#27 'turning a career crisis into an opportunity to do good' Katy Brown co founder of Skylark Works

Katy is the co-founder and Managing Director of Skylark Works, a purpose-led consultancy providing practical business support to organisations delivering positive social impact. Support can take many forms, including delivery of practical projects, making pan-sector connections and sharing helpful guidance.

Things changed for Katy when she was made redundant from Woodford Investment Management following a turbulent 2019, which saw the company close its doors.

‘Woodford was much more than just a job for me, colleagues were close friends and I’m someone who really cares, so I gave an awful lot to my job. It was a really difficult time, mentally draining and emotionally and physically exhausting as well. As cliched as it sounds, sometimes the hardest things teach you the most and I definitely look back on that period and think about how much I learned’.

Katy’s background in delivering strategic growth has enabled her to apply her commercial acumen to her new position, helping other organisations to scale, be sustainable and deliver positive social impact. Katy now places a much greater emphasis on her own wellbeing, after realising that she had been neglecting her health. She can provide great insight for Skylark’s clients, having been heavily involved in the corporate world and understands how businesses need to truly embed social purpose to remain relevant and enact real change for society. Consumers want to be involved with businesses that can really demonstrate a social and ethical compass.

‘People are no longer satisfied with just getting the best product or best financial return, it needs to have positive social impact or positive environmental impact too.'

You can find out more about Skylark Works on their website - https://www.skylarkworks.com.'She also had a successful career that led her to time in America, New Zealand, London and Australia. You will hear about Katy’s early years on her family farm, her love for New Zealand and what it is like for an English woman living in Edinburgh.