A Beginners Guide To Being A Grown Up

Founder, Girls in Charge Initiative & Gamechangers InitiativeMaggie Chen is an impact entrepreneur, non-executive board member, and doctoral researcher passionate about creating positive change through creativity and play.

She founded the Girls in Charge Initiative, an international non-profit empowering women through gamified learning to build confidence and entrepreneurial skills. What began as small community workshops has evolved into a global movement recognised by prestigious institutions including the University of Oxford, Cartier, Ffinc, and Northern Power Women.As the Initiative grew, Maggie and her team pioneered Live Social Gamification — their unique approach to in-person, human-centred learning — leading to the creation of the Gamechangers Initiative, the world’s first consultancy dedicated to this method.

A strong advocate for greater diversity in business and policy, Maggie also serves on the Cheshire & Warrington Business Advisory Board, the Infrastructure Board at Enterprise Cheshire & Warrington, and the Cheshire Police Ethics Panel.

Listen to find out how Maggie has found success in different aspects of her life, and what she would put in the guide...

Sahar Hashemi, a former lawyer, founded Coffee Republic, the UK’s first US style coffee bar chain with her brother and built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands with a turnover of £30m. She made Coffee Republic one of the first players in the ‘coffee revolution’ that transformed the UK high street. Sahar is an internationally recognized speaker, whose captivating and uplifting speeches combine her own enthralling story with key themes of entrepreneurial leadership, innovation, customer service, change management and employee engagement.
Sahar left the day to day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and published a bestselling book called ‘Anyone Can Do It- building Coffee Republic from our kitchen table' which has been translated into 6 languages and is 2nd highest selling book on entrepreneurship on Amazone after Richard Branson’s book.
In 2005 Sahar Hashemi started Skinny Candy, high profile brand of guilt-free sweets which she sold to confectionery conglomerate Glisten plc in 2007.
Her latest book ‘Switched On: 10 Habits to Being Highly Effective in Your Job, and Loving it ’ focuses on creating an entrepreneurial mindset for employees in large companies.
In 2011 Sahar Hashemi was nominated by Director magazine as one of the Top 10 Original Thinkers, taking her place alongside individuals such as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and Jonathan Ives, Vice-President of Design at Apple and designer of the iPod. In 2011 she was also invited to join the Entrepreneurs Forum set up by UK Business Minister Vince Cable to give advice to the government on enterprise and business policies. In June 2012 Sahar was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list “for services to the UK economy and to charity”.
Sahar was named ‘Pioneer to the life of the nation’ by Her Majesty The Queen and Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also named one of 100 most influential women in Britain by Daily Mail and 35 top women in British business by Management Today. In a Shell Livewire survey of inspirational role models Sahar was among the top 5 along with James Dyson and Dame Anita Roddick. She has been on the cover of Director Magazine, Management Today, Observer Magazine, New Business Magazine, Business 550 and Voyager.
Sahar writes a regular management column for Business Strategy Review, published by the London Business School. She is a member of the Customer Council of E.On, the energy group, representing the voice of the customer at board level.
By telling her very personal journey, she connects with the audience on an emotional level and brings to life the passion, determination and open mindedness needed to succeed. She outlines the Habits that are the cornerstone of Switched On and ignites the audience with a ‘can do’ spirit and the tools and habits to ‘make it happen’.

Listen to find out how Sahar has found success in different aspects of her life, and what she would put in the guide...

Tina Dean, 98.

Tina started her first business in the 1950s starting and growing a arts and crafts shop in Bristol market for many decades.

She has been an active people’s rights activist  and became the leader of the South Gloucestershire older people’s forum in her 60s and led it for over 13 years, helping the voices of older people be heard across the county.

Listen to find out how Tina has found success in different aspects of her life, and what she would put in the guide...

Pregnant, sixteen and homeless, Claire Parkinson became a UK Prison Governor by 30.
She went on to join the world’s largest mining company in Australia as a vice president, before stepping away to write her memoir, SHiTTY GRiT, which became a bestseller in three countries.
Born in Britain and now based in Australia, she has led high-stakes change from maximum security prisons to multibillion-dollar boardrooms.
Listen to find out how  Claire has found success in different aspects of her life, and what she would put in the guide...

Helen is an award-winning Global Entrepreneur, international business expert, Non-Executive Director, TEDx speaker, coach and author.
Trusted by both UK and foreign governments to tackle some of the most complex issues in the world’s trouble spots, Helen was awarded an MBE by the King for services to international trade in 2022.
Helen led the scaling and internationalising of her company from humble beginnings to tackling modern-day issues such as terrorism, corruption, addiction, and medical forensics, to deliver in 27 countries - winning Best Small Business in the UK at the National Family Business Awards.
Helen went on to found Helen Gibson MBE (www.helengibsonmbe.com) to reach and help more people. A Mentor for the Cherie Blair Foundation, a UK Export Champion, and university Lecturer, Helen was appointed to represent the UK at the UN Women Commission on the Status of Women 2024. She has featured in The Guardian, Business Insider, International Journal of Education Management and BBC.  Helen will soon publish her first book “Go for Goosebumps!” about cultivating encouragement in today’s world.
Listen to find out how  Helen has found success in different aspects of hier life, and what she would put in the guide...