Rosanna Lawn | YOO
Rosanna joined YOO in August 2017 and is working towards her chartered qualification, having already completed a year on the graduate scheme at Cushman & Wakefield, which commenced September 2016. During her time at Cushman & Wakefield she was exposed to a number of different services including Retail and Leisure agency, advising on both landlord and tenant side, and Global Occupier Services working on Cushman's largest account, Vodafone.
More recently Rosanna focuses on residential projects. YOO is a predominantly residentially focussed global brand and Rosanna was approached in June 2017 by the Founder and Chairman, John Hitchcox, to come on board to assist with the start up of a new business - YOO living. Focussing on small scale residential investments and developments in prime central London. Starting from the grass roots, Rosanna has worked to set up the business, create contacts and prepare the business plan for the years ahead.
Rosanna has always advocated her profession, currently head of university engagement for RICS Matrics London, leading the organisation of events to deliver interesting topics to university students, as well as speaking to various schools and university students regarding a career in property. Rosanna has a deep interest in assisting others with their career, further demonstrated during her BSc Real Estate course, where she took on the role of President of University of Westminster property society. Rosanna was also nominated and competed in the Women In Property National Student award and graduated with first class honours and highest grade overall.
Rosanna has most recently co-founded CREation, a networking organisation for those who are at the start of their career in property - fun, free and for all. CREation aims to provide a platform for knowledge and connections to grow between the early careers cohort, regardless of what area of the industry they are in.
Georgina Demetri | London Underground
I joined Transport for London in 2013 as a Project Management Apprentice and completed a two year scheme, which consisted of four six-month placements around the organisation. The placements included two multimillion pound projects, Bond Street Station Upgrade and the ‘Fit for the Future’ project, which was part of the Station Works Improvement Programme. During this time I also achieved a Level 4 Diploma equivalent to the Association of Project Managers - Project Management qualification. Through this scheme I contributed to different areas of the business, and different stages of the project lifecycle; it provided me with an opportunity to build strong networks as well as hone my problem solving and team working skills. Currently I work as an Assistance Project Manager within the Renewals and Enhancements Department. I project manage three Mid-Tunnel Ventilation Shaft (MTVS) projects with a mechanical and electrical focus, and a combined EFC of £7.2m. I lead our in-house, multi-disciplinary design team, and coordinate works with our Principal Contractor on site to provide increased cooling benefits to the Jubilee Line. This is achieved by installing new ventilation systems that allow trains to run more frequently. The MTVS upgrade projects act as an enabler for the World Class Capacity Upgrade Programme, a major programme for London Underground and a key target of the Mayor’s Transport Plan, improving public transport for the population of Greater London.
Hazel Richards | CBRE Ltd
I am a Project Manager working in CBRE’s New Build Offices team, offering advice from project inception through to completion. My projects are predominantly commercial office developments, working with clients from one off owner occupiers to large scale developments. I work hard to become a trusted advisor for my clients, utilising the extensive knowledge within CBRE to provide world class service and advice.
Having come through the CBRE graduate scheme, I am a huge advocate for the next generation of talent coming into the business. I run the graduate recruitment within our department alongside the company’s Next Generation team. I am working hard to improve visibility of our service line amongst Universities, to increase the number of high quality applicants we receive. I also actively promote our internship scheme which is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain experience within the industry whilst they are at university.
Sophia Nesro | ISG
Sophia is currently providing corporate real estate consultancy services to ISG - a global construction and fit out company focusing on the commercial sector. The role involves advising and liaising with key stakeholders, acquiring new offices, disposing of complex estates, advising on landlord and tenant matters, as well as implementing asset management strategies across the company's global footprint to increase efficiencies and reduce occupational costs where possible.
She is also an advisory board member of the British Property Federation's Futures Group, the UK trade association for residential and commercial real estate companies. As Engagement Officer, she assists the Board with engaging professionals with less than 10 years’ experience in the sector and contributing to representing the voices of the youth in industry discussions and amongst government policy advisors.
In addition to the BPF, Sophia also sits on the advisory board of DiverseCity Surveyors, a network aimed at engaging and supporting BME professionals in the property and construction sector with official support from the RICS. Her original appointment came after being a co-founding member of CBRE's Multi-Cultural Network, the first of its kind in the industry and one of the contributing diversity strategies towards the company being the first real estate firm to achieve the National Equality Standard's official accreditation.
Ultimately, Sophia is a passionate consultant and has been active in the industry since the age of 18. She loves bringing edge and creativity to a slightly dated industry and always encourages young professionals to be just that - young. She believes that 'professional' does not have to reflect being rigid and caged in expression. Quite to the contrary, in everything she does her ultimate aim is to celebrate difference and individuality in this sector she highly values, whilst also providing exceptional real estate services that positively impact the lives of businesses and individuals
Yodaly Sierra-Rubio | CBRE Ltd
I consider myself an Energy & Finance Strategist, with two masters degrees (Distinctions in both), one in Finance & international business and another in Energy and Economics. I have 4 years of experience in the energy industry and 3 in the financial sector. Because of this unique background I am currently the Energy Finance & Business Development Manager for EMEA at CBRE, and also the youngest Associate Professor at City University of London.
