Enterprising Women Conference
The Enterprising Women Network is the brainchild of Eileen Perry MBE DL and Jean Mountain. The purpose of the annual conference is to share insights and tips, along with making new connections with fellow attendees. This conference reflected this year’s International Women’s Day theme #AccelerateAction. It focused on the need to move beyond conversations to driving tangible change. Whether looking to scale a business, grow a career or make a difference in your community. The conference featured some of the most inspirational female business leaders from across the business community.
Home Grown Timber to #AccelerateAction
Rudolph and Hellmann have always promoted on Merit and Karolina is a perfect example and typical of the people who stumble into logistics. Karolina, who has a Master’s Degree, was a teacher in her homeland Poland and Germany. On arriving in the UK she started as a temporary warehouse operative with R&H in 2015. Today, Karolina holds one of the most senior positions within the organisation. She has held the role of Executive Assistant since 2017, assisting the last three CEOs. Karolina has also had experience of several international operations, assisting in the onboarding of high-profile clients for our parent companies’ overseas locations.
“My position comes along with variability, excitement, and independence. This means I end up truly doing anything and everything, touching on all key aspects of a company’s operations and strategy. This ranges from operationally onboarding new clients, to designing and implementing processes that affect all employees, customers and so much more.”
Karolina Skaskiewicz
This exemplifies the often untapped talent pool within any organisations logistics function. Often low paid roles, bolstered by agency workers on temporary contracts. It also highlights the power of R&H’s ‘home grown timber’ approach. Everyone in the organisation is treated with respect and provided with the opportunity for personal development.
An Inspirational Day hosted by East Midlands Chamber
The conference featured inspirational guest speakers and an expert panel of successful business women.
Headline Sponsor, Mattioli Woods, delivered a highly engaging workshop on Financial Empowerment: Building Your Path to Independence. Attendees benefitted from a wealth of helpful tips and advice shared during the session. Hina Chauhun, Head of HR at Mattioli Woods, also offered valuable insights.
A highlight of the event was the keynote address from Fiona Lambert, one of the UK’s leading businesswomen. The former Managing Director of Jaeger at M&S, who has cultivated an award-winning career in the fashion industry spanning over 30 years, captivated the audience with an interactive talk followed by an insightful Q&A session.
Andrea Gray, the 2024 Enterprising Women’s Businesswomen of the Year and former Managing Director of PPL PRS and BID Leicester board member, shared her extensive knowledge, inspirational personal journey, and impressive achievements with those present.
Sarah Higgins from Corporate Coaching led a focused and beneficial workshop on leadership and business coaching, providing a fantastic opportunity for self-development among the attendees.
The event’s interactive panel was expertly chaired by BBC East Midlands Today presenter Anne Davies. The panel featured Dr Dyneshia Johnson, Knowledge Exchange Specialist at DMU, Scarlett Canavan, our Generation Next Chair, Vicki Macqueen, CEO of didi rugby UK, along with keynote speaker Fiona Lambert, leading to a dynamic and thought-provoking discussion.
