Going for Gold!

Now that the news has sunk in a little bit, I can start to think rationally again.

Yesterday, we found out that Tykes Tights had got through to the final of the Mumpreneur UK awards.  It is the first award that we have ever entered and I didn’t think for one minute that we would get this far. 

Finalists were due to be announced on Wednesday and I spent most of the day refreshing my twitter and facebook feeds for updates only to find out that due to the larger numbers of applicants, results day would now be Friday.

So, yesterday, back to refreshing every few minutes until I saw a twitter post saying that finalist emails had been sent out.  I kept looking at my phone for the green flashy light to tell me that I had  a new email.  I wasn’t surprised when it didn’t come.  Afterall, out of all the small businesses in the country, it was unlikely that I would be recognised on my very first attempt.  I wasn’t disappointed as it was kind of what I was expecting.  I had looked through lists of previous finalists from 2011 and 2010 and recognised a lot of names and companies – people who had really made their mark – it was quite daunting.

A little later, I fired up the laptop.  Seems my email and my phone aren’t talking to each other properly as there, in my inbox, was an email from Mumpreneur UK!  Shock, excitement, confusion, panic – I think I went through a whole range of emotions in those first few minutes.

The email explained that over 1200 businesses had applied for the awards.  That’s a lot of application forms to go through!  There are 9 categories and 8 finalists have been chosen for each category.  Tykes Tights has made it to the ‘Best Mumpreneur Product’ category which is primarily for mums who have invented their own product (another reason I didn’t think we would get this far) but is also for mum’s who have brought a unique product to market.

Now we have a month to wait!  Good news is that I get to go to a fantastic conference next month, listen to some inspirational women and pick up lots of information and advice.  All this will be washed down with a lovely 3 course meal and the day will end with the award winners being chosen and prizes being given out.  Can’t wait! 

I have now got to submit some paperwork and sample products to the judges.  I have to tell them why Tykes Tights deserves to win.  I need to impress the likes of Jo Elvin (Editor in Chief of Glamour magazine) and Vanessa Gold (MD of Ann Summers). 

No matter what happens on the day, whether we walk away with an award or not, I am completely honoured and overwhelmed at having got this far and that Tykes Tights has been recognised as one of the top mumpreneur companies in the whole of the UK!

 Boy’s tights rule!