My passion is sharing knowledge, this is why I’ve spoken at more than 15 conferences worldwide, including COP21 (Paris), European Commission Energy Sustainability Week 2015 (Brussels), Energy Systems Conference (London), ESTA (London), All-Energy 2016 (Glasgow), WEEC (Washington D.C.), The Uncommon Good 2017 (Kuala Lumpur). I am the current advisor board member for Electrify Europe, former Vice–Chair of the YPN Energy Institute and committee member for the UK Association of Energy Engineers.
I am proud of my desire to help South America become the greenest region in the world, of being shortlisted for the Energy Institute’s Young Energy Professional of the Year Award 2017, and of my salsa dancing skills.
Krystal Archer | SuperFoxx
I started DJing after a career as a performer on stage and TV. With no training in this area I had to learn from scratch and taught myself music production first. When the opportunity came to open a new club in London I went for it, learning the basics, feeling the fear and doing it anyway and then teaching myself the live skills afterwards from YouTube.
I honed my skills in bars and clubs before auditioning for Ministry Of Sound and becoming one of their first female DJs and touring the world. This quickly taught me two things, firstly the world does not always see women as equal (neither does the music industry) and secondly that I could use my story, my skills, my passion and technology to share empowerment for free, to enable women and girls to learn new skills which they could enjoy, master and monetise.
As I played more high profile shows I met more poweful women and grew a network of role models in all corners of the world. Whilst connecting through music we shared our values and experiences. I created my lifestyle brand SuperFoxx to provide a safe space for women to enjoy music, support and enable each other and tap into role models.
Anna Frankowska | Nightset & Nitechain
I am an Entrepreneur at heart, Economist by education, Investment Banker by the training and an extreme tech enthusiast. I am a Polish born young female entrepreneur who through my determination against all of the odds, my knowledge and experience gained through studying Economics at UCL, career at the Royal Bank of Scotland, during the course of my entrepreneurial journey have managed to build a successful company and thrive in particularly male dominated areas and the tech sector. I am digitally transforming the nightlife industry and looking to set up new disruptive companies tapping into blockchain. Nightlife has been crying out loud for a long overdue technological revolution. So far, after bootstrapping and self financing the project, I individually managed to raise £500,000 from a Bacardi family member and shareholder to build the Nightset platform, a nightlife marketplace connecting consumers and venues on one platform globally through a user driven content. Our vision is to improve the multi billion worth nightlife sector, help people have seamless nightlife journeys, better experiences and reduce frustration. As a crypto and blockchain expert I fully embrace the power of the technology to make a tangible difference to our day to day lives and intend to demonstrate this. I am participating in the fourth revolution that is transforming the world as we see it. Currently, we are building a blockchain enabled social media incentivised nightlife marketplace based on peer to peer recommendations and machine learning (www.nitechain.io). I am incredibly driven by creation and the idea of leaving the legacy behind that will have a significant positive impact on the world as a whole. I am proud of my progress at only 27 and with Nightset I have been awarded the Forbes 30 Under 30 Technology award in Europe in 2017, featured in newspapers and press around the world, selected to the Mayor of London's Business Growth Programme run by London & Partners, have become an ambassador for the #SaveNightlife campaign in London and partnered with the London Club and Bar awards and the NTIA (Night Time Industries Association, who helped save Fabric and work with Mayor Khan and his Night Czar). I am excited about our upcoming plans including our unique blockchain based solution for which we are conducting an ICO right now.
Helen Davies | Status Products & EasyTots
My name is Helen Davies. My story to the point I am now at;
Education days: 1995 -1998
My favourite A level subject was psychology and back in 1995 I was amazed to achieve the second highest mark in the country for all students that year undertaking A level psychology with that particular exam board, I receiving a commendation award letter and an award ceremony at the college I then attended Priestly College in Warrington. Needless to say as a result, I went on to study Psychology at The University Of Leicester. I actually went through clearing very last minute as I was planning a career in Zoology due to my love of animals , but due to the exam result I achieved I made a brave U turn on my degree option and I am pleased I did.
My Employment days:1999 - 2005
3 years later on graduating with a 2:1 in 1998, I went on start a career within the education service helping young people with issues. I gained my counselling qualification and worked as a learning mentor in a Salford school for 3 years (Harrop Fold School which was featured on the recent 'Educating Manchester' series). During the period 1999 - 2002 My time there was incredibly rewarding, I learned so much about life and I cared so much for the children I worked with, it was often hard and all people that work in the care environment should be commended for the work they do . I was at the time adopting a truly 'person centred' approach and helping my case students move forward. I suppose I was easy to relate to those young people, as at the time I was still young in my early to mid 20's. In 2002 - 2005 I married and moved to the Midlands where I spent the next 3 years as a Connexions personal advisor working across multiple schools in Nuneaton, with young people aged 13 - 18, where additional support was needed. My job back then was to help young people overcome their barriers to learning and life obstacles so that they could realize their potential and access the support services they needed. Most important was giving people skills and choices to make informed decisions to enable them to enter a working life, empowering themselves , despite adversity.
