Community is the root — la raíz.
Oshum CIC Consulting brings wellbeing, joy and business expertise to people rebuilding their lives, careers and confidence — inspired by two women who did exactly that.
Two women, one root
Oshum CIC Consulting was founded by two Latin American immigrant women, Maria Elisa Gonzalez and Claudia Maria Martin, whose paths crossed in the UK at a difficult turning point in both of their careers.
Each had already built a substantial career at home — one in entrepreneurship and yoga, the other in finance and accountancy — yet on arriving in the UK, both found themselves giving so much while feeling muted: without fair opportunities, and working in the shadow of careers they had worked so hard to build.
In searching for their voice again, they began reaching out to entrepreneurs within their local community — and found a tribe. People who understood the sense of belonging that gets lost when you leave your country, your family and your friends behind to start again somewhere new.
“Community is the root — la raíz. Bringing the power of femininity as a light through the challenge.”
Named after Oshun, the Yoruba goddess of charity and femininity — who represents opportunity and light within challenge — Oshum CIC Consulting brings together Maria Elisa and Claudia's shared passion for yoga, dance, drama and the Spanish language, and their professional grounding in marketing, entrepreneurship and finance.
At a glance
- Community Interest Company, led by two directors
- Two arms: wellbeing events & business consulting
- Outreach model — we come to you
- Bilingual, English & Spanish
Hope, joy and empowerment — with two arms
Oshum CIC Consulting is a Community Interest Company that exists to bring hope, joy and empowerment to women and individuals facing hardship, and to strengthen other community-minded businesses along the way.
Community Wellbeing & Empowerment Events
A rolling programme of wellbeing, creative and community events for women from minority backgrounds, older and disabled people, single mothers living in poverty, people from marginalised backgrounds, survivors of domestic abuse, migrants, refugees and people living with mental health difficulties.
See the full programme →Business Consulting & Capacity-Building
Marketing, finance and general business consulting for CICs, social enterprises and small businesses led by people from minority backgrounds, immigrants, refugees and single mothers — helping them build sustainable, well-run organisations of their own.
See consulting services →What we offer
Every session and every consulting engagement is designed and delivered personally by Maria Elisa and Claudia, drawing on professional training as much as lived experience.
Community Wellbeing & Empowerment Events
Delivered individually or combined into themed sessions, at partner institutions, hired venues, or wherever our community needs us — including care homes, hospitals, schools, and domestic abuse and rehabilitation centres.
Business Consulting & Capacity-Building
Practical, affordable and culturally attuned support for CICs, social enterprises, and minority-, immigrant- and single-parent-led businesses.
Full pricing is confirmed by quotation for institutions and consulting clients — get in touch for a tailored proposal.
Maria Elisa Gonzalez
“Every business I've built started the same way — with one person deciding to try.”
Maria Elisa has spent more than ten years building things from scratch. In her home country she founded and grew a business school, and launched her own clothing brand — proof, long before she ever needed it herself, that she knows how to turn an idea into something real.
She is also a qualified yoga teacher trainer. Beyond teaching yoga herself, she trains other teachers, and delivers workshops and courses in yoga, meditation, stress liberation and mindfulness for schools and universities — helping young people and educators build tools for calm long before a crisis hits.
A native Spanish speaker, Maria Elisa leads Oshum CIC Consulting's Spanish-language workshops, and brings a background wellbeing and sociocultural events.
Her deepest expertise, though, may be one she never trained for: rebuilding a career and a network from nothing, after emigrating to the UK. That lived experience is what she brings to every woman and every business owner Oshum CIC Consulting works with.
Claudia Maria Martin
“Good bookkeeping and a good drama workshop solve the same problem — they both bring order somewhere it was missing.”
Claudia is a qualified accountant with more than ten years' experience working alongside successful local businesses, from small operations to medium-sized companies, across every layer of finance — processes, project and revenue accounting, payroll, tax and consulting. She holds an AAT Level 4 qualification, alongside a background in mental health awareness, psychology and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
Long before Oshum CIC Consulting existed, Claudia was already doing this work informally — supporting community sustainability and opportunity wherever she found it.
She is also a drama and dance instructor, with a history as a performer and cultural ambassador in marginalised communities, working directly with people from vulnerable backgrounds. It's a combination that shows up in how she works: the same person who can untangle a CIC's accounts can also lead a room through a drama workshop.
For Claudia, numbers and performance aren't opposites — they're two different ways of helping people feel steady enough to move forward.