On Tuesday 12th October, the Upper Sixth Business and Economics students were invited to an engaging virtual conference hosted by Rugby School about women in business. BGS students, Ella Blow and Evie Bradwell reflected:

Ella Blow: “I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the five speakers, who were specialists in many different areas of the business world, ranging from finance blogging, asset management and global financial services. I found it very interesting to hear from Tasneem Dudhia, who spoke about the business model of the Macquarie Group. She explained how the global financial service raises money from investors and with the money they reinvest it in core infrastructure products, and manage the assets for 10 to 20 years. She expanded on this and said that each project has to be financially sustainable, have good financial return, be replicable, and attract other private capital.

“I was also inspired by Deirdre O’Connors risk taking attitude as she kick-started her career by booking a one-way ticket to New York and calling head-hunters to find herself her first job at Barclays. This highlighted how there are many paths to getting where you want to get to, and if you embrace and invest in something you are passionate about, then you can make an impact on the male dominated business world. After listening to these powerful women, I feel very inspired as they encouraged us to take control of our careers and think big.”

Evie Bradwell: “All the women who spoke gave fascinating reflections of how they have been able to progress in male dominated industries. The speaker who stood out most to me personally was Anuoluwapo Adenuga, who is the founder of Black Girl Money, an organisation that aims to educate black females on finance. Their website has a blog that advises young women on the best ways to spend their money and helps empower them when it comes to their finances. Listening to women who have either set up their own businesses or climbed their way through large corporations and tackled global issues face on, has inspired me to think about the path I can take to make an impact in the world of business.”