en
United Kingdom
Kay Tear has always been curious about people and psychology. As an identical twin, she grew up participating in twin research studies and then eventually pursued similar research of her own at university.
Kay leveraged that curiosity and experience to build a successful career in management consulting in both the UK and Australia. For 15 years, she helped companies create and streamline their professional development and wellness initiatives, oftentimes recommending best practices, tried and true methods that organizations could employ to help their staff stay engaged and productive.
But Kay knew something was missing with this approach.
“I could see how mainstream ideas about wellbeing, whilst well-intentioned and even researched, were not helping people to feel better,” she says. “They weren’t even helping people to understand what stress is.”
In short, best practices weren’t working best for every person and situation. Kay knew there was a better way. So after one pivotal conversation, Kay and her co-founder Michelle McCartan decided to launch Business Reimagined, a coaching and professional development firm that offers unique yet proven approaches that redefine development and wellbeing in the workplace.
Business Reimagined helps companies address burnout and disengagement by understanding and leveraging psychological freedom, drawing from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, leadership, and business.
Finding the right clients
One of the challenges of introducing a new way of thinking about employee engagement is getting the chance to pitch to potential clients – and finding organizations ready for a new approach. That’s where WEConnect International came in, connecting Kay with three member buyers, one of whom became one of Business Reimagined’s first big clients. The Peak Performance Coaching programme has since delivered 1-1 coaching to more than 100 people in the Global Procurement function of a pharmaceutical company. Business Reimagined’s 10 coaches all specialize in both traditional coaching and their unique development of people’s inner world.
The following year, at a WEConnect International event, Kay met Sonya Webley, Managing Director of Enigma Security Systems. Now she is working with Enigma’s Management Team and scaling her coaching and development services to support their 3,000 security professionals later in the year.
Value of connection
Kay joined WEConnect International to help build her business, but forging connections with other women entrepreneurs has been a surprising bonus.
“I had no idea that it would lead to both friendships and opportunities,” she says.
Add awards to that list. Thanks to a recommendation from a fellow WBE, Business Reimagined was a finalist for the British Quality Foundation’s Excellence in People Engagement and Development Award.
Parting advice
Part of what Kay does for organizations is to make change easy, to help people understand the limitations of their thinking, how that creates stress, and how that’s the cause of change resistance. She offers similar advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs hesitant to get started.
“Have a go,” she says. “Don’t worry too much about what happens. If you can do something better than someone else, do it. Take the first step.”
Business Reimagined is headquartered in London. Learn more at https://businessreimagined.co.uk