After more than 25 years working in marketing and communications across Devon and Cornwall, Charlotte understood the value of continual learning.

Holding a BSc in Tourism Management and having built an extensive career supporting tourism and environmental organisations, most recently with Tamar Valley National Landscape, Charlotte was looking for an opportunity to refresh her knowledge and stay up to date with the latest developments in digital marketing.

Following redundancy in July 2025, the timing proved particularly significant.

While searching online for local opportunities to enhance her skills, Charlotte discovered the Digital Marketing Skills Bootcamp. The course immediately stood out.

"Every session sounded really interesting and relevant, the guest speakers appealed to me, and the online, once-a-week format made the course accessible and achievable."

Although already highly experienced in communications and marketing, Charlotte recognised that the industry is constantly evolving.

"I wanted to be brought bang up to date with the latest thinking in digital marketing. Despite my experience, there's always something new to learn. That's why I love marketing and communications."

Throughout the programme, Charlotte explored a wide range of contemporary digital marketing topics, including buyer personas, audience trust, social media strategy, content pillars, search engine optimisation and the effective use of artificial intelligence. She particularly valued learning how to create highly targeted AI prompts to generate useful and meaningful results.

Of all the course themes, one concept had the greatest impact.

"Understanding your 'why?' really resonated with me."

Inspired by the course and further reading of Simon Sinek's work, Charlotte used this principle to shape the vision and mission of her new business. By grounding her communications in her purpose and values, she found greater clarity and confidence in her messaging.

The learning has also directly influenced the services she now provides to clients. She plans to use buyer personas and content pillars to help organisations improve their social media planning and content creation, while focusing her own business presence exclusively on LinkedIn rather than trying to maintain visibility across every platform.

Charlotte found the programme highly manageable alongside her existing commitments.

"Because it was so interesting, I wanted to complete each piece of work after each session while it was fresh in my mind."

She also speaks highly of the support delivered throughout the programme.

"Rachel and Lucy were brilliant, checking in and providing support and guidance with the assignments."

The course's greatest outcome, however, was not simply an increase in knowledge. It gave Charlotte the confidence to pursue a long-held ambition.

"The confidence to set up my new business, that I've been wanting to do for so long."

Today, Charlotte has launched Charlotte Dancer Communications and Proofreading Services, combining her extensive experience with the fresh insights gained through the Skills Bootcamp.

Looking ahead, she hopes to become the go-to provider of communications and proofreading support for tourism and environmental organisations across Devon and Cornwall before eventually expanding throughout the South West and working with heritage organisations as well.

Among her favourite aspects of the programme were the variety of topics covered and the guest speakers, particularly Faye Dicker, whose insights continue to influence her work.

Charlotte has no hesitation in recommending the programme to others.

"Continued learning is such a gift, and this course is delivered so expertly. You'll be swept along by the energy of the tutors and guest speakers and will learn so much."

Her advice for anyone considering further training is equally encouraging:

"Just go for it. It's a fantastic course with long-lasting impact, providing practical ideas as well as industry insights."

For Charlotte, the Digital Marketing Skills Bootcamp provided much more than updated knowledge. It helped transform years of experience into renewed confidence, giving her the foundations to build the business she had always wanted to create.

“The confidence to set up my new business, that I've been wanting to do for so long.”