‘Female Founder of the Year’ shocked to win accolade despite more than two decades of hard work

Kim Hughes founded Goldings Communications in April 2021 and was given this award on the penultimate day of the Female Founders Summit last month.

Kim launched her business during the pandemic following a period of reflection, having worked in-house roles and freelance in the public relations (PR) industry until that point.

She finally felt in a position to take the leap to set something up, having watched her father work for himself, and Kim wishes she had done it sooner. She asked herself what she really wanted and decided life is too short.

Goldings Communications is a PR and reputation management company with a range of services available, including media relations and coverage, award nominations and crisis communications.

Kim has worked in PR for more than 24 years and is proud to collaborate with changemaker clients who have a social and environmental impact – which is the business’ niche.

Something else that Kim believes clients appreciate is their focus on credibility and authority, and the guarantee that they are not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes through PR.

It was as a result of the work that Kim did in the Academy programme with Lucienne Coaching that she was named Female Founder of the Year.

When asked why she made the decision to join this initiative, Kim told the Chronicle & Echo: “Everyday is a school day, especially when you’re running a business. I wanted to build a community with like-minded people with successful businesses and those who have just started out.

“There are no fixed rules about how to do things and we went back to basics to ensure the fundamentals are in place.”

The Academy was a time of reflection for Kim, with a focus on her mission, vision, values, marketing, branding, sales and financials when it comes to Goldings Communications.

Talking about her prestigious award win, she continued: “I was genuinely shocked and didn’t see it coming. I was looking around the room and wondering who it was. It was a lovely surprise.”

As a big advocate for getting her clients to nominate themselves for awards, Kim plans to practice what she preaches when it comes to shouting and highlighting wins. “It’s a great achievement,” she said.

Having refined a number of the service offerings at Goldings Communications, Kim and her team of three look forward to rolling these out in the near future.

For more information on Goldings Communications, visit the business’ website here.