Richard Nash: “It’s very rewarding to use my life experience in helping someone else move forward through their journey”.

Richard Nash is a PRIME Cymru Volunteer Mentor supporting clients who wish to start up their own business.

After leaving college in the early 1980s Richard worked as a freelancer in the commercial design sector. Within a few years he had entered into a business partnership setting up a small studio based in central London. In the heady days of the mid 1980s it developed at breakneck speed and within a short period the partnership duo had expanded, moving to larger offices and employing a design team. After a very successful run completing design projects for corporate and private clients, there came a time when differing opinions developed on a direction for the business and eventually the partners decided to go their own ways.

Richard cites this experience as a great learning curve in his journey and from that point on he maintained individual independence successfully working in close collaboration on a wide range of projects throughout the UK.

He said: “The business and consequently my own personal life moved successfully forward with my ability to be adaptable, flexible and receptive to understanding and fulfilling my clients needs.”

After a 40 year working career Richard is now stepping back to relax and enjoy spending more time fulfilling personal goals. Having observed how PRIME Cymru’s Mentoring Programme supported and helped a close friend to set up a retail business he decided to get involved and become a mentor.

“I realised that having been self-employed throughout my complete working life I had a wealth of knowledge and experience (good ones and shall we say lessons learned along the way) with which I could draw on and help in supporting PRIME Cymru clients to take steps in becoming work independent”, Richard said.

Richard has recently mentored a number of clients considering their self employment options and found it to be very fulfilling.

He adds: “As a mentor PRIME Cymru is a very supportive organisation  – with initial discussion on compatibility of clients matched to my own abilities, mentor group seminars and workshops and very much having the freedom to commit an amount of time to mentoring which matches what I am able to offer. It’s very rewarding to use my life experience in helping someone else move forward through their journey”.