Blog – Meet our team

Career highlight: Growing the Azura Events Team to double figures!

Favourite thing to have on toast: Butter, marmite and cheddar cheese on cold toast! Well, you did ask the GF one a toast question!

One place you’d love to visit: Although I was born In Zambia and visited again as a child, I don’t really remember it now. I’d like to go back to visit and see the Victoria Falls especially.

Dream dinner party guests: It would have to be Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Tina Turner, Kate Adie and Olivia Colman. I admire them all for such different reasons. I was lucky enough to see Tina Turner live in concert twice, which I will never forget. Maybe it’s because I admire how they are all their own strong selves, and don’t take any &%£* from anyone. They have embraced being mature women with such grace and beauty, I like that. I am still undecided about whether I’d allow my husband to join this particular dinner party though, as he has admitted to fancying Helen Mirren a bit!

Which invention do you wish you had thought of? LEGO®! Decades of popularity through all age groups and still going strong now.

Pets: Chief is our very soppy four-year-old Fox Red Labrador. He thinks he is a small lap dog. He is not!

Are there any protected characteristics or labels you apply to yourself and that are part of your identity? We see diversity as our superpower! My relatively recent diagnosis of ADHD and Autism has undoubtedly made many things make more sense now. I don’t see them as a superpower, but very much part of who I am that I wouldn’t change. I feel very lucky to work with such a diverse group of individuals. They teach me things every single day, so I am always learning. It’s also really opened my eyes to how we plan events that are accessible, welcoming and inclusive for everyone.

Career highlight: Winning an award at Communique.

Favourite thing to have on toast: Marmite and peanut butter.

One place you’d love to visit: Vietnam. My favourite place I’ve already visited is Kyoto, I love the Japanese culture, lifestyle and food.

Dream dinner party guests: Toby Jones, John McEnroe, Michelle Obama, Julie Walters, Joanna Lumley.

Which invention do you wish you had thought of? Perpetual garden weeder so I don’t have to!

Pets: Golden Lab – Dougie, Bengal kitten – Maeve, goldfish – Speedo, four chickens Agnes, Bella, Clara and Dora. Maeve is the boss in the house, she sleeps on Dougie’s bed, he sleeps on the floor!

Career highlight: Being part of the launch communications team for the very first Covid vaccinations in December 2021.

Favourite thing to have on toast: Eggs. Any way. Fried, poached, scrambled. With avocado, or smoked salmon, or just with salt and ketchup.

Where in the world would you like to visit: There are so many places! I haven’t travelled further east that Greece and would love to explore some of Asia. My dad visited Cambodia and Vietnam a couple of years ago and the photos look amazing. Most of all, at the moment, I want to visit a luxurious, all-inclusive, child-free resort where I can lay in the sun all day and read books.

Dream dinner party guests: I wish I had known my gran better as an adult. By the time I was old enough to really be interested in her as a person rather than just as a baker of excellent scones, she was suffering from dementia. I’d love to have a sit down with her to ask all about her life and what made her tick. She had nine children and they lived in a three-bedroom council house in Jarrow. I’d also invite Deborah Francis White, feminist comedian, activist and all-round excellent human, Cleopatra – the histories we have of her are all written by men, many of them her opponents in war, I’d love to know her story from her perspective, and Mary Shelley – daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, friend of Lord Byron, I bet she has some great stories from the cultural life and times.

Which invention do you wish you had thought of? Solar PV cells. I’d put them in everything, window glass, roof tiles, I’d make a kind that you can roll out for flat roofs and a kind for car body work. I think it should be everywhere.

Pets: I’ve got two cats, Rocky and Juno. They’re less than a year old. My daughter and I were desperate to have cats again after our old cat, Simba, was hit by a car at the beginning of last year. I actually picked them up from the breeder on the same day I travelled home from Charleston from last year’s WMS Congress. They’re brother and sister and love snuggling up together.

Are there any protected characteristics or labels you apply to yourself and that are part of your identity? We see diversity as our superpower! Apart from being a woman, I don’t tick any boxes on diversity forms, so I try to use my privilege to be a good ally for those whose voices are less often heard.

Career highlight: Working with some amazing people over the years has taught me so much both personally and professionally.

Favourite thing to have on toast: Cheese – the stronger the better.

One place you’d love to visit: Madagascar – I’ve always been fascinated by its unique plant life and wildlife.

Dream dinner party guests: An eclectic mix of Prince Philip, Roger Waters, Marilyn Monroe, Joan of Arc, Mary Berry and the Dalai Lama. A game of after dinner charades would be a must!

Which invention do you wish you had thought of? The wheel – so I could make sure there would never be a need to reinvent it again!

Pets: Bear – a six year old Smooth Fox Terrier and Topsy a 14 year old legend of a Jack Russell who was born deaf (a rescue when she was a year old).