Gina on Pathway to Develop Her Business

SERC Level 2 Award in Innovation and Enterprise in Practice alumna Gina Black (29), from Bangor, has secured a place on Queen’s University Belfast's ‘QUest’ Programme.  

The QUest Programme is designed to help entrepreneurs explore market opportunities and to understand their customers. It supports any business idea that demonstrates novelty, strong market potential, and the ability to create meaningful social, economic, or environmental value by providing mentorship, financial support, and masterclasses to participants. Gina first heard about the programme through a connection she made during the 30 Under 30 Climate Change Makers NI Programme, run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Podiem.  

Gina signed up for the programme in hopes of developing her business concept.  She comments, “My business concept is a physiotherapy app that aims to improve patient adherence to prescribed physio routines through gamified, story-driven features; think Duolingo, but for physiotherapy. Based on experience, I know how hard it can be to stay motivated, especially when progress isn’t immediately visible. This app is designed to make exercises more engaging and rewarding, helping users feel the long-term benefits of consistency and rebuild confidence in their bodies.” 

Gina is a SERC alumna who first developed her business concept as part of the Dream Big Programme’s Level 2 Award in Innovation and Enterprise in Practice at SERC; “My Dream Big course marked the start of my entrepreneurial journey back in January 2024. I’d always known I wanted to work for myself and build something meaningful with strong social impact, but I didn’t know how to begin. SERC has supported me since my A-Levels, encouraging me to reach my full potential. With my lecturers’ guidance, I went on to study Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Queen’s University Belfast, graduating with First Class Honours. So, when I learnt about the Dream Big Programme, I was excited to join an environment that I knew would nurture my ideas and help guide the next stage of my journey.” 

“The course facilitators met each participant and introduced us to key concepts in design thinking and lean start-up methodology. We had access to resources to keep building our business ideas after the programme ended and we learned directly from local business owners about the real challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship. My favourite part of the course was meeting other talented entrepreneurs – many of whom I continue to see at events across the innovation space. The Dream Big Programme gave me a solid foundation in entrepreneurial thinking and helped me shift my mindset from simply having an idea to validating and developing it. It helped me assess the viability of multiple concepts before identifying the one with the strongest potential.”  

Gina concludes, “Dream Big provided me with the roadmap I needed to start pursuing my dreams of entrepreneurship with confidence, clarity, and a strong peer network that I still lean on today, and I’m very excited to take the next steps in business development on the QUest programme.”