BMW and Nurburgring Race Track Experience!

AWESOME!!!

That is how I would describe my recent trip out to Germany, courtesy of Vine's BMW in Guildford!

There were about 50 of us (mostly men unsurprisingly) and we flew from Farnborough airport on a specially chartered plane and from the moment we arrived the hospitality was impressive - plenty of attention, drinks and food!

After a short flight to Koln airport we transferred to our hotel directly overlooking the Nurburgring and once we had settled into our rooms, we made our way to the bar.

The first evening was made up of presentations, a fantastic evening meal, and the opportunity to see another unveiling of the M3, after which, we went back to the bar to finish the evening! By this time, I had made a number of new friends (Ian, on the left above - was my co pilot in the car, Andrew, - a very funny man, Gary, next to Ian above - brilliant at keeping me organised, Steve and Sam - real whizzes on the facts & figures of the old and new M3's, Adrian - our US friend, and Dave and Colin - a couple of 'Likely Lads'! They all made my experience what it was - memorable.

I finally went to bed about 1pm local time, as we had to be up, breakfasted, and ready for action at 8am!

...and this is where the adventure really began.

We were split into teams with 2 people to each car (instructors drove the red cars). The track was divided up into sections so that we experienced different elements of driving such as driving through a slalom of cones, experiencing the ability of how the M3 can react in the event of emergency obstacles in the road (the most scary for me), chicane handling and competitive cornering, before ending off with race track experience!

The first thing we did as a team was the slalom of cones - which was a real challenge! We had to drive at speed through pairs of cones that had been set at different distances from each other, some of which really put the car through it's paces, including tight cornering. It was very challenging, and for me I was doing this whilst learning how to drive a left had car, and a BMW to boot! At one point, I managed to slide off the track onto the grass, and it took some moments to regain control! I have to say it was the most thrilling experience I have ever had - and was disappointed that just as I was getting the hang of it, we had to move on!

By the end of the day, we finally got to do the one thing all of us were really looking forward to doing - drive around the track at speed. This was not the full track, just about a mile and a half of it, and all the same it was fab! I was even more lucky as my co-driver had had to go off somewhere, so I got extra driving in, much to the other guys disgust!

It really was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life and one I would love to do again - thank you Vine's BMW!

Pause for Thought

I like to think about my experiences in terms of the lessons we can learn in life - and for me, this experience was no different.

You can see in one of the photos, that the weather was really poor - it rained buckets all day. As I mentioned, I lost control of the car on a bend and went sliding off onto the grass (my co-driver Ian seemed to think it was great - and was very level headed, telling me what to do). Whilst I believe that I didn't panic, it was a moment that made me think - I really had no idea how to correct the car! Fortunately, being a race track, and through the careful planning of the instructors, I was in no danger - however, back at home, it is another story...

For a long time, I have known that I have a tendency to drive too fast, and yet the experiences on the race track made me recognise my limitations - that if I lost control of a car I would not necessarily know what to do and if I did, would I react quickly enough? It's food for thought.

Interestingly, one of the guys (Andrew) on my team, runs a company that provides the university degree of driving tests for young people to encourage safer and more responsible driving. I was very impressed with what they are aiming to achieve - and believe that this maybe the way to go - check them out!

Dinner with Davina!

Last week I wrote about going to a charity summar ball in aid of the Touching Tiny Lives campaign - what I hadn't realised was, I was supporting another event for the same thing!

On Friday, Wendy and I had booked to go along to the Dinner with Davina in Southampton and apart from the problem with parking, as a result of the Boat Show (plan to get there next year!), we had a brilliant time!

We were on a table of about 10 other ladies, and we got chatting to them all. One of the ladies on our table, had her daughter with her and she had been chosen to present a bouguet to Davina after the lunch and auctions (more about that soon!) her mum was telling us that she had been born at 26 weeks in Spain, and through the work of action medical research, she had survived and grown into this beautiful, healthy young woman!

The lunch was fab (well done the De Vere!), and once that was over, the auctions and raffle took place. After my experience last week, I decided that I would still keep a budget for my auctioning, but this time I had increased it a bit, as I bid for the opportunity to go out on a power speed boat experience! I nearly got it at £300, however, just as the auctioneer was going to say 'gone to the lady over here', someone upped it!! Fortunately, it was still within my budget and so I kept going - however, once again it went above what I had set myself.....b*gger!

