How working for Virgin and Richard Branson inspired me to launch my own business

Anyone who has worked for one of the many Virgin Group companies, can not help but feel totally inspired by Richard and his massive achievements over the last 40 years.  From records to mobile technology, aviation and now space, there are few industry sectors that, to date, remain unconquered by the iconic Virgin brand.

Having trained as a solicitor, and as a self confessed anorak, I landed my dream job a few years ago when I started working at Virgin Atlantic as one of the in-house lawyers.  The energy and camaraderie around the company were like nothing I had ever experienced before.  This passion for what we were doing came from the top, and we all referred to “Richard” with great affection – as if he was one of the gang.

I remember on a couple of occasions, he wandered into my office.   Having been warned by other work colleagues that this might happen, I had hoped to pass myself of as a suave, cool and collected member of his legal team – half LA Law and half Ally McBeal.  Instead, I sat there totally star struck and open mouthed and was hardly able to string a sentence together as chatted on whilst picking up different models from my aircraft collection.   I’m sure he left my office hoping that my negotiating skills were a huge improvement on my social abilities.

Working for Virgin had a profound impact on me, not least as I met my future husband there, but when I left the company I had a strong desire to create something of my own.  This opportunity came up last year when I was living in the Highlands of Scotland and I met my neighbour and now business partner.  Mo and I both have young children and having previously been involved in business, we started talking about new ideas and ventures.

It was around the same time that I had my will drawn up.  I realised that although I could make financial and legal provisions, there was nowhere or no way or recording information about how I would like to be remembered or my life to be celebrated - major events, private moments, memoirs, photos or songs that have been of great significance  to me.  We also realized that the issue of “digital estate” (on-line accounts and content including email, photos, iTunes, games, blogs etc) was becoming a huge issue and that the app should address this.

Neither Mo or I had any kind of technical background so at the outset of our project we had a massive challenge on our hands.  However, I did think back to Richard over 25 years ago, trying to book an air ticket and being unsuccessful.  If he could start up an airline with no aviation background then my challenge looked pretty small fry in comparison.  

We did a huge amount of research both in terms of app functionality and content and once we had come up with a brief, we started meeting with app developers.  We had a particularly surreal meeting with one agency where we felt we were old enough to be their mothers.  They swaggered in wearing skinny jeans looking like Franz Ferdinand and appeared pretty startled when they spotted us sitting there sipping our lattes in our pastel coloured cardigans.

It was such a massive achievement for us both when the app was available to download – I couldn’t quite believe it sitting there looking at iTunes that all our efforts had paid off.   We have been building awareness about the app through social media, app review sites and we were delighted to be featured on the Scottish news.  This was my first television experience and I have to say I was hugely uncomfortable in front of the camera.   My husband, who had advised Richard on many occasions in his role as Communications Director, gave me some great advice but on the day I was nervous and way out of my comfort zone.  My speech sounded all weird and robotic.  And the more I tried to sound more normal, the more I feared I was going to end up with a cameo in the new Transformer film.  

Much of my inspiration for taking the leap in launching my own business has definitely come from my days working at Virgin.  As you-know-who-would say “Screw it – Let’s Do It”.

Link to download app http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/legacy-organiser/id428518774?mt=8

Link to Virgin's Website http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/blog/app-innovator-on-acting-upon-inspiration

iPhone App Mum - First Media Encounter

My excitement at being told that Scottish News wanted to interview me about an iPhone app I had launched with a friend of mine soon turned to anxiety and subsequent dread at the thought of appearing on television.   I had no previous experience of the media, unless you count a photograph in the chorus of the village panto in the local paper when I was 11 dressed as a sailor boy.  The capacity to make a complete fool of myself seemed limitless.  And permanent.   In days before YouTube, a duff tv appearance could quickly be swept under the analogue carpet, but nowadays, friends and family would delight in endlessly replaying and circulating my humiliating 3 minutes of fame posting on Facebook, Twitter and all other forms of social media – their enjoyment increasing every time I squirmed.

Although I had been interviewed for jobs many times, and during my career as a solicitor been involved in many meetings and presentations, there is something very different about a television interview – not least the extra 10 pounds everyone tells you the camera will kindly pile on in your direction.

