After six years with Bacardi in a variety of roles, I was made redundant after a restructure in my team. This was a very daunting and unnerving experience, as since the age of 12 (when I was a paper-boy) I have always had a job.

I was lost… but then one of my best mates showed me a brochure for www.frontier.ac.uk; a charity organisation that gives people the opportunity to go to far flung places around the world.

I saw Fiji and my gut instinct was, “John you need to go there!” Two weeks later I was touching down in Nadi airport, soon to enjoy 8 fantastic weeks of voluntary marine conservation, with no running water, electricity or gas. I had the most amazing time.

I’ve since re-named the ‘gut instinct’ to ‘THE FIJI FEELING’, when something just feels right and you will not let anyone tell you different.

Diving with manta rays, sharks and turtles; being adopted by a Fijian Family and sleeping in a hammock looking out to the sea and living 24/7 with such a fantastic group of people, can only do one thing; it allowed me to press the reset button and think what the hell I wanted to do with my life.

I began writing poetry, putting my demons to rest and slowly but surely re-building my confidence. It was only then that I realised that, since I was 12 years old, I’ve wanted to set up my own business.

I came home, broke with no job, signed on (which is one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had to do) and, realising that I am the only person that can make things happen, knew that if I didn’t take the leap of faith now then I never would.

My business, Wanttoimpress Ltd, is a mixology (the art of making cocktails!) training company which trains people to make great drinks in comfort of their homes or at cool venues. I will market this through film based pod casts, my website and my partner’s websites.

I started in the bar industry ten years ago, beginning with the original Living Room in Manchester; where I learnt all the necessary skills to make fantastic cocktails during my final two years at UMIST (where I studied Management and Marketing).

After university I came back to Newcastle and by coincidence bumped into a South African and started chatting. I had spent a year in Cape Town after leaving school, teaching in an inner-city school (Zonnebloem NEST).

We became friends and after a month he told me about an opportunity at his employer, Bacardi Martini Ltd. I applied, and got the job.

I worked a variety of roles including Brands Development Executive & Account Development Manager, Regional Account Manager and Product Training and Mixology Manager.

The roles involved managing hundreds of prestigious accounts across the North East, the North of England generally and Scotland. At one point I also conducted training for national accounts, training over 10,000 bartenders in over 1,500 training sessions.

I was made redundant on 21st September 2008 after six years of service. After my experience in Fiji, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine called Matt, who’d also been a volunteer there.

He was fascinated by mixology and cocktails and we spent hours talking about it. He then said, “Do you ever use this to your advantage with the ladies?!”

I had to laugh, because I had… not in a crude way you understand, but it is great to be able to invite a girl round, cook a fantastic meal and then show them how to make their favourite cocktails.

Then the journey began: 18 hour days, square eyes from looking at the computer screen, living off coffee, forgetting to eat and generally getting submerged in my company, thinking how to make a living from the idea.

Then my eureka moment, the name- wanttoimpress.com. My dad had always said I could sell ice to Eskimos, and he just has a sneaky suspicion that I can make a positive impact on the world.

This umbrella company would allow me to encompass everything that I’m passionate about, as in my eyes if you’re not passionate about what you are selling, what is the point??

So I started filtering out ideas, talking to family and friends (actually, not talking, preaching is a better way of describing it as I would stand there and talk for 45 minutes without them saying a single word! One Saturday I figured out I had spoken for 8 hours!)

The penny dropped when I met Ian Smith, Managing Director of Surreal Creative. I had come up with my vision: I have to impress you, you have to impress me, we have to impress our customers, as little acorns can grow into big trees.

The acorn reference derives from Admiral Lord Collingwood, who took over from Lord Nelson after the Battle of Trafalgar. When he returned to the North East he planted acorns to grow more oak trees, to build more ships to battle the French.

My late Grandfather had the middle name acorn, and my Dad said he would be proud to have it incorporated somewhere in the business- I’m very honoured to have this legacy and want to make the name Collingwood great again!

Anyway, Ian saw that my mind was all over the place. It made sense to me, but when I spoke about my ideas, it was very difficult for people to understand.

Ian gave me some very good advice- to plant my acorn, develop strong roots, concentrate on the things that can make money, but know in the forefront of my mind where all the branches are leading to, i.e. my long term goals.

Business is not straight forward, but if you know where you are aiming for, you’ll get there in the end. This piece of advice was just what I needed and helped me develop a clear structure for my ‘Vital Few’.

My aspirations are only limited by my mind. I have a fantastic network of contacts, all of whom see potential in my business. I want to create a buzz around my brand, have people talking about the fantastic training session they had or the fabulous party I organised for them.

My business will give customers the necessary skills and confidence to make cocktails in the comfort of their own home. If they don’t want to do this, then I will bring my cheeky self to them and organise a party to remember!”

Cheers

John Collingwood – www.wanttoimpress.com