Entrepreneur of the Year entrant – Teejay Dowe
TeeJay Dowe has gone from being a pharmacist treating people’s bodies to a performance and lifestyle coach working with their minds.
A speaker and bestselling author, she runs four thriving enterprises and has a team of five staff based at Newstead Industrial Estate, Stoke-on-Trent.
Under the umbrella of Back on Track People Ltd TeeJay’s businesses include medical training venture Momentum People, Back on Track Teens which focuses on coaching and training young people and families and Back on Track Strategies which extends its support to adults and businesses. TeeJay also set up Spark to your Success as a Community Interest Company to ensure her services are accessible to all.
TeeJay left school at 16 to become a student pharmacy technician, enrolling to Aston University at the age of 29 to qualify as a pharmacist.
She worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital for eight years before deciding she wanted to change her own life and the lives of other people.
“I grew up believing I wasn’t good enough,” she said. “I left school at 16 because I thought I wasn’t good enough to do A levels. That belief caused me so many problems along the way.
“I made it to my mid-30s and thought I had to find out more about how to change my life. It was literally a journey of personal discovery. I travelled around the world and it changed my world. I changed my job, left my marriage and left pharmacy altogether.
“These days I can encourage people to change their lives in a different way. We can all tap into things naturally before we get to the stage of needing medication. My background means that I understand health, wellbeing and mental health.”
TeeJay set up her business in 2006, allowing it to naturally grow into four linked ventures.
Back on track teens was founded in 2012 with the ambitious goal of positively impacting the lives of 10 million young people.
Recognising the significance of cultivating self-worth and inner confidence in young people, TeeJay aims to support young people’s personal, professional and overall wellbeing.
She added: “My heart, soul and passion is making a difference for young people. That may involve working with people who have children or who work with children. They can use what I teach to empower young people.”
TeeJay has entered the Entrepreneur of the Year category of the Staffordshire University Business Awards.