A New Milestone for Chiron

This summer marks five years since I founded Chiron Hotel Consulting. I wanted to acknowledge the milestone, but wasn't particularly interested in celebrating it by listing accomplishments. 

Instead, I organised two events in Paris for female founders based on the five lessons I've learnt from five years running my business.

 Rather than focusing on revenue, growth or success, I took the mistakes I'd made over the past five years and turned them into practical lessons in what not to do.

We spoke honestly about the good, bad, ugly, uplifting, satisfying and stressful parts of building a business.

Preparing those talks made me think more deeply about what I believe entrepreneurship is actually for.

For me, one of its greatest possibilities is freedom: the freedom to build a working life that reflects your values, your priorities and the way you really want to live.

I don't believe that freedom should end with the founder.

Instead, I believe growth should benefit others. My definition of a successful business is one that creates work, develops skills, shares knowledge and, where it can, help open doors for those who need it most.

That belief has shaped an important decision for Chiron.

From 1st of August, we will donate 1% of all revenue to Harmony House in India, initially as part of a one-year partnership.

Harmony House is a charitable organisation based in Delhi that supports children and families from some of the city's most disadvantaged communities. 

Since 2009, it has provided education, nutritious meals, healthcare, vocational training and community support, helping more than 1,200 children build brighter, healthier and more independent futures.

What particularly resonated with me is that Harmony House doesn't just respond to immediate need; it creates long-term opportunity; alongside its work with children, it also runs training programmes for women and young adults, helping them build skills, confidence and pathways into employment.

Alongside supporting Harmony House's existing work, we're developing a bespoke programme together focused specifically on women and girls.  

It will centre on vocational and IT training, employability and financial independence, with the longer-term ambition of creating internship opportunities through Chiron.

It's a programme we've designed together, and one I'm incredibly excited to see develop over the coming years. 

Lucy Bruce, the founder of Harmony House, had this to say about our collaboration:

"All of the team at Harmony House and I are incredibly proud and grateful for the opportunity to partner with Chiron Consulting. Together we are turning compassion and a shared belief in human values into a mission to empower women, educate under-privileged children and create the hope of a better future for those who need it the most."

The decision to work in India is also deeply personal. India and its people have given me so much.

I first travelled there in my early twenties and went on to spend six years returning several times a year while working at Ampersand Travel. 

My fascination with the country eventually led me to study for a Master's in Indian art and architecture at SOAS.

I later lived and worked in Delhi and Dehradun as Marketing Director at Vana, before the pandemic brought that chapter to a close.

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India has shaped my career, my education, many of my friendships and a great deal of how I understand the world.

Quite simply, I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. This is my small way of saying thank you.

One thing I felt quite strongly about was starting this partnership now, rather than waiting until Chiron reached some imaginary point where it felt "big enough". There will always be another milestone, another target or a supposedly better moment.

But if this is genuinely part of the kind of business I want to build, then it should be embedded in our growth rather than added later once we feel we've "made it".

I don't know exactly what the next five years will look like, but I do know this is the kind of business I want Chiron Consulting to become.

Every new client and every project will now contribute directly to this partnership and, I hope, help create opportunities far beyond my own business.

To everyone who has supported Chiron, worked with us or trusted us over the past five years, thank you.