According to the Mental Health at Work blog (www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/), most self-employed people say they are satisfied and happy with the way they earn a living. That being said there are many challenges, mostly related to money, loneliness and isolation.

At this event you will hear personal stories from TEDx speaker and entrepeneaur Cody Gapare and coach Marie-Claire Ashcroft who have each faced huge health challenges while buildng their businesses, navigating self-employment, a pandemic and mental health along the way.

Cody Gapare (MBA) is a multi-award winning, entrepreneurial breast cancer survivor, magistrate and TEDx speaker, who revolutionised the beauty industry by creating the first ever false lashes range for chemotherapy patients.

Marie-Claire Ashcroft, known as the Professional Rebel, is a self-expression specialist combining rebel confidence coaching with branding photography for unconventional and quirky business owners.

With her trademark smile and infectious energy, her background in low self-esteem and depression comes as a surprise to many, as does her inspiring personal journey.

Featured in Virgin Entrepreneur, the Counsellor Directory and Standard Issue Magazine as a happiness expert, she has helped hundreds of women across the globe with her unique and intuitive approach.

Clients have described her as a game changing life coach, her membership community as mind blowing and that she helps her clients feel understood by being incredibly in tune with their needs – ‘What you do saves lives’.

Maggie Chen will be chatting to Cody and Marie-Claire and taking questions from the audience.

Maggie Chen is co-founder of Girls in Charge, an award-winning international non-profit, and chair of the Engagement Board at Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.