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Spotlight
Now in the fourth year of its mission to develop the careers of females of the future, the mentoring programme, Fast Forward 15, is calling on women in the industry to apply for FF15 2018. The programme’s founder, Fay Sharpe, shares the success stories of mentees.
To date, we have successfully mentored 45 women on the year-long programme, and I’m delighted to say that each one has achieved personal objectives and positive personal and commercial outcomes. While we’re entering the fourth year of the programme and look forward to welcoming the next mentees, we’re still in touch with women who’ve taken part in the scheme, many of whom share their news and success stories, which has been a true highlight for me, and an affirmation that the scheme is worthwhile.
The Fast Forward 15 scheme was designed to support women, whatever stage of their career they are at, from graduates and maternity-leave returnees, to women wanting to break through the glass ceiling. One of the main purposes of the scheme was to ensure we were able to deliver the right support, tailored to each mentee, and to give them an impartial sounding board; which is why it’s been imperative we secure leading industry professionals as our mentors each year.
At the beginning of the 12-month programme the mentees work with mentors to set goals and objectives. The measurement of their goals is a major component to the year and has contributed to much of the success we’ve achieved. One of our graduate mentees, Fleur Burrows-Jones, hospitality events sales and marketing manager at National Theatre, shared her experience with us recently. She said, “I feel so honoured to have been part of Fast Forward 15… I have recently been promoted and have grown so much as a person in both my work and personal life. Without the help of Fast Forward 15 I wouldn’t have been able to achieve my goals and ambitions.”
I recently heard from Selina Donald, CEO and co-founder of The Bulb London. She shared these kind words: “I joined Fast Forward 15 in year one. Under the guidance of Fay’s mentorship, I grew the confidence and commercial knowledge to leave the safety net of the corporate world and set up my own business. Fay not only had foresight, she had the passion to help females try to break barriers and exceed in their personal and business lives. Three years on and my company has a loyal client roster of high-profile corporates and large-scale household public events. My time on the programme without doubt gave me confidence and honed my drive to be my own boss.”
We’ve secured a highly talented pool of mentors for 2018’s intake, including Kerrin MacPhie from VisitBritain and Hamish Reid from Dubai Business Events. Corporates are represented by Jane Culcheth-Beard from HP and Ingram Micro’s Tony McMurray. I’m encouraging woman to apply now, so that they have the chance to gain access to the knowledge and network our mentors offer.
The closing date for applications is 9th March 2018 with entries shortlisted between 13th March and 16th March 2018.