up a highly
successful aromatherapy practice in Harley Street.
Running the practice alongside her BNI work, she found
that the two businesses dovetailed perfectly.
Networking comes as easy as breathing to Louise and she
quickly built up a great client base for her practice.
Transitions are a major part in women’s lives and a
watershed came for Louise when she had her first
daughter and relocated to Hertfordshire. Knowing from
experience that personal recommendation is one of the
best ways to find new business, she naturally wanted to
join business networks in her area to support her
business
But
how? The goal posts had moved. With a new baby to
consider breakfast meetings were no longer viable. So
how are women to find support, contacts and a network to
fit in with their hectic work and home demands? Louise
tuned into a zeitgeist among other entrepreneurial women
who were working to have it all. Lightbulbs started
popping.
Louise’s inspiration produced a unique and workable
model for business networking that would fit in with
women’s business needs and lifestyles. In January 2005
she co-founded the Women in Business Network (WIBN) and
it was an overnight success.
In the first year 23 WIBN groups were set up in
the Home Counties, bringing the total tally of
networking groups Louise has set up and supported to
nearly 80.
Business was
good but when Louise joined forces with Jacqueline
Rogers, who was working directly with business owners as
a coach, mentor and trainer they knew they could take
women’s networking to a new dimension.
Thus The Athena Network was born.
“Like a magenta and silver army we are moving across the
country connecting women; and when women connect they
don’t just move mountains, they do it in heels and
manage to sort the laundry out later.”
Louise is married and lives in Rickmansworth with
husband Andrew and daughters Georgie, 2 and Heidi 8
months.
Read Louise's Blog >>>
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Jacqueline
Rogers
 Co-founder of The Athena Network,
Jacqueline Rogers gained extensive corporate experience
in a broad range of challenging sales, training and
consultancy roles with organisations such as KPMG, BAe,
Ernst & Young and BT.
A nomadic upbringing pathed a passage of destiny for a
woman who by her own admission is the “karma chameleon”
of business. Able to rapidly turn her attention and
inspirational skills to a myriad of people, professions
and situations, Jacqueline Rogers is the mistress of
effortless positive change.
With her roots in Lancashire, and as a daughter of an
RAF serviceman, it became second nature for her to
embrace new cultures, explore exotic lands and fall in
step with new ways of living, as she travelled the world
in her formative years.
Little wonder then that the power of life change and
making the most of the moment became a professional way
of life for Jacqueline in adulthood. Naturally drawn,
like Picasso to paint, to new people, and tuning in to
what makes them tick, she set her life compass on a path
that lead to study with new thinkers and lifestyle
gurus.
No New Age flake, Jacqueline has sound business
credentials. For the best part of her working life she
held many varied and successful consultancy, training
and sales positions in corporate businesses - working
with organisations such as KPMG, BAe, Ernst & Young and
BT. This all adds to her credibility.
With a proven track record in sales and marketing she
has won president club awards to St Lucia, Grand Cayman
and had sole responsibility for setting up the Le
Creuset concessions in Germany.
Her own life crossroads came when Jacqueline made a
choice to leave the corporate world, start her own
business and work directly with business owners as a
coach, mentor and trainer. She comments, “I didn’t know
the colour of my own front door; I would leave for work
so early and get home so late. Work/life balance? How
could I coach what I couldn’t model?”
As founder member of Phoenix Potential, Jacqueline has
dedicated her post-corporate professional life to
Coaching, Training and Mentoring business owners and
entrepreneurs. “It is my passion to help business
people achieve their personal and professional potential
without struggling and in a way that feels easy yet
compelling for the individual,” she explains.
Wanting to ensure the best results for her clients
Jacqueline extended her portfolio of skills and went on
to become a qualified Master Practitioner of NLP, Master
Practitioner of Time Line Therapy™, Practitioner of
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Practitioner of
EmoTrance and a Master Hypnotist and qualified Life
Coach. She adds, “I’ve been fortunate to know, and have
been trained by, some of the most inspiring people -
esteemed new thinkers in development and leadership who
have taught me much about people, processes, and the
desire to make things happen.”
As a ‘serial womenpreneur’, running several web
businesses, Jacqueline has her own bevy of international
coaches and mentors to ensure she stays at the cutting
edge. Yet in her time she has been a divorced single
parent to two sons Patrick and Ciaran and living in variety of European countries, she knows all too well the pressures
modern businesswomen have juggling home and work life
too.
The Athena Network, which she launched with Louise
Heasman in February 2006, marries together all of
Jacqueline’s values of networking, inspiring and
supporting women to reach their full professional and
personal best.
“”You know when you’ve reached your potential when you
feel life feels effortless, purposeful and full of
possibility. I feel like that about the Athena Network
and it is my intention to help many hundreds more
unleash their power and still have time to buy shoes!”.
Read Jacqueline's Blog >>>
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