Carol Stewart – Keynote & Host

Carol Stewart is the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading with Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman listed as one of the 10 best books written by women to read during lockdown. She is an Executive, Career, and Leadership Coach, Speaker, Trainer and Author.

She specialises in introverted women who are senior leaders and other underrepresented groups. She coaches leaders who experience imposter syndrome and self-doubt, who struggle to get their voice heard and command the room with their presence. She coaches them to lead with confidence, influence and impact. She also provides workshops, webinars, and talks on a variety of topics related to personal, career, and leadership development; and inclusion.

Carol was recognised as one of Britain’s Top 50 business advisers by Enterprise Nation; a Rising Star Champion (for her work with women leaders) by We Are The City and named a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 5 times (including 2022 Top Voice for gender equity).

In 2023 she was added to the Northern Power Women, Power List which recognises trailblazers who challenge the norm and shift the dial towards a more equitable world for women in work; listed as a Top 32 Business Influencer by Business Leader Magazine; and was the winner of an Inspirational Woman Award for the 18th Wise Women Awards.

Carol is a semi-regular columnist for the Sheffield Telegraph and hosts the Quietly Visible podcast. She gives her time to causes that support the next generation, gender and racial equality, and social inclusion. She is a co-founder of the Black Northern Women, International Women’s Day conference which sees women from 22 cities congregate in Sheffield for a day of learning, empowerment, and transformation.

Session : Shifting Perceptions and Changing the Narrative

Sharing aspects of her research looking at the experience of belonging and psychological safety in the workplace for introverted leaders, Carol will talk about how introverts can thrive as leaders, whilst being your authentic self.

• Dispel myths and misconceptions about introverted leaders.
• Understand what you need to thrive as an introverted leader (and for non-introverted leaders how you can better support introverted team members to thrive).
• How to shift perceptions about introversion, change the narrative, and tap into your introverted powers so you can be ALL you can authentically be.

Susan Heaton-Wright – Host

Being quiet and humble, I was underestimated and expectations weren’t high from others. Isn’t this the story of many introverts? Because we aren’t the loudest in the room, demonstrating how fabulous we are; and sharing AMAZING ideas, we risk being underrated. Yet I know in this conference today, there are incredible people who are quieter, yet they are doing remarkable things. My whole “Why” is to encourage others to be seen and heard and to be valued for their positive contributions.

I am a multi-award-winning businesswoman; former prize-winning international opera singer, International Speaker and the founder of SuperStar Communicator. I empower talented people to make more impact in all business conversations for career acceleration. As well as speaking, I facilitate workshops – virtually and face to face as well as coach clients to raise their visibility. My client base includes Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, J&J, Invesco, AXA and Hewlett Packard, as well as professional associations and professional services organisations. I have delivered content to attendees from more than 130 countries worldwide.

I am a fellow of the Professional Speaking Association: possibly the quietest person at their gatherings! I fundraise for the Alzheimers Society, Isabel Hospice. I live in Hertfordshire and love swimming, snorkelling, playing the viola in an orchestra and sewing my handmade wardrobe. And as my former tutor at university said when I met her many years later “I can’t believe what you are doing: you were so quiet at university”. If I can do it, you definitely can!

Richard Etienne – Panel Host

Former official videographer to British Prime Minister Theresa May, Richard holds senior communications positions within the private and charitable sectors and has driven the online promotion of global brands in academia, art, and politics for 20 years.

Currently Director of Internal Communications at Elsevier, a medical data and technology publisher, Richard, is also a personal branding consultant, with a strong focus on giving added voice to quiet leaders.

For six years Richard taught Masterclass series ‘How to speak up and get noticed as an introvert professional’ with the Guardian newspaper and is also the founder of Black Introvert Week UK.  Visit Richard’s brand awareness site richardetienne.co.uk where you can download free eBooks on introversion empowerment.

Lillian Lartey – Energiser

Lillian Lartey is a De-stress & Wellness Coach. She helps ambitious Women who are 40+ swap stress, anxiety and burnout for health, happiness, calm and brilliance, so that they can fulfil their purpose and achieve their aspirations with success.

Lillian has experience in the health and wellbeing industry stretching over 20 years. Her passion is hugely influenced from her own personal health experiences and stress-related burnout. Thankfully she recovered from these events and now commits her attention to helping women live and work from calm rest and not stress.

Session: Pause & Breathe Energising Session

Using a few, simple and effective self-care and stress relief techniques Pause & Breathe is an effective way to:
• ease anxiety and overwhelm
• reduce stress and tension
• recharge and re-energise

Cherron Inko-Tariah MBE

Following a successful career in the Civil Service, In 2012, Cherron took a leap of faith and left the Civil Service to follow her passion; staff networks.

