Jodi Wright has absolutely no doubt who is responsible for achieving her “dream job.”

She said: “It’s Derek.

“He’s been amazing and without him, it would still be just an idea.”

The ‘Derek’ in question is Derek Hawley, Vice Chairman and Volunteer Business Mentor with The SAMEE Charity.

The Bournemouth-based charity helps people into self-employment.

Founded by Sam Everard, Chief Executive, pictured left, it gained charitable status in 2016.

SAMEE stands for Support And Mentoring Enabling Entrepreneurship.

And, arguably, there has never been a greater need for its services.

In Jodi’s case the 41-year-old single mum had wanted to start a small business helping parents with a challenging child.

She’d discovered HeartMath, a system of simple and powerful self-regulation techniques which are practised by millions of people in more than 100 countries.

The scientifically validated tools and techniques improve sleep, reduce stress, reduce anxiety, build resilience and confidence.

Jodi had become a certified HeartMath coach but said: “I had no experience of business and did not know where to start.”

Which is where The SAMEE Charity came in.

It has two programmes.

One is aimed at people with disabilities and people from disadvantaged backgrounds who want to move into self-employment.

The second is running programmes in educational establishments, inspiring students to consider self-employment after finishing full-time education.

Jodi was assigned Derek as her Business Mentor.

The 68-year-old had enjoyed a stellar business career over 40+ years in a variety of roles.

They ranged from Sales Account Manager, Business Development Director and Sales Manager to Sales Director, Managing Director of his own business, General Manager and, latterly, Head of Commercial at Canon UK.

Derek, who lives in Highcliffe and is also a volunteer with Dorset Business Mentors, said: “I was fortunate that two individuals had a huge influence on me during my career.

“When I left the corporate world I wanted to follow their example and help others.”

Derek met Jodi each week, helping with her business plan, creating an action programme and setting tasks.

“I really couldn’t have done it without him,” said Jodi who has now established herself as a coherence coach, meditation teacher and HeartMath practitioner.

She has a Facebook Group site – Parents with Challenges – for parents with challenging children.

 The group shares ideas and provides support to each other.

Jodi said: “In these Covid-19 challenging times it is more important than ever that there is support for parents with children who have issues.

“From my experience there is little support which adds to their isolation and feeling that they are alone – they are not.

“Having a more challenging child myself I understand the stress, anxiety and constant tiredness we parents go through on a daily basis.

“As part of a coaching programme I’ve put together, I wanted to create an interactive community group and support network where people can share the challenges and stories of their crazy days with absolutely no judgement.

“By doing this we can support each other and share similar experiences and solutions, share helpful articles, self-care routines etc to make us feel less alone.

“I want to use my coaching skills, knowledge and teachings to help guide this group together and provide added value.

“I work with people on a 1-1 basis or group training, but what I noticed was not everybody is able to access that, so I wanted to create something with added value and access on every level for all.”

Derek said: “Jodi has huge passion and drive and of all the people I’ve mentored she is unquestionably the best.

“She has all the attributes to succeed and I have no doubt she will.

“The SAMEE Charity is all about helping pre start-ups and people new to business to develop the confidence to achieve their goals and transform their lives.

“Jodi is a shining example of the sort of people we seek to help.

“I’m very proud of the part I’ve played in the creation of her new business.”

• samee.co.uk