Hi, I’m Karis 🍓

A social entrepreneur, comedic writer, lover of chocolate dipped strawberries, and seeker of all things fun! I am a huge advocator of business being used as a force for good, and I co-founded award winning social enterprise, Social Stories Club, a gift hamper company to showcase the awesome social enterprises in the UK and paint a picture of the incredible impact that could be made if businesses were led by a social mission.

 

It has been an exhausting and incredibly rewarding journey! We started on a market stall in Glasgow, Scotland and grew to a warehouse in Edinburgh. Our gift hampers are filled with soaps designed by individuals with disabilities, chocolates made by formerly incarcerated women, and teas whose proceeds are used to educate girls in tea-growing regions, just to name a few! All of their stories are shared in a story booklet included with each gift hamper. Each of these social enterprises has a social story that when told effectively will engage and inspire. I learnt the art of storytelling to shine a light on these awesome social enterprises and as a result, we sold a lot of hampers but importantly, we have created a vision for the future of a world where businesses can lead in solving some of the world's biggest social issues.

It has been a wild seven years! We had to learn everything from scratch from pitching to marketing and sales. What I found was that one fantastic workshop could propel my business forward and save me six months of trying to figure it out myself. This led me to create a series of enterprise workshops I deliver across the UK to inspire, excite and inform entrepreneurs about strategies for their businesses. I have created the very workshops that I needed when starting a business. I now travel the UK sharing everything I know about marketing, sales, pitching, and storytelling in the form of exciting and interactive workshops for entrepreneurs and teams to help other impact led businesses grow and scale. 

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We realized that stories were not only a powerful way to engage audiences with social causes but that stories are one of the most effective ways to change belief systems.

 

The stories we tell in business unite people with similar values behind us, create a group of raving fans, and allow us to transform communities and the environment. The stories we tell ourselves formulate a system of beliefs that determine whether we can achieve our relationship, money and career goals. 

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Expert storytellers for generations have created exciting stories for fictional characters where we can’t wait to turn the next page. These characters are faced with challenges as they work towards achieving their goals. I started coaching to help others learn these techniques in a series of deep dive coaching sessions where I will show you how to replicate these techniques so we can live our own exciting lives, and work through challenges to achieve our goals. 

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​Whether you’re looking for a guest speaker, workshop facilitator, coach, or gift hamper (or you just think I'm interesting and have another idea) reach out to me today to find out how we can work together. 

Through Social Stories Club I have:

🌟 Provided almost 6000 hours of work for individuals with barriers to employment paying the Living Wage.
🌟 Generated hundreds of five-star reviews praising our gifts as the “best they've ever received”

🌟 Introduced over 1 million people to social enterprise
🌟 Successfully served 100s corporate clients internationally.
🌟 Invested over £450k in the Social Enterprise Economy

🌟 Scottish Edge winner 2021 - £65k 

🌟 Great British Entrepreneur Awards Diversity and Inclusion Champion 2021 

🌟 Winner of The Big Issue Invest- £50k 2021 🎉

🌟Great British Entrepreneur Awards Social Impact Finalist 2021 🎉

🌟STV Growth Fund winner £25k 2021 🎉

🌟 Featured in national publications including The Times, Cosmopolitan and The Stylist 

Through my energetic and interactive workshops and guest speaking I have:

🌟 Been rated five star by 100% of people who have attended
🌟 Have been told that is “the best speech I have ever heard”
🌟 Ran the University of Edinburgh Startup Summer Accelerator
🌟 Guest spoken live to audiences of 400 people
🌟 Shared my challenges of being a dyslexic woman in business

🌟 Business Woman of the Year Finalist 2024 

🌟 Natwest UK’s top 100 women in social enterprise and impact investment 2022

🌟Business Women Scotland- Rising star of the year finalist 2020 🎉
🌟 Converge pitching winner 2019 🎉

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Karis