- What inspired you to create InAnyEvent London and get into your current position?
Ever since I can remember it has always been my dream and ambition to run my own business. I gave it my first shot when I was 20 years old and started a small events agency which specialised in children’s events. Sadly, my intuitive knowledge was met with the world’s intellectual reasoning of how young is too young to be an entrepreneur – what could I know about the world, let alone run my own business?
I allowed myself to be influenced and (Willingly! Yes willingly!) gave up on my dream business and grudgingly joined the rat race, securing a job doing financial settlement within the mobile roaming industry in the city. Unsurprisingly, I never felt like I belonged, and for the next 10 years I jumped industries from finance, to music, even back to events. I hoped that because I was passionate about the events industry, surely my place would be there and the search could end.
After 3 years as an Event Manager running International corporate events, I still felt out of place. Fed up, I finally asked myself why I felt so unhappy – the answer? It was all my fault because I had allowed social culture to influence my choices without ever pausing to consider what I actually want or need.
Having now come back around full circle, I knew what I had to do! I founded InAnyEvent London and finally got myself back on track, only this time, my intuitive knowledge wasn’t going to be so easily dismissed and has even become a key aspect of the company brand identity and mission to shape a better world through the events we create.
The more you listen to your intuition, the further you will be in living your authenticity. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t ignore it; at least acknowledge the fact that you felt something. Learn to say no! Saying yes, all the time will only get you in the habit of ignoring your opinions. Know what you stand for and be true to that. Don’t change your strategies, after all you had your intuits for a reason.
- What are 5 things on your bucket list?
Design and build my own house
Go on an African safari
Go to the cinema by myself
See the northern lights
Raise chickens in my garden
- Would you be willing to eat an entire bowl of (live) crickets for £40,000?
No way, I’d rather be poor! Had they not been live crickets then perhaps I would consider giving them a go, but I couldn’t deal with the idea of them crawling around my mouth as I chewed!
- If money wasn’t a factor, how would you spend the rest of your life?
Life has taught me to be content with my life and the plans I’ve put in place because in the end, money comes and goes, yet things always seem to work out in the end anyway. I don’t think I would change my existing lifestyle or plans – maybe a few more beach holidays each year to keep the tan topped up.
- Who is your hero?
Hope. Without it we would all be a bit lost but even more heroic is that no matter how low we get, hope still manages to cling on somewhere inside of us ready for when we need it.
- What social issue is important to you?
Mental Health Awareness – although it’s ‘trendy’ at the moment and it seems to be everywhere, I feel that there still needs to be more focus on the social stigma surround it.
Everyone at some stage in their lives will experience a form of mental illness; and most of the time, we bounce back from adversity. The degree to which we’re able to do so is based on our resilience. But sometimes a person lacks the support system or inner resources to rally after a hard blow. Depression, an anxiety disorder, or some other mental illness may follow.
When it comes to our friends and family, who are our first line support network, it can be hard for them to know what to do when supporting someone with a mental health problem. Many sufferers are forced to face the added challenge of having to prove their need for help, because humans are strongly predisposed to believe in what they can see.
For many people, it is hard to accept that severe anxiety, for example, might incapacitate someone from leaving their house as genuinely as if they were suffering from a physical paralysis. The fact that the problem cannot be seen makes it easier to dismiss.
“They could, if they really wanted to”; “They’re just not trying hard enough”; “Everyone gets stressed sometimes”, and so on. Of course, the help a person with anxiety needs to enable them to leave the house will be different from that of a person with a physical disability, but that doesn’t make the need any less real.
- Trump? Brexit?
Two things that make me feel ashamed of being human.
- What cheers you up?
Getting in the kitchen and cooking for a dinner party. Strangely even though it can seem like an additional stress, I find it so uplifting to cook dinner for a bunch of friends. By doing something nice for them and seeing their happiness always cheers me up.
- What is the last item you purchased?
