Karina and Co is a Disability Consultancy that works to match people with disabilities to appropriate mentors and supports.
We talk directly to founder and Sourdough mentee Karina McKey on her mentoring experience.
What inspired you to contact Sourdough and request a mentor?
We knew we were about to enter a new market with unprecedented opportunity for development. We also knew as a young team that had commenced the business as a start up that we didn’t have the experience or knowledge of scaling that would be required to grow smartly. Sourdough had the highest calibre of mentors we had seen and a focus on matching the right mentor based on skills set need. Other programs have offered mentors, but they’ve often had no more experience than me and therefore little to offer. Sourdough had really great people.
Who was your mentor?
Jennifer Joiner.
Briefly describe your experience with your mentor.
Jennifer had a wealth of knowledge and significant experience in all kinds of sectors. Our first session was used to identify my priority areas and after that she challenged me to extend my thinking, refine my ideas and look for efficiencies with a view to long term sustainability. Every session gave me what felt like a years worth of work to go away and do!
What were the tangible results you got from your mentoring experience?
Our business scaled significantly, whilst maintaining the service quality we wanted to keep. We were able to consolidate and improve our systems to gain significant cost efficiencies and pass independent audit verification. Most importantly we were able to clarify our service vision and use this to inform our KPI’s and costings.
- % increase in revenue? We have seen over a 700% increase in revenue in the 18 months we’ve been working with Sourdough
- Increased number of employees? We have seen an increase of approx. 20 employees in the 18 months we’ve been working with Sourdough
- Expansion and growth of your business? Our client and staff retention rate is significantly higher than our competitors, which in a rapidly changing market space means we are expanding the right way. Growth for the sake of getting bigger is silly.
Do you have any other insights to share about you mentoring experience with Sourdough?
Sourdough mentors encourage you to think for yourself. Your mentor won’t strategise for you but will focus on building your capacity and strategic thinking skills. For this reason the legacy of Sourdough mentoring far outlives the time you access a mentor.
What are the next steps for your business?
Our next steps are exciting. We have a new product currently in testing stage, a promising micro business program to support self employment in the disability community and we are on the search for some talented new staff to join the K&Co team.