Kallum’s Story – Accelerating Acorns into Oaks
Award-winning Fife entrepreneur Kallum “with a K” Russell was the final business person in the 2015/16 season to share ‘My Story’ with members of St Andrews Business Club at its April breakfast meeting.
His LinkedIn profile says: “I am passionate about marketing, entrepreneurship and all things local. I connect people, places and things. I enjoy challenging the norm, the mundane and the accepted. Put simply, I make things happen and enjoy doing it.” His CV backs that up in spades.
Since graduating with a First Class MA in Management with Marketing from Heriot-Watt University in 2011, Kallum has:
• Worked with two start-ups in Edinburgh
• Launched a networking group for Dunfermline
• Created a marketing consultancy aimed at helping small businesses
• Been a local radio presenter
• Founded a local events website
• Started a 3D printing business
• Become a member of the Fife Area Board for Young Enterprise Scotland
• Co-founded Fife business accelerator Acorn Enterprise with Liberty Business Centres owner Jerry Alexander – who thought his ‘business accelerator on the High St’ idea was so good he decided to back it and give it premises
• Been listed in this year’s Sunday Times Maserati 100 Index – for Britain’s most successful philanthropists, investors, mentors, advisors and ascending entrepreneurs supporting the next generation of business talent
• Learned many lessons from the failures he’s had
• Never given up
Acorn Enterprise is dedicated to growing Scotland’s startup business culture. It’s already worked with 75 “Acorns” (participants) and of those who’ve completed the programme 75% are still trading and growing. And expanded into Acorn Business Bootcamps – teaching graduates how to start their own businesses, rather than become employees.
The last theme is key to his personal mission – to grow Scotland’s entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem as the existing education system – based on the industrial model designed to produce employees for ‘jobs for life’ careers in large organisations – is broken. And get people past the fear of failure that holds them back as well as promote the idea that not every business has to be globally scaleable.
Kallum shared with members two key messages:
1. You can achieve ANYTHING you want to!
2. Life begins at the end of your Comfort Zone
His Top 5 lessons:
1. Go Networking
2. Get A Mentor
3. Understand and Develop Yourself
4. Start with the End in Mind
5. Enjoy What You Do!
His favourite quote is: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” If you don’t, he and his Acorns will!
Acorn Enterprise can be found at www.acornenterprise.co.uk