I got a Rösle kettle grill gas BBQ this summer and I’ve been a bit obsessed with it and shamefully I’ve been a sucker for all the outrageously overpriced accessories – the last thing I purchased was a stainless-steel chicken roaster.
- What do you want to get better at?
My grammar! As someone who has to write for a living it’s shocking how bad my grammar is sometimes.
- What is your biggest fear?
I’m terrified that I would never love something as much as I love running InAnyEvent London.
- If you could be any character from a film, who would you be?
Indiana Jones. Who wouldn’t want to look like a classic hero? He is a learned man who isn’t afraid to go into battle if the need arises. If there was ever a poster boy for the belief that “intelligence is sexy”, it would be Indiana Jones.
- What is your favourite song?
Erm this is a tough one…I used to work for Universal Music, my music collection became very eclectic and I’ve got so many favourites that I couldn’t possibly choose just one. So, based on my iTunes most recently played list, its 13 Beaches by Lana Del Rey.
To be honest though, I’m still quite obsessed with her last album in general. I find it suits whatever mood or situation I am in these days perfectly which makes life so much easier – anything that allows me to think less will always get the thumbs up from me!
- If you could have one super power what would it be?
Teleportation!
- Name something you would like to change about the events industry?
I would change how cliquey the industry is, which makes it very intimidating for new talent entering the industry, and ironically makes it feel unsociable leading to suspicion and distrust. For the industry to have any future where everyone benefits, it needs a constant stream of new talent. Even more importantly, our fear of those we share our industry with is tragic. Performing artists believe their professional growth relies on taking the roles that scare them most. Event Planners everywhere, take note.
For performers, following the fear isn’t only a good idea, it truly represents a mandate for success. The act of getting on stage itself, for instance, is quite scary for most individuals. Creating a set, or a scene, or a story from scratch and hoping that an audience of strangers will find enjoyment from it? Well, that’s downright terrifying. Still, talented performers across all art forms continue to extend themselves, embrace vulnerability and follow their fear. Society is undoubtedly better off as a result.
While “following the fear” is so deeply ingrained in performance art, for event planners, the concept has largely remained an idealistic approach to how we interact with one another. We frequently hear experts discuss the importance of overcoming failure and pursuing the unknown, but within our industry, event professionals are rarely encouraged to collaborate with those who may be deemed as competition and never taking any real risks, or try new initiatives that could have highly uncertain results.
Certainly, being risk averse is logical, it takes years to build an impactful events business, and just one bad decision to potentially destroy it; ultimately our industry can’t sustain a scenario where everyone is taking massive risks all of the time. We need stability as much as we need risk. However, for event planners to realise massive success, they have to be willing to leave the safety net of stability behind and follow their fears into the unknown to help preserve our industry forever.
- Name one of your most embarrassing moments?
About a year after founding InAnyEvent London, I was cycling between meetings when I was hit by a car smashing 5 of my front teeth. I found it quite hard attending networking events, but I knew I had to for the business and my own sake, however the one thing I couldn’t shake was when was in a situation where there wasn’t an opportunity to explain (sadly to complete strangers!) why my teeth looked the way they did even if they hadn’t noticed, wondered or even made a judgement.
That was very character building!
- What is your life motto?
Get it done. No matter how it ends, it was an experience.
- Do you have any hidden talents?
Well it’s not so much a talent unless I planned on becoming a ninja one day. I’m quite talented at being light footed and without intending too, I often walk into a room unheard, giving my housemate a huge shock thinking he was alone in the house.
- Name your 3 favourite restaurants?
Frenchie Covent Garden
Brunswick House Café
Montpeliano
- Name the greatest event you have ever been to?
I’ve been to a lot of good events over the years, and when thinking of greatness, I instantly thought of the London Olympics. However, when you consider the scale and history of the Olympics, it’s too easy an answer – ultimately it was the people that made the London Olympics great rather than the level of organisation.
Based on that, I would say I have yet to attend an event I would truly class as the greatest event I’ve ever been too which is quite sad really.
The good news is, I’ve still got that to look forward to.
