Angela Spang (23 August 2017)

Angela Spang’s talk was buzzing with energy and excitement – for a self-proclaimed ‘optimist introvert’, Angela came across as very open and active in her dialogue over the course of the evening. There was almost an element of flamboyance to the way in which Angela put herself and her advice across, and the fact that she was able to maintain such a high level of spontaneity and structure to her messages was phenomenal. Angela was different from the previous speakers in that she did not make her own personal entrepreneurial journey the central theme of her talk – which she claimed was down to her lack of an ego – but instead spoke about her six companies and her experiences and lessons in running these.

A running theme of the evening was that an entrepreneur should always try and in some way detach themselves from their product. As Angela said, “As entrepreneurs, you need to stop loving your product and be critical … Yes, be passionate about your product, but be critical.” Maintaining this customer focus has played a central role in how Angela runs her companies because, as she said, “Just because you have a product and you love it, doesn’t necessarily mean your customers do too.”

It was interesting to see how much attention Angela pays to body language and non-verbal behaviour signs. This is very much in line with her view that one can tell more about a person through how they act, communicate and generally put themselves across in an interview, than through reading their CV. Indeed, Angela has found non-verbal cues to be a useful resource in ascertaining how those around her are receiving her ideas, proposals and even presence. Angela claims that her personality is such that she finds talking to people and getting to know what makes them tick very interesting.

Angela Spang’s website: www.angelaspang.com

Based on a report by Connor Shotton-Oza