Passionate Blog

China offers great-looking deal to Midlands beauty business

A Shropshire beauty expert has secured a £100 million contract to supply products and treatments to be sold in China, creating up to 3,500 jobs.

Deborah Mitchell of Heaven has signed a 10-year distribution deal to supply 2,500 Chinese stores and salons, and included in the deal is the employment of at least one Heaven-trained therapist from the UK in each store.

To help facilitate this, Ms Mitchell began work on a £120,000 refurbishment of her Shifnal salon this week, which will include a full upgrade, and a new training facility, where the 3,500 qualified therapists will spend three months learning all about Heaven treatments and products before heading to the Far East.

York swimmers make a splash at national champs with city hotel’s backing

A group of York’s top swimmers are hoping to make a splash at the national championships later this month thanks to the support of a city hotel.

A group of eight swimmers from the York City Baths Club have won through to the prestigious championships at Ponds Forge starting on Thursday, July 21.

The swimmers from the historic club will look a cut above the competition after being kitted out in specially made T-shirts and hoodies for the championships, provided by The Park Inn by Radisson York.

The working mums' guide to making the most of social media

By Carol Garrington

ACCORDING to a recent article on Mumsclub, our director Linda has a reputation for being something of a guru when it comes to social media.

I know she won't be happy about that as she insists at our workshops there's no such thing.

But it's an excellent article by Heidi Scrimgeour which also includes advice from other mums in business.

Patsy Kensit leads campaign for better UK playgrounds

STRICTLY Come Dancing star Patsy Kensit wants to help parents quickstep their way to a £15,000 award to breathe new life into delapidated play areas, as she tells us in the video above.

Mum-of-two Patsy is fronting the campaign called Parents for Playgrounds from Robinsons Fruit Shoot and Play England which is asking for nominations from around the UK. She's currently guest editing Ready for Ten where she's also keeping an eye on nominations and help pick the winners.

Two BBC interviews for director Linda

RECENTLY Linda was one of a number of UK women described as an "immovable force" in a piece for the technology section of BBC Online all about the rise of mummy bloggers in the UK.

It's an interesting piece that reflects on Universal Studios paying bloggers for reviews and wondering how similar blogging is in the UK. Susanna Scott who set up British Mummy Bloggers is also featured, talking about a commitment to integrity.

A few weeks back, Linda was also interviewed by Mark Powlett on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire about twins, thanks to her blog You've Got Your Hands Full. If you know anyone with twins, triplets or more, we hope you may find this blog useful. It has provided advice for families since 2006 and we're delighted that it's still going strong.

Beacon Radio hosts prepare marathon effort for Compton Hospice

BEST of luck to Beacon Radio’s breakfast hosts Fresh and Jo who have thrown their backing behind Compton Hospice's Raise the Roof appeal by taking on a 55 mile walk across the Black Country.

The popular pair hope to cover 11 miles a day on behalf of the hospice which needs to raise £1 million as part of its major refurbishment works.

And the challenge got even steeper at the launch of the appeal, as Jo had an announcement of her own – she is expecting a baby.

Writing Magazine feature: The art of the interview

JOURNALIST Tamsin Oxford recently interviewed Linda for a piece in the current edition of Writing magazine.

It's an article about interviewing and also features Johanna Payton and Anne Wollenberg.

Here's a snippet:

What three things do you believe are essential to preparing for an interview?

To have researched your subject properly, to be in the right frame of mind to be confident the interviewee knows what to expect.

How do you go about sourcing your interviewees?

I have worked hard to build contacts in my chosen areas so I get in touch with people I know or hope will help me and take it from there. These days, I’m also using social media and online tools available more too, so I’ve found people through Twitter and Facebook as well as through blogging, these are different ways of building new contacts and can work well, but I still prefer to then actually speak to the people so I know they are who they say they are. It's important to value contacts once they are made and build relationships with them for the future.

You can find the rest in the current edition of Writing Magazine.

Charitarian: A philanthropy magazine made in China

Photos by Janek Zdarski.

WE are working with an Anglo-Chinese team on Charitarian magazine. So far, we've started work on a blog for this innovative publication that reports on aid for China's most vulnerable groups, as well as including exclusive updates on other aspects of Chinese society.

Janek's photos show migrant children at work and play and are featured in the next issue of the magazine, which is currently being put together.

We can't wait to see the next edition and more of Janek's beautiful images.

Good luck Libby and Deborah - Passionate clients hit the airwaves

TWO Passionate Media clients are all set to be interviewed by BBC Radio.

Libby Sisson of Small Talk will be on Radio Derby to discuss latest reports of how children develop speech, while Deborah Mitchell of Heaven Skincare, is busy preparing for an interview with Radio Shropshire all about how she has helped Dannii Minogue get her smile back, thanks to a bee venom mask.

We're delighted that both ladies are again in the spotlight and wish them lots of luck.   

How we've used Twitter for business - Birmingham Post feature

THINK social media is a waste of time?

Think again.

A number of West Midlands companies are featured in the Birmingham Post today, discussing how they have mastered Twitter as a brilliant business tool - and we're one of them.

Linda wrote more about how we've been able to use social media to diversify and survive here.

Given the choice wouldn't you rather find out how you can use such developments to boost your bottom line as opposed to sitting around moaning about it?

Do let us know if you'd like to find out more, we can work with your team on how you can maximise the use of social media for your business.

Don't forget you can follow Linda on Twitter here and Carol here.