“It felt like I had won the Oscars” - Joanne Collins

In the fifth part of the Celebrating Success: Blog Series on the Impact of Awards on Career and Business, following The Freshies in June organised by Fresh Perspective, today we talk to the lovely Joanne Collins

Enjoy.

1.Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
I was a primary school teacher for 20 years and left in 2014 after being poorly. I became a tropic ambassador and supported my husband with his company and I started to network to tell people about his boiler company services. That’s where I met Chris Ball at YAB and then started to support that community with the facilitation of their groups.

2. What award did you win, and why is this award significant to you?
Winning the Positivity Pioneer Award came at just the right moment. I needed this as I have been caring so long for everyone else, I was not sure if I had enough strength to continue to do that. This is something for me, and the funny thing is, I am just being me – I am great believer that your vibe finds your tribe – I am honest, I overshare and I am just me, which makes it even more special that that has been recognised

3. How did you feel when you found out you had won the award?
It felt like I had won the Oscars! It was so surreal! People where hugging me and it took me ages to get to the front.

4. What role do you believe awards and recognition play in motivating individuals and enhancing performance?
As a recipient to be acknowledged and receive that confirmation that it's ok to be you is just brilliant. I won another award and was in a category with Tesco. Me! I just want to make a difference and its good for people to see people like me as I see in them, what they must see in me. But we don’t always see that in ourselves. As part of a challenge I am in, this year I am shaving my head, I want to inspire people, I want to be in a room with people that have the same energy as me, that are like minded.

5. So what next, how will receiving this award influence your goals and future aspirations?
This has given me massive confidence and reassurance that I am in the right place. I am going to keep doing what I am doing, helping people, inspiring people, leading the way.

Thank you Joanne for talking to me and sharing your insights - this was the first time I had met with Joanne and it was so lovely to hear her story and everything that she does - Joanne really is a shining light even with everything that life throws her way!

This is the category criteria:

This award goes to the person who is a metaphorical bucket filler

Injecting joy and happiness into the lives of others…

Wherever they go…

Like a positivity pied piper

Inspiring others to follow suit and see the good in the world

You can check out previous blogs here

Stay tuned as we talk with the Wellbeing Warrior winner from the Freshies Awards next week.