24 Hours with Sally!
Sally Hopkins, 34, is Director of Training at freshbaked Corporate, a division of freshbaked Group that works with the public and private sector to deliver leadership development and coaching programmes. She lives in Newport with her husband Christy.
During the week, I tend to be an early riser, getting up at 6:30am. I can’t leave the house without an Earl Grey tea which seems to give me the caffeine I need to kick start my day! I normally arrive at work around 8:30am which gives me enough time to catch up on the latest office gossip before I log on for the day.
My role means that most of my day is taken up delivering training courses, so, the first thing I usually have to contend with are any last minute changes to delegate attendance. While these changes may seem small to the outside, they can really put a spanner in the works and can throw my whole day into disarray. So at the last minute, I’m left not only having to ensure that all the course materials and props are ready, but also having to change the format of the day and be totally flexible with the content delivery. Thank goodness, I’ve had my Earl Grey!
Once I’ve resolved everything, I’m all set to deliver the respective course, which can be anything from Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) qualifications to open courses on negotiation, assertiveness, working smarter or delivering service excellence.
To say my job is varied, is a bit of an under statement! As a bespoke training provider, we have to tailor our courses to suit a wide range of clients’ needs which means that no one day is the same. One minute I can be working with one of Wales’ leading SMEs, like Picture Financial, and the next I’m developing a course for a large public sector organisation, like the HMCS. When planning courses, I try to mix up the sessions and activities as much as I can. This means that, not only do our delegates feel challenged and have fun, but that I do too. The most successful session recently has been when we took some of ILM delegates to an outdoor activity centre in the Brecon Beacons. It is widely recognised that the ability to retain learning is more powerful when it is applied so we tested out the delegates by challenging them with a 56ft climbing wall.
Once the day’s course is complete I’ll prepare for the following day’s delivery, look over tenders and proposals that need my attention, or attend meetings with potential or existing customers.
I’m a bit of a fitness freak so after work I’ll head straight to the gym. On top of my day job, I’m a spinning instructor so have to keep as fit as possible. I take two spinning classes every week and also train individually as much as four or five times a week.
After my bout of exercise, I’ll go home to relax with my husband Christy. As my day is so active, I tend to unwind with a good DVD (I’m working my way through the Sopranos box set at the moment) and a large glass of Pinot Grigio!
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