My experience as a Time to Shiner - Aja Cooke

Last month I reached the end of my time on the Time to Shine programme, funded by the Rank Foundation. The experience has been second to none and one that I will always be grateful for and remember as pivotal to my career journey. 

I have built on skills that I had and learned some new ones through my journey both with Iridescent Ideas CIC and through the Time to Shine Programme. My role at Iridescent Ideas has been Film and Digital Content Developer and I have enhanced my editing skills and have been able to provide a series of informative videos that Iridescent can use to sell to clients who wish to start or grow their social enterprises and charities. Through the Time to Shine programme, I have also been able to use the past twelve months to enhance my skills through courses and development opportunities and have used this to learn more about Social Enterprises and the third sector as well as trying to create the best content I can for Iridescent.

The Time to Shine programme provided me with three conferences situated all across England (London, Cheltenham and Leeds) where I was able to meet so many different people with amazing backgrounds and amazing futures. I can honestly say that not only were these people a brilliant cohort for the year but also friends that I can take into my future. Every couple of months, we were able to attend an Action Learning Set, run by the amazing Ryan Cheetham, our facilitator. These sessions were a great way to problem solve and also allowed us as a group to team build and work together.

During my time as a Time to Shiner, one of the skills I am most proud to have enhanced is my leadership skills. I have been able to take on projects, both through Iridescent and through the programme itself, and make them my own. With Iridescent, this was my filming and editing and problem solving any issues I faced as well as trying to think creatively and analytically to what the clients may need. With the Time to Shine programme this was being proactive in the  conferences and Action learning, as well as taking a leader role in our group presentation back in September 2022. Working on this skill has massively increased my confidence in my own skills professionally and personally. I feel confident in knowing what works and what doesn’t when it comes to my work for Iridescent and I feel confident within myself as a future leader. 

​I have been incredibly fortunate to work with such a brilliant team at Iridescent who have been incredibly accommodating and supportive throughout my twelve months. I have had amazing opportunities with them such as networking with other Social Enterprises and also attending the Social Enterprise UK awards with them. I truly believe that these twelve months are just the start of what will be an amazing career for myself and I would like to wholeheartedly thank the Rank Foundation and Iridescent Ideas for allowing me this amazing opportunity and for believing in me.