After publishing her book: The Incredible Power of Staff Networks, Cherron founded The Power of Staff Networks consultancy where she provides a wide range of services.

Cherron also founded the National Day for Staff Networks which takes place every May – the first of its kind celebrating the added value of networks. Cherron also speaks on career development, leadership and her journey from being ‘overlooked to becoming overbooked’. She is also the Editor-in-Chief, Black History Month Magazine and a Non-Executive Director at Homerton Healthcare NHS .

In 2011, Cherron received an MBE for her services to HM Government and for her work in the faith community with young people. In 2019, Cherron won Woman of the Community category of the Wise Women Awards.

Session: The Power of Staff Networks

How networks can support introverted people.

• Understanding what networks are
• Ingredients for a successful networks
• Pitfalls and Maladies that affect networks

Hira Ali

An inspiring leadership development specialist, executive career coach, and acclaimed writer and speaker, Hira’s work has been published in The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Telegraph, B.B.C., Harper’s Bazaar, Independent, C.B.C., Huff Post, and Entrepreneur, among hundreds of other print, radio and television outlet. Founder of Advancing Your Potential and champion of inclusive allyship programs and diverse talent management initiatives, she is also the award-winning author of two transformational books: Her Way To The Top: A Guide to Smashing the Glass Ceiling and Her Allies: A Practical Toolkit to Help Men Lead Through Advocacy.

In 2022, Hira was named one of the top 100 influential Muslims in the U.K.
Hira was also included in a list by Diverse In of global D&I voices to follow on LinkedIn and made it to a list of top women breaking the bias globally. In addition, she features as a role model in the book Girls Who Do You Want To Be alongside phenomenal world changers.

Session: How to be an Ally for Introverted Leaders

In a world that often amplifies extroverted qualities, this session aims to debunk the misconception that leadership is synonymous with extroversion. Through practical strategies and an interactive poll, participants will explore the unique strengths of introverted leaders and learn how to be influential allies in fostering their success.

• Learn to Challenge Yourself: Identify and deconstruct common misconceptions and stereotypes you may have about leadership and introversion.
• Learn to Challenge Others: Equip yourself with actionable techniques to call out biases towards introverted leaders
• Learn to Challenge the Organisational Culture: Understand the importance of creating spaces and promoting a culture where both introverted and extroverted leaders can thrive.

Ashley Turner

LinkedIn community manager, helping businesses understand the potential on the platform and how to use content to your advantage

Session: The power of LinkedIn

Talking through LinkedIn and how to position yourself as a thought leader on the platform.

• Understand how to use LinkedIn to define your personal brand
• How to build stand-out vs competition
• Why its important to be a thought leader in your space

Alex Bond Burnett

Armed with a drama school education, Alex has navigated the corporate world to challenges businesses to be more human. Afterall, if you can’t engage people in your process, product or people leaders… where will you end up?

A business leader herself, Alex is a sought-after Storytelling and Engagement Expert. Her insights have appeared in Fortune Magazine, Newsweek, and more, reflecting a career dedicated to enhancing human connection in the business world.

Her portfolio boasts partnerships with giants like Ogilvy, Xero, and AWS, where she’s turned the illogical nature of human behaviour into opportunities for deep engagement that connects business with people.

Through science-backed strategies, Alex empowers people, processes and platforms to engage with people and behaviour to create their own success story.

Session: Exuding Authentic Presence As a Leader: How to unearth your authentic voice and feel good commanding the room

This session won’t teach you executive presence, but it will teach you to harness your brand of executive presence.
Here’s a lesser-talked-about secret of leadership that most people get wrong… it’s not a case of having influence, you are already influencing people.
But what kind do you have, and is it working for you?

In this interactive and eye-opening session, we will explore your true leadership voice, exploring how to maximise your impact when you need it most and best of all, in a way that makes you feel incredible.

• Explore your vocal resonators and how to use them to control your voice from assertive and strong to empthathetic and calm using the 3’ P’s – Pitch pace and pause.
• Learn to enjoy speaking up and making space for your thoughts in a way that works for you. Create your Confidence Ritual; your own 30-second boost to prepare you to feel and sound confident in any situation as and when you need it.
• Identify how other people influence your body language – and how to be consciously confident and command the room with ease!

Morning Session My Journey an Introverted Leader

Panel Speakers:

Brian Johnson

After spending 30 years working in financial services finding my own way to succeed as an introvert I have retrained as a coach. I now help other introverts find their strengths and guide them to find the success they want without changing who they are.

