Being selected for Channel 4's "Secret Genius", a show hosted by Alan Carr and Susie Dent that finds exceptional thinkers, was the catalyst to start Helen Pender Consulting and led me to join Mensa.

Today I sort out the tech behind activity, service and membership businesses. I get unreasonably excited about setting up and connecting CRM, leads, payments, spreadsheets, accounting and communications, so data flows between them and you get hours of your week back. As a Capsule CRM Partner and Zapier Silver Solution Partner, I turn scattered spreadsheets, inboxes and disconnected tools into systems that work together. Pattern spotting and problem solving is what I do best.

It's an approach built over a long career. I've run The Stage Factory, a performing arts school in St Helens, for 21 years, managing the registers, the rosters, the revenue and everything in between, so I know exactly where the admin hides in a business built on classes, memberships and recurring customers. I also spent 12 years at VINCI Construction in pensions and payroll, leading process improvements and digitising manual work. My biggest project moved handwritten wage sheets into Excel, then used SQL to automate data entry and cleaning for direct import into the payroll system.

Alongside the consultancy, I'm developing a software tool for my own dance school. The project has sharpened my understanding of how management platforms are designed, where they fall short, and what owners actually need from them.

To deepen that technical foundation, I'm currently working through Meta's backend development programme, building a more structured understanding of how digital products are architected and scaled, particularly the CRM, membership and customer-management platforms that service businesses rely on.

If you run a business and suspect your systems aren't working as hard as you are, or you're a software company building tools for service-based businesses, I'd be glad to connect.