Meat & Greet

The theme for International Women's Day is #EmbraceEquity. To celebrate that, we've brought together women from across a range of fields in the industry at different stages of their career to talk about the power of embracing differences.They'll be sharing their career journey, sharing with you their best advice and we'll be discussing each panellist's differences to discover how they've helped them succeedOur UK & Ireland panel will be hosted by the fantastic Carol Glover:PanellistsAbout Jo…Over 25 years experience in the packaging industry using know how and business skills to play a pivotal role in the leadership of BU Paper division Previous experience as an Operational Director in the label industry as well as holding the role of head of Commercial and Sales.Responsible for all Coveris European Business activities in labels, boards and graphic which operates from over 11 plants in the UK and Europe and employs just over 1300 colleagues supplying packaging to all major food suppliers in the UKAbout Jackie…Jackie joined Hilton Foods 1 November 2016. She brought with her over 30 years' strategic and operational Human Resources experience gained on an international basis within the retail, financial and manufacturing sectors. She has worked for FTSE 100 and equivalent businesses including Tesco, The Co-operative, JP Morgan Chase, Aviva and Rexam. Jackie is an English Literature and History Honours Graduate, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and an International Coaching Federation certified coach.About Rebecca…Rebecca started her career with ABP at ABP Slaney in 2020 as a Lean Management executive while concurrently undertaking a MSc in Strategic Quality Management, Lean Sigma Systems.In October 2021, Rebecca joined the central team at ABP Head Office as Head of Project Management, where a year later (October 2022) she was awarded Meat Business Women One to Watch Award.About Olivia…Olivia Nicholson- Agricultural Manager for M&S pigs, eggs and game. I joined M&S in the middle of 2020 as Agriculture Manager for the pork, eggs and game supply chains. My focus and responsibilities are delivering the M&S sustainable agriculture strategy in conjunction with the M&S Plan A programme. As part of my role, I work closely with strategic suppliers, farmers within the M&S Select Farm Programme and NGO's. During my time at M&S I have lead on transformational projects within animal welfare, and continue to work on market leading projects for the business. Prior to M&S, I worked for Co-op as an Agricultural Manager responsible for pork, beef, and lamb.About Carol…Carol Glover is a Manx born, ginger, punk inspired, Disruptive Thinker, Leader, Speaker, Coach, Mentor, Podcaster and Edutainer.Passionate about helping leaders and founders live their best lives, she co-creates with them, to build confidence to set free the talents, superpowers and potential that they were born with.

In honor of International Women's Day, we had the pleasure of hosting two global panel discussions with some of the amazing female leaders in our industry across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland.Framed around the theme of International Women's Day's #EmbraceEquity, it was an incredible opportunity to learn from these inspiring women about their experiences and insights on topics such as leadership, creating an inclusive work environment, and the power of embracing our differences.Watch this masterclass back instead here About Sirma…Sirma joined the Meat Industry Association (MIA) as Trade and Economic Manager in March 2015 following a career in the public sector during which she developed a deep knowledge of trade policy and significant trade negotiations experience.She was appointed as CEO in April 2020.About Aliette…Aliette lives in Melbourne with her husband and two adorable, but demanding young boys. Originally from France, she graduated in the UK and worked for a variety of small to very large FMCG retailers and distributors in the UK. She bought everything from wine to furniture before leading the buying efforts for Medicinal and Health and Beauty across the UK for one of their largest supermarkets.A friend's wedding precipitated a move to Melbourne 12 years ago where she joined Coles.Highly commercial and outward looking, Aliette loves building long term relationships with strategic partners. She has had a successful career at Coles where she now leads the BBQ and Value Added categories. Aliette has a passion for looking at the end to end supply chain, looking for transformational opportunities to optimise value for Coles and its supplier partners, and deliver value for customersAbout Raige…Raige is the Finance Manager – Financial Planning & Analysis for JBS Southern Business Unit.Before joining JBS, she finished her Bachelor of Science major in Accountancy degree in the Philippines and has been a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) both in Philippines and Australia. She moved overseas to Dubai as a Management Accountant in multinational companies for 5 years mainly performing financial analysis, financial forecast and month-end closing process.She joined JBS 7 years ago as an Assistant Accountant in Bordertown and played a key role in streamlining month-end processes and continued improvement within the plant's finance department. With JBS support, she was given an opportunity to handle her first leadership role as a Management Accountant looking after several sites in the Southern business and providing support to the site Accountants.Currently, she is now the Finance Manager for FP&A leading a team of 5 diverse women responsible for the BU's periodic reporting, manage budgeting and forecasting processes for the business. She is very passionate about developing her young team and finding opportunities for them to learn and grow professionally within JBS.About Michelle…Michelle is a globally recognised gender equality, diversity and inclusion consultant. She advises organisations in the business and sporting sectors on DEI strategy development and implementation and works directly with women leaders to advance their careers.Michelle has been recognised as one of Australia's Top 100 Women of Influence and won awards for her contribution to women's advancement. She is passionate about what sets her soul on fire, closing the global leadership gender gap.

