Empowering girls talks inspire future female leaders
16 October 2024
St Mary’s Senior School was joined by a panel of inspiring female leaders who shared their stories to parents and daughters on Saturday 12 October.
Beginning the series of talks on leadership at St Mary’s was Paula Fowler, Chief Executive Officer from award-winning law firm, Fisher Jones Greenwood who is a finalist in the 2024 National Business Women’s Awards and has overall responsibility for running the practice. She spoke about her journey from childhood into the legal profession, her qualifications gained along the way, how she has seen the the expansion of Fisher Jones Greenwood and lessons she has learned during her career. Paula spoke passionately about making sure that you are true to yourself, the importance of positive thinking and setting realistic goals.
Parents and daughters also heard from the perspective of former St Mary’s pupil and Trainee Detective Constable for Essex Police, Evie Thatcher who spoke with fondness about her time at St Mary’s Senior School, in particular when she was Head Girl. She normalised the fact that not everyone’s pathway to their career has to be prescriptive and that new experiences can prompt new career ideas. Evie outlined how proud she was to pass her National Investigators Exam (NIE) in March 2024 and that she is now working towards becoming an accredited Detective Constable.
Vicki Fletcher, owner and original founder of Little City UK spoke about the route she took prior to setting up her own business, which included working in the corporate world and how this led to her creating a franchise and becoming her own boss. Vicki gave tips on business must-haves and the importance of working with a great team as well as challenges she met along the way and her future plans for Little City UK.
The final talk was delivered by Bolaji Sofoluwe, a current St Mary’s parent who specialises in driving company growth through international trade and market expansion. Bolaji shared that she serves as CEO of ETK Group, is Board Chair at BGEN International and a Growth and Entrepreneurship Expert at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. She described the concept of self-leadership and highlighted its three key pillars of confidence, determination and resilience. Bolaji also spoke about the importance of strong female role models.
Mrs Griffiths, Principal of St Mary’s Colchester exclaimed: “Our Empowering Girls Leadership event at the Senior School was a great success and we are thrilled that Paula Fowler, Evie Thatcher, Vicki Fletcher and Bolaji Sofoluwe all support our vision to inspire girls to see the world as one of limitless possibilities. We felt honoured to welcome such a strong panel of female speakers, and it was clear to see that their motivational speeches enthused the younger generation of girls in the audience.”
Following the keynote speakers the audience had the opportunity to ask questions to each individual about their inspiring stories. Winners and runners-up of the St Mary’s Design an Inspiring Female Character competition were also presented with awards by Principal, Mrs Nicola Griffiths and former St Mary’s pupil, Evie Thatcher.
