2012 In Review

Due to ongoing problems I've been having with Google Apps for Business, I have been unable to log into Blogger for ages. Even though it is now mid-January, I'm going to reflect on 2012, as I like to look back over a year and work out what it meant to me and recognise the defining moments throughout it.

JANUARY
January actually changed a lot of things for me. I was in a minor car accident and although this didn't directly have an impact on my life (just my poor car!), the events that panned out in the following hours/days - and the circumstances that evolved from the whole situation - altered the way I look at a lot of things. 

One of the positive things to come from the turbulence was that I moved Little Riot into its first office - the collaborative Ignite100 loft in Newcastle. I couldn't have asked for a cooler place, or a better bunch of people to work with. And the good news is, if you fancy it, you can come too. 

I was also video-interviewed for a feature on ABC News New York :) 

FEBRUARY
Well into my burst of Business-related productivity by February, I was lucky enough to be asked to go along to Entrepreneur Week in Athens, Greece. I was part of a delegation along with five other young entrepreneurs, several of whom have become good friends. 

MARCH
In March I won "Best Start Up" in the Scottish category of the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards. I had a very exciting day in Edinburgh where I pitched to a panel of judges, followed by a swanky lunch at my very own Little Riot table.

A few weeks later, I attended the grand final in Liverpool, during the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. I pitched to a pretty cool bunch of people and wore a really epic dress to the black tie dinner, thanks to Coast :) 

APRIL

In April I continued to work really hard and also visited John in Dubai. Working hard was a lot easier with a cracking view of Dubai Marina! I had brunch in the Burj Al Arab, which was incredible. 

MAY

May was a cracking month for press. It started with a double page spread in Scottish newspaper The Courier... and ended up with a mention in Marie Claire magazine, in between a dildo and a sex chair. Sorry, mum. 

JUNE & JULY

Looking back now, all I did in June and July was work flat out. It was a critical time for the company and I gave 110% and then some to make sure everything worked out. The highlight of these months was one rare afternoon when I managed to get out in the sunshine and ride my horse :-)

AUGUST

At the start of August I went to the Olympics, after being lucky enough to win tickets at the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards earlier in the year. It was really cool to be part of something so huge and Lloyds spoiled me as a guest.

I also closed  a pretty big business deal which has changed my life, business and personal, in both good ways and bad.

SEPTEMBER
At the start of September I visited three cities in Germany as part of a creative business exchange. Myself and Olivia from Blue Iris Films were shown round various agencies, businesses and organisations. The highlight for me was visiting the Red Dot Design Museum. 

I also spent some time in Scotland and celebrated my birthday early, with my best buddies :)

OCTOBER
I turned 25 on day three. Half way to fifty, gulp. Spent the day judging the Shell LiveWIRE Awards and then had a nice, albeit bizarre, night out with people from the office. 

Visited Liverpool again as a shortlister in The Pitch and met some cool people. 

Ran my first 10k adventure run!

NOVEMBER

Had a great day in London thanks to Lloyds TSB and their ongoing support of the winners from their Enterprise Awards. It culminated with drinks in the Houses of Parliament. Lovely wine, I can see where my tax is going ;-)

I was a finalist the the Woman of the Future Awards and got to met Dame Kelly Holmes and James Caan. Little Riot was also listed in the Real Business/Wonga 'Future 50'.

I also wrote my first blog for The Huffington Post which seemed to be well-received. 

DECEMBER
This month was busybusy and then I was wiped out by the flu in the run up to Christmas which was fairly inconvenient! December was the month I finally got to know this year's cohort of Ignite100 teams, which I wish I'd done sooner.

All in all, 2012 was a fairly positive year. A few ups and downs - as with everything - but I'll definitely always look back on it as a good one, overall. Here's hoping 2013 will continue in a similar way!