Chris has 34 years of sales and marketing experience covering a variety of sectors both in London and East Anglia. Shortly after giving up work to be a full time mum, she went in to partnership with another new mum and formed Marney & Leighton Millinery, creating bespoke hats for the wedding and horse racing market. Chris is proud to say that her hats have been worn around the world, complimenting many a haute couture design.

After 7 years, and having moved to Cambridge, Chris bought an entertainment agency franchise, to provide all types of entertainment including fairground attractions and bands like Shawaddywaddy and Boney M for corporate events, Cambridge College and RAF balls and again the wedding market. Deciding to become a lady of leisure for a while on returning to Norfolk in 2000, Chris sold the agency and went back to college to study her passion, photography.

Five years on she found herself as a freelance press photographer, and was often commissioned to produce images for brochures and websites, as well as providing wedding and event photography. Chris’s passion for her photography lead to that rare eureka moment when she conceived the idea for a social networking website for hobbyists.

After extensive market research and funding from a private investor, www.hobbyworldunited.co.uk was launched, connecting people around the globe with those who shared their passion. Sadly, a year in, under resourced and under financed for the scale of the operation, Chris was finding it difficult to monetise the site and then a car accident left her unable to work for 3 months, so www.hobbyworldunited.co.uk was closed down, with many lessons learned.

Chris returned to the world of full time employment, which then resulted in redundancy 8 months later. During this period, Chris gained Prince 2 Project Management Foundation and Practitioner qualifications, An Introduction to the Environment with Open University and Energy Management Strategies incorporating ISO 16001 at the Buildings Research Establishment in Watford. This equipped her with essential knowledge and skills for businesses operating ethically and efficiently in the 21^st Century.

A series of short term contracts have found her in the current position of Programme Director for Outset Norfolk, where she is delighted to be able to draw on her wealth of experience to help others into self-employment, providing advice, guidance, and training in new business start-up.