Still, they raised lots of money for the charity, which is the main thing.

As we got up to leave, we were lucky enough to get a picture with Davina who was absolutely fab!

Oh and just as a footnote, we had an advert in the programme, which as a result, we have asked to become involved next year - you bet!!

Psycademy Spritual Development Events

For those closest to me, you will already know that I have always been interested in spiritual matters. Having lost a mum when I was very young, who was very interested in such things, I have long held an interest in having my cards read or my 'fortune' told.

Last year, my health was making life difficult, and having started practising the work that I now preach, I found myself drawn to Psycademy, run by a fabulous lady called Lisa Turner! Having met her and been inspired by her, I instantly knew that I needed to know more about this side of life.

For the past 10 years, since my divorce, I have been 'sorting' myself out, looking for something and having addressed much of the mental turmoil, and some of the emotional stuff from that time, my physical and spiritual wellbeing needing addressing. ( I am a Libran, and having balance in our lives is something we constantly strive for!)

I had a 'Breakthrough' session with Lisa in January regarding weight, poor health and sudden energy losses that just left me exhausted in front of the tele at a weekend. This 'Breakthrough' session turned out to be a real turning point for me - I signed up for her Spiritual and Psychic practitioner course and I have not looked back!!

For those of you who are pooh poohing all this as nonsense, I completely understand, I too would have said the same, even a few years ago, however, there are some really valuable practices, that we as human beings seem to have lost in our evolutionary journey.

One of the biggest benefits I have picked up (and let me tell you there are many), I have found that meditating on a regular basis has added a sense of calm to my life, that I honestly have not experienced before. Taking time out to focus on you, the real you, the internal you, is one of the best habits you can learn. Even if it is just for 5 minutes a day, this small amount of time where you focus on say your breathing, an image, or just daydream and allowing your mind to just switch off for a few minutes, is incredibly powerful.

The one thing that clearly drew me to Lisa is her practical and pragmatic approach to spiritual way of being - she uses her previous life as a technical engineer to explain how it works, her no- nonsense approach weaves in key elements of NLP (responsiblity, cause and effect & perception is projection) to demonstrate how we create much of what we experience.

So when Lisa said she was going to run development evenings to build upon what we already knew, plus extras - I did not hesitate. After one of these evenings, I always feel on a bit of a high and this week was no different! I have had a busy few weeks, as you can see from the earlier entries to my blog, and I was feeling quite weary - however, after being at this event - I became fully awake and alert! Woohoo!!

I would highly recommend some time with Lisa if this is something you are interested in!

Relish partner with new networking group!

Wendy and I are really excited!

We have teamed up with a new business club in Alton and once a month, we will be leading one of their meetings!

a4b (alton4business) is a new business breakfast club, all about building better businesses! The team leading this new group (Andy Manning, David Woodroofe, David Baker, Paul Susans and Rob McCusker) are all seasoned networkers, and were really keen to create something more local and focused on helping businesses grow!

The launch meeting on the 19th September, was well attended by over 16 people, many of whom, expressed an interest in joining the group.

After taking time for networking and breakfast, Andy Manning, the group leader, stood up to explain how this group proposed to differentiate itself from other networking groups, by providing a variety of interesting speakers, business growth sessions (run by Relish People), and activities to stimulate, encourage and develop those who come along!

For the last part of the session, the tables were divided into 3, to allow each person to introduce him or herself to the rest of the table, and to encourage more discussion.

The meeting closed at 9am prompt, and it was great to see so many remain behind and continue to network and talk!

A real success!

I am really excited about the opportunity to show how Relish People can help businesses, and the first session I will run on the 3rd October is about 'Working on your Business or In it? - The Challenges facing small businesses'.

Get yourself along in order to find out how this group can help your business, or better still get in touch with Relish People and see what we can do to help!

Institute of Directors (IOD) Evening

Wendy and I joined the IOD earlier this year, so that we could begin to network in London and we went to our first members evening this week.

The first part of the meeting was a presentation on Marketing, given by one of the trainers on the director certificate/diplomas. It contained some useful information, which confirmed some of the things that we were doing, and highlighted others we might need to review!

Afterwards, we had a great opportunity to network, and with our usual goodnatured spirit and 'go get 'em' approach we met some really good people.

Wendy met someone whose business is just about to move to Fleet, not far from our offices in Farnham, and she expressed an interest in what we do, so we have arranged to meet her once she has moved.

