{"id":21596,"date":"2022-07-11T08:30:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T07:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=21596"},"modified":"2022-07-11T08:30:02","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T07:30:02","slug":"i-changed-my-life-through-the-ou-now-im-running-my-own-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/i-changed-my-life-through-the-ou-now-im-running-my-own-business\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I changed my life through the OU \u2013 now I\u2019m running my own business’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business owner Rhiannon is proof that with determination and the right support, anything is possible. After falling pregnant at 16, Rhiannon left school with only a handful of GCSEs. Fast forward to today, and she’s not only turned her own life around but is helping others to do the same through her business.<\/p>\n

She puts her success down to her incredibly supportive family and The Open University, despite sadly losing her mum \u2013 her biggest cheerleader \u2013 during her studies.<\/p>\n

Today, with a BA (Hons) in Humanities and English Literature<\/a> under her belt, Rhiannon, 30, is the proud co-owner of a successful marketing agency where she employs a staff of 15 \u2013 several of whom are young adults just starting out in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum pushed for me to get a degree\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Coming from a family of teachers, Rhiannon knew that if she was ever to find a well-paid job that she enjoyed, she would have to return to education.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t done well at school. I hated it. I wanted to be an adult and get a job so, in Year 10 and 11, I just didn\u2019t show up. Then at 16, I found out I was pregnant and my world changed overnight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After having her little girl, Rhiannon needed to find work but discovered her options were limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was intelligent, but my qualifications didn\u2019t demonstrate this, so there was no way I could get a job offering responsibility, creativity and decent pay,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy only options workwise were low level-manual labour and warehouse work. My mum \u2013 a teacher \u2013 told me how important it was to get a degree, and said she\u2019d support me however she could to make it possible. So, I signed up to The Open University when I was 17 and my daughter was one year old. I chose the OU because of its flexibility and because it was so highly recommended by the teachers in my family. I didn\u2019t even look elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juggling full-time work, single parenting and a degree<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Despite facing plenty of challenges \u2013 including the breakdown of her relationship after the birth of her second child, Rhiannon didn\u2019t give up. Instead, she focused on her studies harder than ever. She juggled parenting, working in the warehouse six days a week, even working a second job at times \u2013 and yet still studied every night when the children slept.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to be the right kind of role model for my children,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a challenge fitting everything in, and I spent many nights up late studying. My mum lived just around the corner and supported me in every way she could, helping with the children and keeping me company while I did my assignments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMum kept me going, even after she passed\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2014, Rhiannon\u2019s mum was sadly diagnosed with colon cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so desperate for her to see me achieve my degree that I tried to compress two years\u2019 studies into one, so she could see me graduate,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I also wanted to spend as much time as I could with her, so I went to her chemotherapy sessions and took my books along. Sadly, she passed away eight months after being diagnosed so she didn\u2019t see me finish. I\u2019m pleased she knew that I was going to achieve my degree, though. She was my biggest support and always so proud of me, even when I hadn\u2019t done anything to be proud of. She was my inspiration to keep going, even after she passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a difficult time when my mum passed away, but all my tutors were excellent,\u201d she added. \u201cI was offered so much support and was given extensions when I needed them in difficult circumstances. I finally achieved my degree in 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

From distance learning to distance marketing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After graduation, Rhiannon worked in a sales role where she was eventually challenged to take on the company\u2019s marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t studied with the OU, I\u2019d never have had the confidence to give marketing a go,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it turned out that it was what I was always meant to do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She\u2019s now set up with her own agency, Cheshire Cat Marketing<\/a>, with her husband and business partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cDistance learning is still a big part of my life \u2013 it worked so well for my OU studies that I set up a remote business. Our employees work from home,\u201d said Rhiannon. \u201cI was at my most productive when I worked independently for my OU degree, so we believe in this way of working. Like my OU classmates, my team is able to brainstorm online and work together, but also benefit from the freedom to let ourselves get in absorbed into tasks, away from office distractions.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also been inspired to help other young people who are struggling to enter the marketing field to improve their future prospects. \u201c<\/strong>A big part of my marketing agency is about giving back and helping others,\u201d she said. \u201cWe welcomed several young adults as part of the Government\u2019s Kickstart scheme, and half of them ended up becoming employees. Now we\u2019re doing the scheme again, to help even more people gain experience, and go on to a brighter future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love\u00a0other teenage\u00a0mums to see the\u00a0difference having a degree can make on\u00a0their lives\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"

Rhiannon with her children<\/p><\/div>\n

Rhiannon says her confidence levels were drastically boosted by OU study.<\/p>\n

\u201cOU study definitely changed me as a person,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m more confident and creative and less nervous. I no longer feel like I might be judged in the way I could have been, because I\u2019ve made a success of my life. I\u2019d love\u00a0other teenage\u00a0mums to see the\u00a0difference that having a degree can make to not only\u00a0their lives, but to their confidence and to their children\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

“My family gave me the push I needed and the OU gave me the leverage to get the career and life I wanted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIf anyone is thinking of studying with the OU, please just do it. However much you have going on, the support is there to get you through. It\u2019s a lot less scary than it sounds and you\u2019ll feel incredible afterwards. It boosted my confidence and made me feel equal to others. I no longer feel trapped in a career and life that I didn\u2019t want. I\u2019m empowered and know my future is only going to continue improving. Don\u2019t hesitate!<\/p>\n

\u201cI now have three children, who lead a far better life than they would have done. Plus, we are going in the right direction to continue growing our business and it\u2019s so exciting. And I remain passionate about education and helping as many people as possible to grow.<\/p>\n

“I know my mum would be incredibly proud of me, and every day I am thankful that I decided to invest time in developing myself.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business owner Rhiannon is proof that with determination and the right support, anything is possible. After falling pregnant at 16, Rhiannon left school with only a handful of GCSEs. Fast forward to today, and she’s not only turned her own life around but is helping others to do the same through her business. She puts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[869,1525,1640,1643,2146],"class_list":["post-21596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}