Last Thursday, members of our JJ team attended another fantastic Speed Mentoring event, held by the Women in Wholesale team at The Mermaid in London.
Pictured from left to right: Elit Rowland, Head of Communications, Leyla Motisi, Digital Communications Manager, Atalanta Charalambous, HR Administrator, and Sushmitha Venkatesh, HR Administrator.
With nine influential women in the wholesale industry leading sessions on topics ranging from negotiation skills and tackling bias, to creating a neurodivergent friendly workplace, the leaders provided valuable insights into navigating the unique challenges of the wholesale industry, with tips and takeaways to kickstart important conversations in the workplace.
It Stops with Me
Pictured: Daria Kuznetsova, Commercial Controller at Budweiser Brewing Group.
A new initiative from Budweiser Brewing Group is offering workplaces the assets and tools necessary to cope with harassment and bias, according to Daria Kuznetsova, Commercial Controller at Budweiser. Employees from all industries are being encouraged to take action, speak out, and call out harassment under the initiative "It Stops with Me."
An important topic for women in a male-dominated industry, Daria shared how the initiative is already working successfully at Budweiser, with many other big name companies including Aldi, Nestle and Deliveroo signing the pledge.
Coping with Anxiety
Pictured: Clare Bocking, CEO at Immediate Impact
As the CEO at Immediate Impact, Clare Bocking bravely shared her personal anxiety struggles and provided incredibly useful techniques for managing and controlling anxiety. Clare also sparked conversations about anxiety battles within companies, for each group to share their experiences and coping mechanisms, urging attendees to kickstart important conversations to support co-workers within their organisations.
Breaking down Barriers
Pictured: Clare Low, Route to Market Controller at Mars Petcare
Clare Low, Route to Market Controller at Mars Petcare honestly opened up on her experience of having to change the direction of her career in order to continue pushing and challenging herself.
Having worked her way through various different roles within the supply chain division, Clare was told she 'didn't have enough to give' to earn herself a director's role, leading to her making the brave decision to reinvent herself and take a new route into the sales division of Mars Petcare.
Clare's award-winning advice from her Mars' Women in Leadership program was to "keep breaking down barriers in your organisation and industry to reach your full potential."
As a founding supporter of Women in Wholesale, JJ Foodservice, alongside many more big-name sponsors are proud to see the events develop more and more every year. Our team left the day feeling empowered, seeing how many women the event brings together across all types of industries within the wholesale sector.
From buyers to data analysts, account managers and marketing executives, the Women in Wholesale events provide the perfect opportunity to network and learn from industry-leading females' experiences and inspire emerging female leaders to gain valuable knowledge and skills to help them succeed.
The day was brought to a hilarious close with a workshop from Lotte Mikkelsen, laughter yoga master trainer. Lotte treated the audience to lots of laughter techniques to reduce stress both in the workplace and at home, and is committed to improving joy and happiness - great for many of the women in the room who need to unwind after a stressful day.
Overall, the Women in Wholesale Speed Mentoring event was a powerful and inspiring day that provided attendees with invaluable insight into how to navigate the unique challenges of the wholesale industry. We were so pleased members of our team were able to attend, providing a great opportunity for emerging female leaders to gain valuable knowledge and skills to help them succeed in their careers.
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