I, in the meantime, met a couple of 'cheeky Essex boys' who work in the city, and after debating the merits of coaching vs NLP, we talked more about where we lived (one of whom lives in Wivenhoe, near my brother!), what we were doing there, and our interests, including some sporty stuff (and obviously NOT my pending visit to the Nurberbring!! :)).

We also got a chance to question the IOD staff more about the benefits of the organisation, and for us, the key is most definitely the networking. One of team was from Reading, and as this is not too far from us, we are going to have a look around their premises and see what they can offer!

How beneficial joining the IOD will be for Relish People, is too early to tell, however, (and I have said this before), it is not necessarily about the people you meet buying your products and services, it is the people they know, and we are hoping that this organisation will get us known in the wider business community!

Watch this space!

Touching Tiny Lives Charity Ball

I went along to a charity ball in aid of the Touching Tiny Lives last Saturday night at Heythrop Park.

It was the first event of many planned that will be dedicated to a charity the first on being the Touching tiny Lives, part of Action International.

It was very well organised, and the food was great. Along with the usual raffles and dancing, there was a charity auction and I am getting a taste for them! If you read my blog about about the Sparks charity event earlier this year, you will know that I got a little carried away last time.

However, this time I had gone with a budget in mind and when the 2 tickets to Goodwood Festival of Speed next year came up (an event I have been meaning to go to for sometime), I decided to bid for them! As I got to my limit, I hesitated a moment too long and they went for £50 more than my budget! Clearly the best thing for my pocket!

What was the lesson in this for me?

That being aware of and setting boundaries for yourself is good way to manage yourself. Knowing what you will and won't put up with; how far you will or won't go; what you will or won't tolerate.

For me, boundaries around money is something I need to work on. I tend to spend it whilst I have it, and then 'reign in' when I notice it disappearing rather rapidly! I have a faily easy relationship with money, sharing it easily with those closest to me, or to those causes that I have decided to support - what I need to learn, is that I have a limited amount of resources and I need to be sensible about how I use them!

Besides that? I am already looking forward to it already!

The Police at Twickenham!

Wendy is 40 this year (just in case you have not heard!) and I suggested that as this was a significant birthday (aren't they all?), that we should do something every month to celebrate!

So far this year we have been for lunch at the famous Langhans in London, we have been on a bat walk near Barnes in London, we have been to the Henley Regatta (my choice - woohoo!), and now to see Sting in concert (also my choice...)

I have always a Police fan, and more recently,a Sting fan as his solo work is very close to my R & B, soul and jazz preferences in music. Fortunately for me, Wendy likes Sting too - so that was it, I got the tickets!

We travelled up to Twickenham with a couple of friends of ours (Claire in the picture works with us and she is great!), who drove us to Virginia Water railway station so that we did not have to cope with the chaos of Twickenham.

The concert was fantastic, and the group were on stage for about 2 hours, and with the exception of about 3 songs, played all their hits! Listening to the crowd sing along was brilliant, and for those of you who are regular concert goers - you understand how moving an experience this can be!

The Twickenham stadium itself, enhanced the magical feel of the show, that just made me want it to last all night! When we got there it was still daylight, but as dusk came on, they put on the floodlights which made it seem like it was daylight - however, the real transformation took place as they turned these off and lit up the softer, orange glowing lights - this is where the magic really began for me!

Up until this point the crowd had been amusing themselves with the traditional Mexican wave that can sometimes take its time to reverberate all around the stadium as block by block, people picked up its cue to join in. There were cheers as it moved around and with each new group who joined in....and jeers when it did not - how incredible that potentially just a small number of people can influence so many others? (possibly up to 55,000 others!)?? Extraordinary...

Anyway, the show was fabulous, and whilst we have yet to meet Sting (on our list to do!), we were very impressed with his performance, along with Stuart & Andy.

Once the concert was over, it was not the end of our adventure!

I had been thinking to myself I was really hungry, and as we started walking out, they were giving away free pies, which we munched on our way back to the station.

And this is where the evening took an unexpected turn. We were following Keith, Claire's husband and with him and the crowds we got onto the train that pulled in, only to find that it wasn't going to Virginia Water!!

We had to get off at the next station - Strawberry Hill- and wait half an hour to go back to Twickenham to start again! As with all expereinces, there is always a reason for something, and we met some others who did the same thing and we spent much of the time laughing and joking and generally having a good time. Meeting new people and talking like this, is all part of 'life's rich tapestry' as they say!

