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and writing. In fact, had I notbeen ordained I would probablyhave become a journalist. Idecided that any new business

would have to involve providingPR and communications advicefor organisations that want tocommunicate their message tothe wider community and toprotect their reputation.

A few years ago I interviewedJerry Greenfield, cofounder ofBen & Jerrys Ice cream, for an

article on leadership. It was afascinating experience tointerview a man who had starteda multi-million dollar companyand still managed to remain adeeply compassionate individual.He is a man with nothing left toprove.Talking about leading anorganisation Greenfield said:"You need to start with anacknowledgement of whateverthe current situation is, notpainting over what any of theissues are ... there needs to be anacknowledgement of what isreal". This value inspired me todevelop the other aspect of thenew business - managementconsultancy. It involves working

with leaders and organisations,helping them to look honestly attheir situation and planningstrategically for the future. Thisis what forms the other key partof my new business.Calling my business TopstoreyCommunications is a bit cheeky.It was Pat who came up with thename. TOP stands for Think,Organise, Produce which isexactly what I want individualsand organisations to do tomaximum effect.Over this past year I haveexperienced great kindness fromstrangers, and a willingness toshare opportunities. One of thethings I have also discovered inrunning a new enterprise is theimportance of partnerships

working with other professionalsto provide a service. Being theowner of your own businessmeans not only delivering aproduct to existing customers you have to go out and gain newones. It is both great fun andhard work.The variety is immense andtakes me north and south as wellas into a variety of sectors. It

includes working with SundayTimes journalist and News Lettercolumnist Liam Clarke and his

wife Kathy to help organisationsand individuals thinkstrategically about theircommunication. It can meanhelping an organisation to look at

where they want to go orcollaborating with a respectedcolleague to provide a leadershipcoaching programme. Ironically Iam soon going to be licensed byJohn Lynam to deliver theThomas International

psychometric testingthat gave me such abreakthrough.I always want life tobe interesting. I alsorecognize thatespecially in themiddle of a recession Ihave been very fortunatein the start I have had with thenew business. It has been a goodfirst six months but I knownothing is ever guaranteed. It isimpossible to take out theelement of risk in a business including my own. Risk by its

very nature contains thepossibility of failure as well assuccess. But truth to tell, theexcitement outweighs the fear.

News Letter, Friday, July 10, 2009 23

FEATUREwww.newsletter.co.uk 17 37

Starting a new enterprise during the current brutal economic climate may seem morethan a little foolhardy; add in the fact that you arent a bright young spark fresh out ofuniversity, but a 50-year-old father of two and a former church minister, and the ventureappears even more rash.

But as Londonderry entrepreneur E

ARL STORE

Y proves, when you have a goodbusiness idea, there really is no time like the present.

Earl Storey when a servingChurch of Ireland clergyman

EarlStorey

with JerryGreenfield

(Ben &Jerrys)

SO whats it like to start yourown business in the middle of arecession? Ive been asked thatmore than once over the last sixmonths. The truth is that itsbeen a lot of fun and scary at thesame time. If you had told me ayear ago that I would be runningmy own business I wouldnt havebelieved you. But, having begun

working life as a Church ofIreland member of the clergy,and done a few other things in

between, I am now the proudowner of TopstoreyCommunications, a publicrelations and managementconsultancy business.My working life has taken mefrom Dublin to Londonderry.Twelve years ago my wife Patalso got ordained. Before this shehad run her own small businessas well as working for

Weightwatchers, including beingtheir assistant public relationsofficer in Dublin. Her ordinationcaused me to have a rethinkabout what I wanted to do in thefuture and eventually led me out

of parish ministry, which I hadincidentally found verysatisfying. We now have twochildren, both of whom arecollege age, and live inLondonderry.This time last year I was directorof the Hard Gospel Project(www.hardgospel.net). It was athree-year all-Ireland project setup by the Church of Ireland tohelp it address issues ofsectarianism and racism. There

were many high points to t he job,such as being involved inplanning a visit by the Presidentof Burundi to Northern Ireland.

The Project also hosted the lateDavid Ervine as a speaker at oneof its events shortly before hisuntimely death.I knew the Hard Gospel Project

was a time limited initiative. Mypost came to its scheduled end inJanuary of this year. I am morefortunate than many people whohave recently lost their jobs inthat I had plenty of time toprepare. That is always easierthan the sudden shock ofredundancy. Nevertheless I wasaware of the clock ticking.So what do you do when youre50 and you know that your job is

coming to an end? Except in theunlikely event of winning thelottery how was I going to earn aliving and pay the bills likeeveryone else? As much asanything what I also want mostout of life is that it be interesting.That was when I decided to workto a plan.

I am lucky to have friends whowill be honest with me. The firstthing I decided to do was to talkto three or four people who knowme well. This included a formeremployer. I wanted them to tellme what they thought I was goodat and what I wasnt good at!This would help me plan theright way forward. I also decidedto get some professionalguidance and went to a careerconsultant.Every conversation helped mesee the way forward. Thebreakthrough came when I wentfor a psychometric test with JohnLynam at Thomas International.This simple but hugely revealingtest helped John to identify myemployment and personalitystrengths. It all gave me a crucialingredient - the self-belief that Icould set up my own business.But what would the product be?

As director of the Hard GospelProject I was responsible for thecommunications and mediastrategy dealing with difficultissues. This was one of theaspects of the job I enjoyed most.

Added to this I have also beeninvolved in freelance journalism

Whats the Storey? Earl

reveals the reality ofstarting a new business

Earl Storey - Topstorey Communications

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