Ivan Hollingsworth is a well known North East fundraiser, former pharmaceutical executive, and now the founder and director of Centric Consultants. The firm was launched in a bid to tackle ‘culture-washing’ and support business leaders to build high-performing teams based on trust and psychological safety. Mr Hollingsworth says his experience training as an elite-level athlete and as chair of CHUF (The Children’s Heart Unit Fund) has allowed him to observe the ingredients for high performance.
What was your first job (and what did it pay)? I suppose we can discount washing neighbours cars in my street for £3 a time aged around 11 or 12! My first ‘proper’ jobs were part-time over the summer right after graduating university – I worked at what is now the Utilita Arena in Newcastle selling hotdogs and nachos, coached kids at a summer athletics club and was a fitness trainer at a health club – it was a busy summer!
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? My close friend Jo Feeley, founder and managing director of TrendBible, gave me the best professional advice around a month after setting up Centric Consultants. I was feeling like an imposter and having a bit of a wobble, so I asked if she was free for a chat. She said yes immediately and told me to ‘build my raft one log at a time, focusing on the areas I was most passionate and skilled at first’. I will never forget the faith that she showed in me and the confidence I felt after that lunch.