Alina Timofeeva

Alina Timofeeva – LinkedIn Top Voice, TedX speaker, 8-times Award Winning Professional in Cloud, Data & Digital. Looking to inspire 50 000 000 million globally to see failure as an opportunity through delivering vulnerable, relatable, and empowering content.

Rioh Burke-Derby

With over a decade of experience in Corporate Strategy and Change Management, Rioh has had the privilege of driving organisational transformations for multinational companies worldwide. From revamping employee onboarding processes to orchestrating global operating model transformations, Rioh’s journey has been marked by a passion for excellence and a commitment to delivering tangible results.

At the core of Rioh’s ethos lies an unwavering commitment to paying it forward, to lifting others as he climbs. Rioh firmly believes that his successes today lay the groundwork for tomorrow’s leaders, serving as a beacon of hope and possibility for those who dare to dream beyond their circumstances.

Katerina Budinova

Katerina is a visionary leader in the HVAC industry, bringing forth over two decades of expertise in engineering, innovation, business, product management and recently sustainability.

As the Business & Sustainability Manager, Katerina champions ethical management practices while driving growth and excellence.

Her journey has been marked by navigating challenges in a traditionally male-dominated industry, demonstrating resilience and determination as an introverted leader.

Afternoon Session Overcoming Bias Towards Introversion and Thriving as an Introvert

Panel Speakers:

Roselyn Unegbu

Roselyn is a Fellow of the Association of Project Management, an APM chartered project membership assessor, a chartered builder and Member of the Chartered Institute of Builders and a mentor. She is an experienced programme and portfolio management leader who has led transformational service improvement and delivery programmes in Construction for over 23 years within the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Her breadth of experience has given her an in-depth understanding of economic/commercial strategy development, operational strategy, leadership management tools and stakeholder engagement.

As a senior programme lead, she has effectively balanced workplace objectives and productive relationships, inspiring strategies and insightful suggestions to achieve a competitive business edge.

Over the years, Roselyn has sponsored many aspiring project managers to join the industry and believes very strongly in supporting women to become qualified project managers; maximising the richness of diversity and inclusion and highlighting the added value of an increase in the number of global majority women in the workplace; regularly speaking on panels and various educational facilities championing the cause and mentoring both female and male PMs equally.

She is the founder of Projects in Prism, an organisation set up to create space for global majority women project managers at various stages of their careers to network with peers and organisations; be supported and create a nurturing, stimulating environment.

Helena Thernstrom

Helena heads up the legal team which supports NatWest’s asset and invoice finance activities. This includes responsibility for the provision of advice and support to Lombard and RBS Invoice Finance, and leadership across various Bank-wide projects. She has been with the Bank since 2015, having joined from De Lage Landen. Prior experience includes working as a solicitor in the Probation Service and in an arts charity.

Outside of work, Helena is a Board Member of the Leasing Foundation and a Trustee of the Marine Conservation Society. A passionate advocate for inclusion, social mobility, and women, Helena has been an active driver of various industry initiatives, employee-led networks and pro-bono schemes. In recognition of her work, Helena received the prestigious Women in Banking & Finance ‘Champion for Women’ award in 2020, an award she was also shortlisted for in 2019. She is also the winner of the 2020 Women in Finance ‘Legal Adviser of the Year’ award.

Raji Patel

Raju Patel is Chief Executive of Workpraxis (a division of Fulcrium – a specialist benchmarking partner to some of the world’s largest companies).
Workpraxis was founded by Raju Patel, our lead executive trainer and consultant, who delivers all our training programmes. A multi-skilled individual, Raju has a wide range of qualifications, experience and skills.

Raju holds an MBA from London Business School and a BSc (Hons) Economics / Computing from City University, London.

He previously worked at Accenture Strategic Services, where he was one of the leading strategists in the global practice, developing board and director-level strategies, advising Fortune companies on mergers, acquisitions and divestments.

Raju writes for several management publications including the Financial Times and is an international executive trainer.

Christian Wasunna

Christian grew up in Kenya, and is a criminal defence barrister. He specialises in serious cases which have attracted local and national media attention. He routinely represents those accused of murder, rape, fraud, kidnap, arson, blackmail, drug offences (including importation and county line allegations), armed robbery, and firearms offences. He has also acted in many cases involving gang-related violence, very young defendants and defendants suffering from mental difficulties.

Early Bird Tickets are available until 12th June 2024. Tickets include a pass to all sessions, networking and energiser, a light lunch and refreshments throughout the day.

Book early to avoid disappointment as tickets are limited.