The advice from friends and family was plentiful and relentless – particularly from those with no media experience themselves.  “Whatever you do don’t look at the camera, don’t cross your legs, do cross your legs, I hadn’t noticed your nose was so big before so don’t sit side on, try not to be yourself and too boring, don’t pick your nose ” was less than helpful and undermined my confidence even further.   There was going to be so much to think about let alone answering the interviewer’s questions.

Also, what do you wear for going on the telly?  Black and white are out as they make you look like you have escaped from the Addams family.  Most of my smart clothes are black and white so that immediately posed a problem.  Patterns can be tricky and if you are not careful you can turn into the human version of one of those “magic eye” prints so people are too busy looking for the dolphin to appear to focus on what you are actually talking about.   Nothing too formal and business like either and avoid anything military or nautique (thankfully I own nothing in the latter).  It is a total minefield.  I have a new found respect for the presenters who appear daily on breakfast television who look professional but not too businesslike in a range of non-monochrome-unpaterrned-wardrobe.  

The interview was filmed with my co-Founder at her house.  The reporter arrived with a cameraman and one of those massive hairy microphones that look, and I imagine feel, like a cousin of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.  I felt very nervous and my speech sounded all weird – a bit like the singing on Victoria Beckham’s debut single.   And the more I tried to sound more normal, the more I feared I was going to end up with a cameo in the new Transformer film.  

The day of reckoning came recently when the piece was broadcast on STV’s news.   Anyone who knows me will hear the shakiness in my voice.  I was way out of my comfort zone.  I hope anyone who doesn’t know me won’t make the mistake of thinking that I am the Tin Man in a Boden dress.   Friends and family have been pretty complimentary although they have been circulating the clip with a few too many exclamation marks and reference to a very furrowed brow (where that has come from I have no idea).  And the letters “LOL”.  At least going forward I can only improve.  And on the upside, I didn’t pick my nose.  At least not on camera.

You can see for yourself on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY4eu_GtdIQ

Link to Legacy Organiser iPhone app

 http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/legacy-organiser/id428518774?mt=8

Victoria Moore’s profile http://uk.linkedin.com/in/legacyorganiser

Code Breaking and Networking at Bletchley Park with Google

I spent a fascinating and hugely enjoyable afternoon at the Bletchley Park last Thursday at a fund-raising garden party.  The event was supported by Google who had become involved after they agreed to put up part of the money to buy Alan Turing’s papers in February.  As Peter Barron, Head of Communications explained ‘The point is that all of us have heroes.  At Google our heroes are Alan Turing and the people who worked on breaking the codes at Bletchley Park. It was probably the most inspiring and uplifting achievement in scientific technology over the last hundred years. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that without Alan Turing, Google as we know it wouldn’t exist.’

I am ashamed to admit that whilst I knew something of Bletchley, I had never previously visited nor I had I quite appreciated its impact on the length and the outcome of the Second World War nearly 70 years ago.  It is a fascinating place and at the end of the war it had grown from employing 200 staff to over 10,000 – many of whom were Wrens – who were all involved in cracking the Germans’ enigma ciphers.  

It was a very humbling experience to speak to one of the veterans, Jean Valentine, who had started work at Bletchley 68 years ago.   It was also amazing to see the original papers of Alan Turing whose team developed Colossus, a machine built to discover the settings that the Nazi encoding machines were using. Colossus is widely acknowledged as being the first electronic computer, making Bletchley the Garden of Eden for the computer industry. 

Given I was there through my membership of Women in Technology, it was overwhelming to think of the work done there so many years ago – much of which was done by women – which had such a profound effect on our nation and Britain’s technological advances.  I felt genuinely very moved and proud.  It was a wonderful event and great to speak to friends and family of Bletchley veterans and to network with Google and others from the IT industry.  

I would strongly urge others to visit Bletchley Park which is steeped in British history and which is, arguably, the birthplace of our technology industry today.

Now I Understand the Power of Networking

Until fairly recently, I had never really understood the tangible benefits of networking,  This is partially because I have been out of the work force for several years having children and at that time the words "networking opportunity" used to send a bit of a shiver down my spine.  And not in a good way.

I had previously been working as a solicitor in the city, and networking to me came to represent a night afterwork in some badly lit conference room, drinking tepid and fairly nasty white wine, and trying not to drop chicken vol-au-vent filling down the front of my suit.  There was the usual array of people to speak to, some more interesting than others (and I would include myself in that category) , and a muted exchange of business cards.  But nothing ever really "happened" as such.

