Power 50 Publication - Flipbook - Page 12
Page 12
business whilst navigating the devastating
impact the pandemic had across our
beloved industry, and coming out two
years later in a stronger, more resilient,
hungrier, profit-making position, with a
bigger team and new business.
Elizabeth Heron
Lisa James
CEO & Founder, OrangeDoor
Director & Founder,
The Wentworth Collective
Elizabeth is CEO and Founder of
OrangeDoor – a global events agency
working with some of the biggest and best
technology and lifestyle brands in the
world – from Dell to Domino, Cisco to
Criteo and Medidata to Mizuno. With over
30 years’ experience in the
communications industry, her unique
blend of PR, events and integrated
marketing skills has helped to build an
agency with a strong reputation for
delivering strategic and creative events.
Elizabeth supports WEConnect
International, is the joint lead for UK
Entrepreneur Dell’s Women Entrepreneurs
Network (DWEN), supporting the
government’s Kickstart programme and
leading the business on its current journey
to becoming a B-Corp.
Most memorable moment:
I think for me the most memorable
moments have been seeing individuals
join the business and grow to realise their
potential and ambitions. Sometimes this
has meant the people leaving the
company to become what they were
destined to be, but when I see them in
award-winning roles and achieving
incredible success I have so much pride
and joy it is hard to quantify.
Biggest challenge:
Running a business for 22 years, you’re
constantly facing challenges that can
threaten or push you out of your comfort
zone. These can come in the form of
incredible briefs from clients to global
recession – we’ve been through two
recessions, ash clouds, serious medical
emergencies on the ground and of course
a global pandemic. All these things
together combine to make you an
informed stronger leader.
Proudest professional achievement:
Winning, servicing, retaining and growing
the world’s largest technology company
Dell Technologies for 22 years consistently
without any breaks is without a doubt a
proud achievement. From the first event I
ran at The Plaza Hotel New York to the
events and exhibitions planned this year, I
feel privileged and grateful.
A child of the travel industry (whose dad
worked for Pan Am for 30 years) Lisa spent
her formative years visiting most corners
of the globe as well as gaining work
experience during summer holidays for
brands such as Hilton, Conrad, Marriott
Hotels and Meridiana Airlines. Realising she
wanted to marry her love of experiences
and travel, she moved into event management with roles at Euromoney Training,
incentive agency Lynton Cooper and Reed
& McKay, where she spent 13 years and
became head of events, leading teams
designing solutions for clients including
Pernod Ricard, Linklaters and Visa. In 2015,
Lisa founded The Wentworth Collective
bringing her 30 years’ events experience
together to design and deliver exceptional
experiences with lasting impact for
multinationals and professional service
clients.
Most memorable moment:
Returning from maternity leave, post
financial crisis to a depleted department
at Reed & Mackay. Under my leadership,
the fragmented department went from
loss to profit-making within a year, with
three defined income streams, a
structured department built for personal
development and most importantly (as a
client-obsessed leader) the delivery of
unrivalled experiences.
Biggest challenge:
Juggling motherhood with a leadership
role in a demanding / unsociable industry
at a time when flexible working was not
even a conversation, digital was increasing and demands were 24/7. The long
hours and unbalance eventually led to
burnout, which forced me to re-evaluate
my career, health, family life and how to
find what I wanted as well as balance in a
changing world. Out of darkness comes
light, and during this time I worked hard to
find my voice, restructured the department, established wellbeing practices,
such as meditation, and began to develop
my own business.
Proudest professional achievement:
Successfully innovating and pivoting the
Jennifer Jenkins
Board Director, Worldspan
A degree in European Studies led to
Jennifer’s first job at The Royal Institute of
International Affairs (Chatham House). An
early career in commercial conferencing
and programming gave her an opportunity to work in-house for notable organisations including the Institute of Directors
and the Confederation of British Industry.
“My first MD role was for a government-backed best-practice initiative,
Inside UK Enterprise and a role with Status
Meetings Ltd who sponsored the initiative.
When the MD of the agency left, I took her
role. After the agency was acquired, I
became the MD of the UK subsidiary
company of a global agency and a
member of the European Management
Board. After 15 years and in my 50th year, I
left to pursue consulting contracts which
included a term as CEO of EVCOM and am
now back agency-side as a board
director of Worldspan.”
Most memorable moments:
I've worked with some truly, truly clever
people and they have all taught me more
than I have taught them. So, my memorable moments are memories of working
with them. And some business and
financial milestones that have been well
met.
Biggest challenge:
Fear of speaking in public. Conquering
that, early on in my career, was a
game-changer.
Proudest professional achievement:
Probably all the work that was unpaid and
my non-executive roles; I've always done
a balance of pro bono work.
