It鈥檚 been a whirlwind eight months since Sam Booth was appointed pro-manchester鈥檚 CEO, the first female to take the post in its 32-year history.
In that time, Booth has hosted dinners, conferences and several events, moving out of her 鈥榗omfort zone鈥 and embracing new and exciting challenges.
The aim for the year is to work even closer with its 270 members and understand what they want.
She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a members organisation and they are at the forefront of everything that we do.
鈥淭his means going out there and visiting those members and really getting an understanding of their wants and needs as well as engaging on a much bigger level both within the organisation and within the Greater Manchester region.鈥
Voicing the views of its members also means representing them on various boards including the GM Business Representatives Board, which is chaired by Mark Hughes, CEO of The Growth Company, with members including the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses and the North West Business Leadership Team.
Booth continues: 鈥淲e get together every eight weeks or so to talk about what鈥檚 happening in the region and on a wider scale and what our individual businesses are doing and what we can do to support each other.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really collaborative approach and it鈥檚 important for me to understand what鈥檚 happening on the wider regional level so I can feed that back into the businesses we work with and also provide them with a platform to feedback on concerns.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really building on those relationships that we have got. It has to be a two-way street between the business community and that wider strategic vision for the region.鈥
Booth was promoted to the role last September after former boss John Ashcroft stepped down to pursue other interests.
Booth, who joined the organisation more than a decade ago, has been an integral part of pro-manchester鈥檚 growth from a small, effective membership network to a sophisticated business development organisation.
A firm part of the Manchester business community, Booth is a familiar face to most, constantly and efficiently working to bring businesses together in the city region.
With previous roles in events, business development and as deputy CEO, she knows pro-manchester inside out.
The organisation puts on 150 events a year ranging across a diverse range of sectors to better reflect pro.manchester鈥檚 membership in 2019.
She said: 鈥淭raditionally members were made up of lawyers and finance professionals, but that has shifted over the years and certainly diversified.
鈥淲e did some interesting analysis of our membership and it鈥檚 heavily weighted towards the professional services sector which makes up 51% of our membership.
鈥淏ut with the introduction of our sector group programme the membership is diversifying to incorporate hospitality, retail, sports, and technology.
鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 crossover too such a Freshfields which is essentially a law firm but leading on the technological side.
鈥淭ech has been a huge area and it鈥檚 about trying to understand that, how that鈥檚 impacting businesses and what we can do to help businesses to stay ahead of the curve.鈥
She adds: 鈥淎s the membership has changed we started looking at events and programmes that better reflected this move.
鈥淚n 2010 we held our first sector group event bringing together the creative media types with lawyers and accountants.
鈥淚t was around the same time that MediaCity海角视频 was being developed, the BBC had moved up and the Sharp Project was in its infancy. There was a lot of investment in the CDT sector.
鈥淚 remember my first event at Halliwells, and it was like a school disco.
鈥淭here were the jeans and t-shirts on one side and the suits and ties on the other so it was about breaking down those barriers and helping the two sectors work together and over the years that鈥檚 exactly what happened.
鈥淔ollowing the success of that, we looked at a wider strategic piece on the key growth sectors in the region and how could we as an advisory community better support the opportunities within those other sectors.
鈥淚t led to a whole new set of programmes and events such as our Tech Conference.鈥
Talking to Booth on a more personal level, I ask about her own personal challenges of being a female CEO and speaking on a public stage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been terrifying,鈥 she admits, 鈥渂ut in a good way.鈥
鈥淢y motto is you only ever regret the chances you didn鈥檛 take and I鈥檝e been presented with a lot of challenges of public speaking.
鈥淚鈥檝e not done much, and my perception of what I think I鈥檓 like and what other people see is different.
鈥淚 started recording it so I can critique myself, and that鈥檚 not being negative, I just want to improve. The more I鈥檓 doing it the more I鈥檓 comfortable with it.
鈥淚鈥檝e been seeing an executive coach and one of the things I鈥檝e learnt, which I practice, is to focus on the positives and not the negatives after an event or a meeting.
鈥淲hat the coach has taught me is that it鈥檚 easy to go down the negative route and it stops you from building your confidence.
鈥淚nstead I now write down what did well in that scenario and immediately project the positive, so the next time I do it I have a record of the things that I did well.鈥
She added: 鈥淎ll I have to do now is just keep doing it, and even though it still makes me nervous and my knees knock, I鈥檓 looking forward to doing more.
鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 judging me for it, and if anything they appreciate that humanity. Maybe it鈥檚 not seamlessly delivered but if you鈥檙e genuine then people just want to see you do well.鈥
