Inspirational You @ Brixton Hub on 21JAN2015
Welcome to my very 1st Picture Blog. My name's Tendai and here at Quest4Success I will be sharing some inspirational and motivational blogs on the many events I attend throughout London.
I attend events, seminars and workshops for Entrepreneurs and Start Ups throughout London and last week was the first event I attended for 2015 (not including a Live Video Link for Enterprise Nation which I have blogged as a Video Blog here).
The event I attended last week was entitled "Raising The Bar" run by the successful INSPIRATIONAL YOU Brand who host events throughout the year in a number of settings. Inspirational YOU has fast become one of the UK’s must-attend events for those seeking to learn, debate, network, promote and increase their skills base in a positive and stimulating environment.
They have exciting and exclusive occasions and opportunities for participants to meet some of Britain’s top speakers and leading entrepreneurs. Their events are ideal for social entrepreneurs, students, business leaders, and those in law, fashion, PR, marketing, publishing, photography, leadership, aspiring entrepreneurs any anyone wanting to make a change. This is a unique opportunity to attend seminars run by leaders of various industries.
Sonia Meggie formed this Social Enterprise in March 2010, empowering 1000s of people like myself to connect with people we would not usually have the opportunity too. Sonia is a humble and hard working, high achieving lady with a multitude of skills that has taken Inspirational You from strength to strength with the assistance of her ‘Mastermind’ team. I can't recommend this brand enough to be honest.
This particular event, like many Inspirational You events, was a Panel led discussion from Entrepreneurs and successful Business Men and Women from a range of industries. I must say, it was nothing short of amazing!
The Panel consisted of the following:
Denise Rawls – Head of Local Engagement at UKTI / Founder of Strangefruit Greeting Cards
Edna do Rosário Martins – Business Change Lead at GSK and Former BBC Apprentice contestant
Mbeke Waseme – Author, Executive Coach and Former Vice Principal at Ghana International School
Afua Hirsch – Social Affairs and Education Editor, Sky News
Ken Osivwemu – Vice-President, Global Cash Product Mgt at Barclays
Joshua Neish – Relationship Director at Barclays Corporate
Cllr Jack Hopkins – Labour Cllr for Lambeth & Cabinet Member for Jobs and Growth
Although the event was aimed at and for women, it was great to have the men attend and participate in the packed out Brixton Hub venue, located in Brixton Town Hall. Brixton Hub is a great venue for holding events, meetings and for using as office space should you need.
Every single panellist "Raised the Bar" with some heart-warming testimonials on their journey to success. Barclays and Sky contributors Afua, Ken and Joshua were really useful, so too were those of the Entrepreneurs both young and old giving the room a great varied mix of tales to success. Joshua had the crowd in the palm of his hands with his powerful Glaswegian accent and boxing tales. Ken’s tales of life back in Nigeria and his unique relationship with his parents was really inspirational too. Afua has led a life full of adventures across Africa and had us at the edge of our seat with her active travel tales, so too did Mbeke who also had a book to share entitled “Make the changes, Feel the joy” avail as an eBook also.
The local Councillor Jack Hopkins and Edna do Rosário Martins from BBC Apprentice were fantastic too, sharing some insightful information on mentors, good relationships with friends and family, and the importance of balance. As well as going above and beyond to show your mentors and others how capable and competent you are!! #FoodForThought
After a brief chat with Edna she confirmed so much for me without even realising ~ As a Psychologist and speaker on Emotional Intelligence she was great to speak with and we had a great convo and analysis of character types, namely ENFPs. Really humble and knowledgeable lady happy to share her expertise and passion amongst the crowd during and before the Networking session.
Denise from StrangeFruit 'Vintage Cards' was extremely inspirational sharing her humorous yet oh so serious journey with us. A tip that stuck with me was 'Its pointless watching nonsense like Eastenders' and really resonated with me and the majority (if not all) of the audience. A lot of the soaps and TV programmes in general take up time we sometimes don't have in order to build our empire. The audience nodded simultaneously in agreement and confirmed I was with like-minded folk #Focus being of the essence.
There was an audience member 'Gerard' that spoke in the Q&A and shared his amazing story of turning over £15m with his furniture company (Beechcrown group) despite his unfortunate upbringing, and his testimony was just as powerful as each of the panellists. He was a great hit with the audience during the networking session and I'm sure it's not the last we've heard from him.
Last but not least the host Garry Green, whom has hosted a number of Inspirational You events, wooed the crowd with his quick wit, charisma and knowledge as always. Garry is a renowned Barrister and doubles over as a host and presenter exceedingly well and compliments the Inspirational You brand really well with his professionalism and ability to connect with the crowd and panel naturally.
Brilliant mid-week networking with likeminded folk ~ Coupled with pre hot chocolate & biscuits at COSTA in Brixton with fellow entrepreneurs Nico Niqs and Rijole Bitata set the evening off to perfection!
For more info on Inspirational You and their events, please visit the website in the link provided above or email them at info@inspirationalyou.co.uk
See you at the next event, perhaps?
