On the 8th of March, International Women's Day, The Henley College hosted a special event in the Cuthbert Suite, featuring two incredibly inspirational guest speakers: the Mayor of Henley, Kellie Hinton and Lamees Butt, Senior Vice President, Global Alliances and Channels of AI tech company, Zoovu and host and founder of the Top 30 Career UK podcast, ‘In Her Shoes’. Purple, the symbol of dignity, justice and support of women’s empowerment, was strongly encouraged to be worn by students and staff.  

After the staff warmly welcomed the students with chocolates and educational cards with impactful female figures, the Mayor of Henley, Kellie Hinton, who is the youngest mayor Henley has ever had, delivered her talk on her journey to becoming mayor and highlighted the importance of female representation in politics. Lamees Butt was up next, speaking on networking, how it helped her with her career and a little on ‘In Her Shoes’.  

Among the advice she shared with us, Butt introduced a concept called the communication triangle, which consists of five stages to make a successful connection. Butt reminded us that sometimes, the first few stages would not always be as seamless as we expect; having dealt with rejections herself, however that perseverance would pay off. Recounting a personal story where she used the opportunity as a receptionist at Mercedes Benz to network with the director of the company and surprising herself by receiving a rewarding promotion, served as a reminder that anyone can begin networking wherever and whenever and benefit greatly from it in the long run!  

Now the Senior Vice President of Zoovu, Butt shared that throughout her career she is mostly the only woman in board rooms. ‘Discovering the Women behind the titles’ (her slogan for her podcast), Butt began hosting ‘In Her Shoes’, to place the spotlight on women and their job roles, and career journeys.  

After their phenomenal and empowering talks, Hinton and Butt joined the staff and the students to pose for a photo, to commemorate the fantastic event and display their utmost support for the day’s cause to celebrate women!