Having recently launched an iPhone app called Legacy Organiser, I have re-entered the work force and much has changed.  I have had to engage with technology and communities in a way that did not exist 5 or 6 years ago.  It has been a huge learning curve.  However, what I have found is that networking is no longer a concept but an actual activity that reaps huge rewards.  Through Women in Technology, we have been given the opportunity to raise the profile of our app including getting a fantastic review of our app on Lady Geek  http://ladygeek.com/archives/1958  I am still a networking novice but it is an amazing experience to see tangible results at such an early stage. 

The Wonderful World of Women in Technology

Although I have been out of full time employment and the office environment since 2006, I still thought of myself as pretty up to date on most things related to my profession and career.  Having had two children over the last 5 years, I have been in the very fortunate position of being able to work part time from home.  Whilst I realised that I was falling off the radar in some respects, I really didn’t appreciate how out of touch with how things are done these days that I had become.
Recently, a friend of mine and I launched our own iPhone app - Legacy Organiser.  Apart from overcoming a massive learning curve in IT over the last 12 months, I had no idea that I was literally out in the cold when it came to social and professional networking.
Although I knew all about the phenomenon of Facebook, I hadn’t really paid much attention to Linked-In and other professional networking sites.  Having said that, and with the launch of our app, I had heard about an organisation called Women in Technology (www.womenintechnology.co.uk) with whom I got in touch.  I have been overwhelmed by the support, different ways and speed with which you can engage and network through this organisation.
Very quickly we had received comments on our app through our blog that appeared on the Women in Technology website and we immediately started to network with other people in the field who are interested in collaborating on our app.  This new way of doing business is completely unfamiliar to me but there is such a buzz from the way in which things can happen so quickly.
If you are involved in technology or thinking of getting into IT, I strongly urge you to join this fantastic and hugely supportive organisation.  It really does make things happen - and fast.

Tweeting, Hashtagging and Friday Follows

If you had said to me six months ago that I would be tweeting and hash tagging on a regular basis, I would have given you a strange look to say the least.   But these activities are common place in the wonderful world of Twitter.

It was fairly daunting, to say the least, to get started as it does feel like a different language.  But once you work out who to follow, what your areas of interest are then very quickly you can join a community of people and organisations with whom you have things in common.

With our new iPhone app Legacy Organiser, we are very interested in connecting with parent groups, women in technology, the digital estate movement and organisations who deal with funerals and death.  Very quickly, Twitter enables you to become a member of all these communities and to keep up to date on all current issues.

A friend of mine likened it to being in a "very friendly pub with other people talking about things you are interested in and you keep overheading snippets of conversation".  That said, it is quite hard to keep up with the string of consiousness even though I am currently only following 98 people!  Whilst I have been writing this there have been 14 new tweets on my profile page.  Most people follow at least a few hundred, and I have no idea how those following thousands of other Twitter users keep up with all the Tweets.
I am still learning how to tweet - to put down in 140 characters or less what is interesting and relevent to people following me.  This takes a while to get a hang of and I am still learning.....

iPhone App Mum - Entering the Wonderful World of Facebook

After several years of being berated by friends, I have finally signed up to Facebook.  I vividly remember hearing about Facebook for the first time when I was on holiday five years ago.  Someone I met was talking about it - this was just before Facebook became huge in 2006 - and it sounded like Friends Reunited (remember that?) on steroids.   I logged in but didn’t upload a photo and for the last 5 years, I have remained a faceless user with one friend.  The guy I had met on holiday.
That is until 2 weeks ago…….with the launch of our app Legacy Organiser, I have got into social media - not least because our app has Facebook connectivity so users can tag friends through the app to songs and entries they have made.   I have felt bamboozled by the options to post, comment, and poke and overwhelmed by the way FB can work out who you might know through other friends and suggest who you want to be mates with - how does it do this?  It is all a bit of a mystery to me.  I now have 27 friends and was pretty pleased with this number until I saw another friend of mine had over 900.  900?  I’m not sure that there are 900 people who know how I am let alone want to be friends with me - so clearly I need to get my act together and to virtually get out there.
Next stop - Twitter.  Quite worried about that.  Tweeting, retweeting, hash tagging, Friday follow.  That surely is a different language.