Giants Women in Business

Oh my goodness me, what an event!

Huddersfield Giants Women in Business lunch, at the John Smith Stadium, is one I’ve fallen in love with over the years.

The Giants Women in Business events are a room packed full of inspiration, story telling, motivation, 4 potato wedges and a plenty of sandwiches. And super garlicy houmous and garlic mayo.

The partners opened the show and handed over to Mayor Brabin, who shared her story.

Originating from social housing in Batley, being the first in her family to go to Uni, sofa surfing in London and becoming an actress, using her notoriety to assist canvassing of the Labour party.

Leading to opportunities, where she found, when she put herself forward, she was perfectly qualified for the job.

What an inspirational story. Particularly because part of my own personal journey crosses through Batley and Birstall. The thought of the horrific attack that happened there, hearing how she stepped into the role, filling big boots, and going on to win the mayoral election in West Yorkshire, by 60%, is admittedly admirable.

During her work as an MP, she was involved in conversations and meetings discussing Devolution; Giving power back to regions, rather than being controlled centrally.

When the Mayoral position in West Yorkshire opened up, Tracy looked amongst the candidates, and noted they were all men. She understood then, that if she wanted female representation, she was going to have to step up to the plate.

And she did. And she is rocking it!

It was a pleasure attending the West Yorkshire plan launch last month (we have still yet to blog about it …. sorry!) and I am really enthused by the potential and drive Tracey is bringing, and I look forward to working towards a Prosperous, Happy, Well-connected, Sustainable, Safe, West Yorkshire.

Then we heard a different story from Supriya Nagarajan.

Who lived a middle class life in Mumbai and was an accountant for the Hong Kong bank. Who ended up in England starting a new life, following her husbands career. Which just happened to be the time that Midland bank became HSBC, and so was drawn back in to the world of banking.

However, at 40, she decided, she didn’t want to be at 60, who she was now. So became a musician. Researching the industry, networking and travelling the world … exploring the sound of tea or the devastation of water. Her voice is her instrument.

We also heard from Kath at Fettle, who talked about her BAFTA and other awards, about the husband and wife team’s client base and portfolio of work; which include the BBC and Bitesize. They create wonderful graphics and animations, conveying complex topics in a fun and engaging ways. The Shakespeare in a few minutes was awesome #midsummernightsdream

Speak to Kath about City of Culture Bradford **

Then we heard from Kayleigh, who told us about TikTok. How it was evergreen content and currently free to use, with open and useable algorithms. Urging us to be ahead of the curve and jump on the technology. She encouraged the room to find and talk to our audiences. To not cast a wide net, focus on who and what talking. Creating a strategy, optimising it and then cashing in.

Kayleigh also said that it doesn’t have to be all dancing and miming – even though, we think that’s really funny and engaging … As well as them, personally, amongst my favourite TikToks, are the Microsoft Excel, Decorating and Building cheats and tips.

As Sayers Solutions we have dabbled with TikTok but it is content heavy and involves a lot of editing and we’ve experienced too many frustrations of losing videos we’ve spent forever working on and them disappearing. It is good fun and awesome for brand awareness, but eats time and resources, in our opinion! So Kayleigh’s words of a strategy and understanding why you are doing it, makes good advice.

The organisers where then able to squeeze in “60 seconds” from each of the partners, and then we queued for lunch, mingled and chatted.

Elizabeth Baker was also taking complimentary head shots for all attendees! I looking forward to seeing if you got me without my eyes shut and not pulling a silly face!

I obviously took selfies, capturing a few of the lovely ladies there … you know who you are, and you’ll also forgive me if I didn’t whip the camera out, while we were chatting or passing! It was lovely seeing you all.

Ow and of course, I was lucky enough to get an Andrew cuddle and selfie! … Thanks lads and Kristen at Huddersfield Giants for such a powerful and important event.

Well done!

Keep your eyes peeled for announcement of the next event!

I have many saying that I like to use, perhaps as mantras, or as explanations for what’s happening in this mad world. One of them is “you have to see it to believe it” and this week, at Giants Women in Business we all saw and believed!