About Us

Who we are

Valeska Ltd is a company that specialises in the personal, business, emotional, spiritual, intuitive and leadership development of women business owners in order to help them achieve their individually defined success; Based in the North West of England and serving a global market - we pride ourselves on providing consistent value to everyone who comes in to contact with us, creating the environment and giving them the help and support to acquire the fulfilment and freedom they desire.

Nicola Foster

Nicola Foster is the Founder and Managing Director of Valeska Ltd - a business woman for over 6 years - Nicola is passionate about helping and supporting committed, positive, intelligent and resourceful business women to help them take control of their crazy lives and achieve the freedom that they desire and more importantly - deserve. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and educated to Masters Degree level, she is a technical expert in people management and development, a facilitator, trainer, coach and mentor. She is driven by personal and business challenges whilst achieving something of value.

"As women, so often we lose sight of ourselves and just focus on the 'doing' and of course - everyone else's needs without regard to our own!

Not much has changed from when my mum and nana were growing up - the big difference for working women of the noughties is that we have been conditioned with these emotional legacies and then with the advancement of gender equality (I use this term loosely) we got full time careers without shedding any of our other responsibilities or developing our emotional awareness. We became our own worst enemies and as such our emotional needs were put 'over there' to deal with when we had the time!

That time catches up with you in the name of 'stress', 'despair', 'anxiety' or 'total burn out' where you are no good to anyone, let alone yourself and so the vicious cycle kicks in. The Imposter Syndrome takes hold 'but I am a business woman who should be able to cope with everything and people will find me out!'

It is about knowing your worth, being true to yourself and re-connecting to what nature bestowed on us. We are not superwomen - we are unique and deserve to take time for ourselves in order that we can make a difference in the lives of others.

It starts with you!"

How did you become focused on helping women business owners?

My own years of experience as a business women and active involvement in networking and women's enterprise has meant that I have come in to contact with many other women business owners, listening to their challenges, fears, ideas and visions. We have shared many discussions about how to overcome those limiting beliefs and achieve personal and business success. Based on skills, experience, knowledge and passion it was a no brainer that Valeska would service possibilities for this market to help other business women overcome their challenges by facilitating connections and providing the tools and opportunities that didn't exist to help women be successful in business in conjunction with focusing on their emotional needs - and ultimately the freedom that comes with achieving their desired success.

What do you understand about leadership?

It is important that you first understand yourself, your motives, your beliefs, your emotions. It is the relationship with yourself that will make the difference in achieving your defined success. It is about taking 100% responsibility for your life and being accountable for all the choices that you make.

What are your core values and principles? Who do you stand for?

It is the adaptability and consistency that will inform your role as an authentic leader. It is essential that when leading and influencing others, you ensure that people feel treated as peers rather than subordinates. The environment is then created where people are free to question or provide constructive feedback. Leaders need vision in order to lead people to achieve that vision - where are you going? What are you trying to achieve? How will you know if you have achieved it? What measurements are in place? The maintenance of a results driven focus by meeting challenges and opportunities head on and continuously valuing your staff and addressing performance weaknesses are key components to achieving that vision.

What is your philosophy on the Mentoring approach?

It was Sir Harvey Jones that said that 'it should be compulsory that everyone who goes in to business should have a mentor allocated at start up' - we agree!

Everyone needs a mentor to fast track their way to achieving their desired outcomes - always knowing what it is you want and where you are going? We have the invaluable input of Jean Otte who mentors through a scheduled monthly phone call and unlimited email. Jean has a highly successful company called Women Unlimited based in New York, serving corporate America in the attraction, retention and advancement of female talent. She is the author of 'Changing the Corporate Landscape - Cultivating Leadership Excellence'. Our programmes are based on the model that she developed and she gives us permission to adapt the programme tailored to our market. We have not only gained priceless information from her to elevate our business, but we have become good friends. Thank you Jean!

And what makes Valeska unique as a company to work for?

We live what we preach! Walking the walk and not just talking the talk. We lead authentically and employ policies and procedures to embrace equality, diversity and creativity. We believe that companies can and should be great places to work - after all you spend the majority of your time there.

Some initiatives include:

Ideas and contributions rewarded;
Valeska Day 20th July (the day Valeska was founded) to celebrate being a great company;
Recruited mostly on attitude as skills can be learnt;
Individual development plan on start up to identify who they are and how we can help them live their lives so that we all benefit;
If a problem or challenge comes your way - you own it!;
Led in a way - How can I help? How can we do better?;
Team development days twice a year;
Day off on your birthday!

The next step is to discuss how we can be of service to steer you toward your path to freedom.

Please go to our Services and Programmes section or contact us.