My first Business: 2005 - 2017
Whilst I loved my career, I always had ideas about growing a business and becoming an employer. Despite the fact I had no training at all in business I reflect back and realise I had a true entrepreneurial spirit that was eager to get out. I was in my mid to late 20's and I was married to a hard working window cleaner. In 2005 the 'Work at Height' health and safety laws changed. This meant there was an opportunity in the market to stand out as being a 'safe contractor'. I sold my first little terraced house and invested the entire 50k profit into the set up of our commercial window cleaning company in 2005. My husband carried out the work whilst I headed the company as Managing Director. I learned the industry from scratch, leaned how to deal with B2B customers and how to interact in a corporate environment. The risk I took back then to leave my secure, rewarding job and set up a window cleaning company was in hindsight quite huge! We didn't have 1 single customer the day our shiny new van arrived, but by 3 years later in 2008 and 2009 we were shortlisted as a finalists for the Midlands Business Awards ' Business Of the Year' and me personally ' Entrepreneur of the year' . Although I never won the category it was a tremendous recognition of just how far the business had come in a short time. By 2012 we had national coverage employed 18 people and some of our clients included The BBC (entire London portfolio) BP, Cadburys, RAF and Fort Dunlop Birmingham.
My Second (and current) Business: 2016 - to present
This is a business I could never have imagined myself in, A business that I just 'fell in to' and have since loved beyond anything else I've ever done so far. Nov 2014 I gave birth to my second daughter Keira. Whilst on maternity leave I came across a common problem that many parents face during the weaning stages. Quite simply she was a little monkey who got far more enjoyment from throwing her food, bowls and plates more than anything else at mealtimes. I wanted to encourage independent feeding and learning but it was difficult as nothing stayed put. I researched what was available in the UK for mums like me to buy and was disappointed with the options. I searched further afield and found that the USA had advanced in this area, having already identified the same problem.
As a result I embarked on self funded mission to design my own unique product that I could bring to the UK and solve this common problem experienced by parents in the UK. I named my brand EasyTots, I knew very little about growing a brand or the baby products industry so again was learning from absolute scratch. I immersed myself in this project and travelled to China alone to source a manufacturer that could help me achieve this. Just 8 months and 2 prototypes later I was happy and had my first ever own brand product to market, The EasyMat. The EasyMat is a silicone plate and placemat in one piece with integrated happy face sections for food and 4 very strong corner suction cups. The response to my product overwhelmed me. It fist launched on amazon early March 2016 and by May 2016 it was a bestselling item in the category. In fact I was struggling with supply and demand. It was at that point I decided to leave my previous business behind and give EasyTots the 100% commitment from myself to take it forward. We gained an international and USA trademark for EasyTots and EasyMat in Oct 2016, which we were thrilled about. Since then in Dec 2016, I launched the EasyMat Mini, a miniature version designed specifically for eating out and travel feeling with babies. This second product was an immediate best seller on amazon, and has sustained that ever since. EasyMat Mini has won a 2017 gold award for 'Best Weaning' item and was showcased on ITV's This Morning with Phil and Holly in a best baby gadgets feature.
I've travelled China twice now on my own, I felt brave to do this and empowered at the fact that my business was even leading me to now travel the wold. Its quite amazing what paths life offers us if we take them and this path for me, has so far been the most exciting so far!
In Sep 2017 I exhibited our EasyTots brand and range at our fisrt ever global trade fair in Cologne. This was my fisrt oportuity to offer our products on a distribution baiss for export internationally to other countries. The response was amazing and we now sell our EasyMats to 5 other EU countries. Just a few Months later in Jan 2018 I tralled to China Hong Kong /baby Fair, where once again I exxhibited my UK brand at one of the worlds largest globals baby products trade fairs 'Hong Kong Baby Fair'. The response from Asia to our products has been phenomanal, we have already secured distribution agreements for Tiawan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
EasyTots is only 2 years old, and I have so much more to add to my products range this year.
My mission is to to continue to make innovative, creative and useful products, in fact our slogan is; 'practical stuff, made fun'. My vision is for EasyTots and its products like EasyMat to become a UK (if not international) household names. A must have item for children, a recognised brand.
My daughter Keira is now age 3 and she has no idea that her messy eating led me down this path. I will always be grateful to her for that!
Thank you
Sukhi Jutla | MarketOrders
Sukhi Jutla left a decade of corporate life to become a serial entrepreneur and author. She is now the Founder & COO of MarketOrders, the online global marketplace for the gold jewellery trade industry.
Sukhi is the author of 2 books: 'Escape The Cubicle: Quit The Job You Hate. Create A Life You Love' and 'The FinTech Book'.
As a Female Techpreneur Ambassador, Sukhi is a regular speaker at entrepreneur and start-up events & conferences and passionate about supporting female entrepreneurship. She is also a mentor and judge at various accelerator and start-up programs. She is a passionate blockchain advocate as well as an IBM Blockchain Foundation Developer.
Sukhi is a finalist in the Asian Women of Achievement Awards (2018), a celebration of leading British Asian women who are helping to shape a better Britain with their ideas, example and talent.