About Kirsty
Kirsty James has been offering networking services since 2007, when she became self-employed, 4-months pregnant with her second of three children and seeking more flexibility around family commitments than was offered at the time in her employed, corporate setting.
Kirsty grew up and still lives in South Warrington and has a strong sense of social responsibility. Her commitment to connecting with purpose, authenticity and humanity is integral to how she operates her business and leads her life.
Kirsty is generous with her time and her ventures enrich the framework of community and business support in/near Warrington as well as offering consistent support to steering committees and charities.
Kirsty is a networking and relationship-marketing specialist with a track record in:
Networking and Connection
Personal Brand and Reputation
Event Hosting and Facilitation
Kirsty champions business growth, manages ventures that add value and investment into the local economy, and aligns her fierce loyalty to community with her core values of collaboration and connection.
Kirsty aligns her fierce loyalty to community with her primary values of collaboration and connection.
TEDx Speaker
In 2024, Kirsty pursued her love and support of TED and TEDx content and added TEDx Speaker status to her existing achievement as the Organiser and Curator of TEDxWarrington.
Delivering her idea ‘Building a Legacy: The Power of Collective Achievement’ at the TEDxNorthwich live event in July 2024, her talk has now been approved by TED and features on the TEDx YouTube channel.
The woman behind the business
Lover of travel, community, connecting folk and being busy.
Huge supporter of community engagement and CSR, promoting cross-sector project work and associate collaborations, she has fundraised thousands for various regional causes over the years and been the catalyst for other people's success and wellbeing.
Into authentic business and community networking.
Wife, mum of three, and with personal and business interests that involve charities, languages and family wellbeing via parental education events.
Praised for her ‘strong moral leadership’ and ‘pay-it-forward’ approach.
Personal achievements
- Becoming a TEDx speaker in 2024.
- 35 years with my husband (met at Kent Uni and travelled together for years).
- 3 children that still join us for dinner and talk to us.
- Receiving the Prime Ministers Points of Light award in December 2020.
- Obtaining the licence for and delivering TEDxWarrington events in 2022 and 2023.
- Community and charity work, including the Covid project Leave No One Behind In Lymm and SoupOTG (community crowdfunding events).
- Completing a weekly 5k (at Parkrun and lockdown equivalents) since Nov 2019 after being challenged to run (which I dislike) at a business wellbeing event I ran. Subsequent set up of a female novice runners support group called NetRun.
- Bringing the Google Bus to Lymm (in the snow) as part of promotions towards the repurposing of Lymm Library into Lymm Business Centre which I helped set up and manage.
- Walking ‘the Queue’ in 2022 - 12 hours through the night to visit Queen Elizabeth II Lying in State.
An unstoppable force of nature and a catalyst for profound, positive change.
Lesser known facts
- Aged 20, I was held up in an armed robbery in a post office where I had a part time job. I got victim support money and a prescription for sleeping pills. I binned the pills, popped the money in a savings account and a few months later left the country to backpack around Canada.
- I speak French fluently and studied in France for 2 years where I wrote my Master’s thesis on Retention Marketing in French.
- I travelled to 78 countries during years of backpacking in my twenties and worked in many of these, including a stint in the presidential campaign office in Washington DC (which my daughter translates into “my mum worked for Barak O’Banana”. Wrong President darling, let alone name!)
- I was an adrenalin junkie BC (Before Children). Wouldn’t dare these days. Sky-dived, bungy-jumped, hand-glided, and black and white water-rafted (almost killed on the Zambesi when I was knocked unconscious and out of the boat by an oar and fell metres from the ‘Commercial Suicide’ rapid you don’t ride).
- I glazed windows, operated on a cheetah, helped slay a goat (I’m sorry), and was robbed whilst on a voluntary work expedition to Namibia.
- I had Heart Surgery ❤ in January 2021.
- I’m writing a book about networking and relationship-building.
About the Business and Brands
Kirsty James has been offering networking and relationship-marketing services since 2007.
Her first networking business was a networking group (Lymm Networking Group), set up in order to support fellow local businesses meet one another. There were very few networking events in Warrington at the time (no independents back in 2007, just a few franchised brands). The free drop-in quarterly coffee morning turned into Colony Networking in 2010 and then into a commercial entity with several go-to event brands on the Warrington calendar attracting hundreds.
Trading names and event brands associated with Kirsty have included Colony Networking, Colony Women, Colony Wellbeing, Warrington Business Expo, KTS Women in Business, Club90.
In 2022, the various event and consultancy businesses she managed were consolidated into a single business – Kirsty James Consulting.
Throughout 2023-2024, Kirsty increased her speaking, training and consultancy work. Several of her event brands were sold or passed to associates, so reducing the number of events she now directly organises.
Kirsty continues to curate and host: TEDxWarrington, Cheshire Women in Business International Women’s Day, Warrington Curry Club, and The Literary Lunch (founded by Sue France).
Kirsty also co-organises adhoc events for Soup On The Go (community Crowdfunding events) and Think Family Matters (family wellbeing events runs in schools) – both of which are social enterprises she co-owns.
Qualified and Award-Winning
Qualified (in both the UK and France) with a Masters in Business (and a thesis in French on retention marketing), Kirsty spent 10 years in corporate environments before setting up in business in 2007.
She’s spearheaded several award-winning projects and obtained a Prime Minister’s Award for her community work.
Many who have worked with Kirsty say it is her strong moral leadership that differentiates and drives her projects. She fosters a ‘pay it forward’ culture, fuelled by a desire to support the business and wider community.
Her pivotal role in helping to establish and manage the charity Lymm Sanctuary Hub and Business Centre (LSHBC), helped repurpose and save her local Library into a community and business hub that has now secured National Lottery funding for its community projects, created employment and offered affordable office space to several small businesses.
Awards & Achievements
- TEDx Speaker 2024
- Northern Power Women Nominee 2023
- Warrington Business Awards Winner 2023
- Cheshire Woman of the Year Finalist 2022
- Cheshire Life Top 70 Cheshire Champion 2022
- Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award 2020
- Cheshire Life’s Community Initiative 2020
- Lymm High School Community Hero 2021
- Lymm Radio Hero 2020
- The Essential Guide Unsung Hero 2017