I finally got home about 2.30am in the morning - exhilarated, happy and content...and ready for sleep!!

Launch of new BMW and Stunning New Premises at Vines of Guildford

I went along with my friend Karen, to the Vines BMW showroom in Guildford on Friday night (7th September).

The event was about showing off, (what turned out to be) the stunning new premises and the launch of their latest model!

I went along because I love cars, particularly German ones, and again it is always a good opportunity to meet new people ...and as it turned out, I met quite a few!!

We spent the evening looking at the cars on display and talking to lots of people.

The BMW staff were all helping out on the night, and those I spoke with were very friendly and attentive serving drinks and canapes.

I got speaking to one of them, a lady called Cathy Hartley, and I was very impressed by what she had to say! She was talking about how everyone working there was really friendly and that some of the staff had been there for years - which is surely a testament to the management team at Vines!!

I can only speak from experience myself, but this seems to be something that the majority of companies would love to achieve!

I spoke with Mark Hollands (the Dealer Principle, and above in the photo with Karen), about what Cathy had said, and he reinforced the team spirit that existed. (Interestingly, he also had a major say in the way the new showroom was designed - clearly a man of taste too!)

I remember some years back someone told me a story about a CEO in charge of a large corporate and when asked who he looked after most - his shareholders or his clients, he replied 'Niether. I look after my staff. If I look after my staff they will look after my clients, and if my clients are looked after, they will make sure my shareholders are happy'. This has always stuck with me (I am afraid I cannot attribute this, as I didn't catch the name of the CEO), a philosophy Mark seems to believe too.

For the ultimate customer buying experience, and follow up customer care, I think the team at Vines in Guildford would be hard to beat!

After that Karen and I wandered around the show room, identified the car I would like at some point in the future (that's me and Karen sitting in it!)before hearing Mark announce the prize draw. As we became very quiet and waited for him to make the announcement - I was stunned to find out it was me!!! How fab was that?!

I won 2 days in Germany at the Nurburgring driving the thrilling new BMW M3 Coupe (much to the envy of a number of my friends)!!

I was still in a state of shock when I spoke with Sara Moule (who drives the car I am after)and Ashley Andrew (Regional Sales & Marketing Manager & National Sales Manager respectively), as they told me what to expect.!

A great evening methinks!!

Helping new author to launch his book!

We know a really lovely guy called Tom Evans who has written a book called 100 years of Ermintrude, one family, 3 lives, 99 stanzas.

It is a lovely book which is inspiring, moving and poignant....to find out more check out the website

We work with Tom on the Guildford Ecademy events, and he is truly an inspirational chap, and even more creative than me, in that he is constanly overflowing with ideas! He is currently helping other authors who have 'writers block' so that they can be creative once more. As we are writing a book, he is a very useful chap to know!

Anyway, we decided he needed to be signing his books, so here you can see us with Tom, as he signs copies for us, and for those people we decide to give it to as a gift.

If you would like a signed copy of this book, we have a handful that we can give away, just contact us on 01252 783524 or email us at enquire@relishpeople.co.uk - once they are gone they are gone!!

We are now looking forward to when our book is print...I feel a social event coming on!!

Kim

Speed Networking with Women in Business Group!

Wendy and I do a lot of networking - it is a great way to advertise our brand, and keep the name in the forefront of people's minds!

We went along to our first 'speed networking' event with the Women in Business Group at Dummer golf club and there were about 30 women in all.

As well as being able to meet lots of new people, we were also able to have a go at having one shot of a golf ball for a raffle prize. It was as much as we could do to hit the ball (I had forgotton how difficult it could be - my one experience in a driving range resulted in me hitting the ball backwards as the club swung back!! Everyone in the driving shed had to duck very quickly, as the ball rebounded back and forth around the shed!!)

It was a very upbeat and energising event - although it was difficult to hear what was being said all the time, due to the noise level, as you can imagine with that many people talking! We met some lovely people, and there were at least 2 or 3 people we will be following up with, as we hope there is a potential for future business!

Once the networking was over, we sat with a couple of other ladies and chatted about all sorts of non business topics, which caused us much laughter!

These events can sometimes seem quite daunting, and yet there is always something to be gained or learnt from them. Be prepared for these events to be a long term strategy, the aim is to make long lasting relationships and know that each person you meet knows at least 20 other people, who are the people you are really after.