Annual Review 2017

This has been a great year for me. More highs than lows. Definitely stretched and pushed out of my comfort zone. Travelled a heck of a lot and watching my girls continue to grow into young women right in front of my eyes. This is a long read, but hope you will enjoy it.

As with most years, I like to write this review to remind myself of what I have achieved, to be able to celebrate those achievements and explore how they can help to shape the future as well.

Appreciation First.

Before I mention the achievements I want to make a specific shout out to a few instrumental people who have helped to keep me accountable. My wife and business partner, Madeline McQueen. My best mate Paul Boldeau. My mentor Karen Blackett and members of my mastermind group Andy Lopata, Christine Clacey and Brian Murphy.

Speaking Highlights

This year I have had some amazing experiences to speak and host events, here in the UK and abroad. Some key highlights include.

• My first trip to Calgary, Canada, for investment bank Mawer
• Sydney, Australia for the Marketing Academy
• Melbourne, Australia for The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
• Bucharest, Romania for the Sales Leader Summit
• Budapest, Hungary for the Stretch Conference
• Autumn Conference Cruise, Richmond Events. Yes a business cruise just off the Channel Islands
• Diversity in Tech Conference, London. Loved this event. Could have caused more trouble though!
• Diversity in Media Awards, London great event where I met Lily Allen and Munroe Bergdorf
• Thomas Pocklington Awards, London. Third time hosting for this wonderful charity.
• Silicon Beach conference in Bournemouth. Fabulous event run by Matt Desmier.
• Munich, Germany for Oath (formerly Yahoo, AOL)

In addition I was able to speak for an increasing number of banking and tech clients in the UK, and looking forward to more of the same in 2018.

Magnificent Generation.

This year we have decided to scale back on the amount of work that we do for schools and colleges. Whilst it has been an enjoyable process the focus for me going forward is to concentrate primarily on speaking to students and teachers. Our programme content will shift more to online delivery, that said some major highlights for this year include.

• Conflict Resolution Tour. Working alongside Barnet EBP and British Transport Police to deliver workshops on managing conflict.
• PiXL Conferences. Speaking on their GCSE Revision tours in London, Harrogate, Bristol and Birmingham.
• Young Leaders Programme. Worked with two fabulous cohorts of student leaders at the Evelyn Grace Academy in London.
• Young Mensa. Delivered the keynote here for the fourth time to a room of some of the brightest kids in the UK.
• Exec Leaders Coaching. Partnered with SSAT to deliver coaching to senior leaders of MATS across the country
• Northern Rocks. Second year delivering at this fabulous conference in Leeds for teachers

Presentation Training and Coaching

There has been a steady increase this year in the amount of presentation coaching and training I have been delivering this year. From Confidence building for teams, to sales presentations to executive coaching. I even launched our first open to the public series in December. More to come in 2018. All will be revealed.

Advisory Roles

This year I cut down the number of people I mentor one to one. 

For 2018 I am looking to focus it more on a platform called Connect Mentors and focus my energy more on advisory roles for growing companies. 

I am currently an advisor for three women-led companies and am excited about the opportunity for growth.

• Project 507. An organization dedicated to changing the systemic conditions that generate violence by developing innovative solutions to create positive peace.
• Afrocenchix. A beauty company dedicated to producing organic and environmental friendly hair care products.
• Volo. A platform bringing companies, charities and individuals together through skilled volunteering in order to help break down societal barriers and support individuals in developing the skills needed to be effective members of this future workforce.

I also stepped down from the advisory boards of the Kiyan Prince Foundation and UKBlackTech, but remain advocates of their brands.

Supper Club

Finally, I have been running a series of invite-only supper clubs targeted at specific audiences who don’t like larger networking events. They have run under various names in 2017 but for 2018 I am consolidating them under one banner called Food for Thought and with a bit more of a formal process.

I love hosting Supper Clubs. Not only do I get to meet fabulous people but also get to eat amazing food too.

Book Club

This year I have read a helluva lot of books too. Standouts for me include JJ Bola’s No Place to Call Home and The Truth by Neil Strauss. I am pretty crap at writing reviews to be honest but if you want to keep up with what personal development, fiction, cultural, business or other books I am reading, feel free to follow me here at Goodreads.

It has been a good year. I have enjoyed my own personal growth. 

Got to visit Downing Street (again) with my mentor

Working on improving my speaking and storytelling skills as always

Developing my own sketch noting and data visualisation chops.

Looking forward to what 2018 will bring.