It's Time to Grow! Co-Women Welcomes a Co-Founder.

Co-Women has a new Co-founder! Becky Hughes has joined Jo in order to help the group to expand and reach even more people, as well as supporting existing members. Read on to learn more about Becky, her role, and what she’s looking forward to…

Tell us about yourself!

I’m a personal trainer who grew up in Sussex and returned after a failed relationship with London

life. I love the area, it has a fantastic balance of countryside and city buzz that I thrive on, and

attracts a range of people as a result.

Having had a career in the events industry, I’ve been contemplating self-employment for a few

years. In 2020, the right opportunity presented itself – I discovered a specialist course in cancer

exercise and rehabilitation, so I trained to become a personal trainer specifically in order to do the additional course. I set up in November 2021 and train clients face to face at K2 in Crawley, or

online. You can find out more about my services via my website.

What drew you to Co-Women?

I heard about a couple of events that Jo was organising and they were a totally different kind of

networking to what I’d experienced previously. When I lived and worked in London, networking

events were paired with venue showcases, so you’d go along after work to fight over canapes, and

hand out your boss’s business card. I always left hungry and demoralised!

It was great to hear that networking could be different – Co-Women events offer the chance to learn a new skill, expand your mindset, or test out a different hobby whilst also meeting like-minded women who you may want to do business with, or you might just like to recruit as a friend.

Whilst in the process of finding the confidence to make the leap to self-employment, I knew I’d want a support system of those outside my own industry and experience, and I’ve definitely found it.

What’s your favourite event that you’ve been to so far?

I love the Chai and Chatter events – they’re great for newbies and members alike, partly because

they’re free of charge, and also because they don’t involve the dreary experience of each attendee telling you about their business in a circle of death. Instead, you’re encouraged to treat it like meeting new friends for coffee – you may find yourself talking as much about what you last watched on Netflix as what you spend your days doing professionally, and that’s just as valuable!

With many people being sensitive about spending at the moment, it’s a fantastic way to get started as there’s no pressure to splash the cash.

However, my favourite was our recent pottery making class. Jo organised an evening at The Painting Pottery Cafe in Brighton and it isn’t an activity it would’ve occurred to me to try. I’m not artistic in that way whatsoever! But our teacher, Freya, was wonderful, and all of us found the experience of spinning a lump of clay to be incredibly mindful and soothing. It was nice that none of us had tried it before, so we were all thrown in to something new and there was no judgment of skill. We all had a fantastic time.

What are you looking forward to as Co-founder?

I’ll be flexing my social muscles – I spend far too long on Instagram and a couple of other platforms, so creating content is a bit of a speciality which I hope will make members and guests feel included and give them a chance to increase their visibility, as well as helping us to get discovered by more people we’ve not met yet.

My events experience will come in handy in terms of scouting venues for new experiences for us all and making sure they’ll add value to our programme.

What I’m most looking forward to is combining those two things by taking Co-Women a little further north into Sussex: I’m based near Horsham so will be kicking off by setting up a new Chai and Chatter event there on the first Friday of each month (stay tuned for a venue announcement – I’ve got one in mind and we’re starting on Friday 2nd September). I’m really excited to see who else joins us, and can’t wait to help more women experience this style of joyful networking.

Ready to join our community, to expand your social circle and grow your business?

Our membership doors are open now, offering opportunities to meet incredible like-minded women in business, share the ups and downs, receive valuable advice, mentorship and support, and meet amazing friends, clients and collaborators. Our social events prioritise joy and and are hosted across Sussex. To date we've hosted in Brighton, Hove, Hassocks, Chichester and Crawley, and will be soon adding a fourth Chai and Chatter event each month in Horsham. Try us out for just £22 per month. Sign up here.