Becoming a trusted presence in your industry can lead to untold opportunities. When people know who you are, closing sales is easy. As well as more sales, with an increased presence you'll make new connections and interesting opportunities will come your way.In this masterclass, Sophie will share tried and tested methods for growing credibility in your industry by raising your profile. It's time to get known.In this session you will…Get recognised with awardsGet heard with speaking engagementsGet people talking with media and press featuresGet seen by boosting your online presenceAbout Sophie…Sophie Milliken is the founder of Moja Group Limited, dedicated to boosting business owners' profiles, helping them become more visible and heard within their industry.Sophie has been a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development since 2013 and was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2019. Her first book, From Learner To Earner, was published in August 2019, becoming a best seller in October. Sophie's best-selling second book, The Ambition Accelerator, was published in February 2021 and includes advice from Dragons' Den star Sara Davies MBE and The Apprentice's Linda Plant. A podcast accompanies The Ambition Accelerator and includes interviews with the women included in the book.

We had the pleasure of welcoming Michelle to host another fantastic masterclasses. This time on the topic of ‘speaking up with confidence' and finding out more about the 3 C's of confidence: Competence, Credibility & Choice…which inner voice are you choosing today?Michelle has kindly provided our members with a handout so you can continue to build on your development, download here.This session covered:How to recognise the conventional advice given to women about confidence (and how to get better advice!)How to appreciate your strengths and play to themHow to recognise your confidence gaps and close themHow to Speak UP with confidence in Business

Where to start…what an insightful masterclass this was, thanks again to the joyful Janie. During this masterclass you will gain awareness of what's going on for listeners and obtain practical exercises for managing performance anxiety and staying confident.Tools to create a simple planning structure, personal reflection on your voice and next steps on how to get the most from your vocal impact.This session covers 3 key areas to succeed in presentation delivery:How was it for you? Audience perspectives and how to engage your listeners.Lights, camera, take uncomfortable action… how to prepare and avoid ‘on stage' anxiety.Say what you mean… and mean what you say. Creating content that sticks and using your voice to speak with impact.

This masterclass was originally delivered on Zoom and has been adapted as a podcast so that you can listen back to it at any time. Conventional wisdom tells women how important it is to self-promote, but it doesn't tell us what to focus on and how to do it skilfully.In this masterclass you will will walk away with tips on and practice in how to self-promote with grace and authenticity in both formal and informal business situationsAbout MichelleMichelle is the founder of Advancing Women, an enterprise providing research and advisory services on workplace equality, inclusion, and gender diversity. She is co-founder of A Career that Soars! and of CDW (Culturally Diverse Women) as well as the co-host of the Lead to Soar podcast.Along with her experience as a Non-Executive Director with Board and advisory roles in the finance, sport, for purpose and supply chain sectors, Michelle is a proud Ambassador for Honour a Woman, Flexible Working Day and Girls Uniform Agenda. Michelle has held executive leadership roles at ASX & FTSE listed companies NAB, Telstra and Serco during her 40-year corporate career.Michelle is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds an Executive MBA (Distinction) and holds various accreditations in organisational diversity and coaching

In this session you will be given the tools to build your own resilience as well as self-belief and understanding of your potential. There is only a ceiling if you put one in place and limit yourself so I want to try to open peoples mindsets on how they think and try to change their paradigm so they all believe how great every single one of them truly is.What is your key value, your WHY? as soon as you know what that is, there is no going back.About SorayaWithin 4 years of leaving my factory floor job and at only 31 years old I became the youngest and only female Director for Smithfield Foods UK. I went through some very difficult times in life and career but have never given up, I found ways to stand back up again and prove I am worth it. I said to myself years ago I awoke my inner lioness and she has shown me that I am good enough, strong enough when needed and also supportive and kind enough when required. It's not been an easy journey and I have struggled with physical and mental health as well as Imposter Syndrome but at 35 I am showing others that you can achieve anything you want and inspire others to go out and smash their goals.

This masterclass was originally delivered on Zoom and has been adapted as a podcast so that you can listen back to it at any time. In this episode you will Gain insight into the possible causes of the IPLearn how to spot symptoms of the IPExperiment with some techniques to address specific symptoms of the IPTake away your own action plan for getting control of the IP and other habits that may be holding you backThis session will benefit any woman who experiences self-doubt, whether that's an occasional dip in self-confidence, or frequent full-on ‘Can I really do this?' soul-searching.  There is no preparation, other than to come with an open mind and ready to participate!Julia Philpott has been an executive coach for 14 years and has particular interest and expertise in working with women in male-dominated sectors, e.g. automotive, banking and finance and technology.  As well as running her own coaching business, Julia is Head of Coaching for Management Futures, a global coaching and leadership development consultancy.

This masterclass was originally delivered on Zoom and has been adapted as a podcast so that you can listen back to it at any time. In this episode, Monique explores the art and science of dealing with difficult conversations. This first starts with us looking at self-awareness and management before looking at techniques and recipes to aid you in all sorts of difficult conversations. This session is relevant if you want to be able to handle conflict in a more constructive and enriching way or you want to be able to articulate your point in a situation

Episode 7 | In conversation with Angela Christison, AHDB

Episode 6 | In conversation with Harriet Wilson, Aldi UK and the Meat Business Women "One to Watch" winner for 2018

Episode 5 | In conversation with the Catalyst CollectiveKaty and Fiona discuss how male-dominated businesses can evolve at an organisational and employee level. What we can do as individuals and how amazing things start to happen when women take bold steps, talk to other women and find men to create change together.

Episode 4 | In conversation with Shraddha Kaul (External Affairs Specialist at British Poultry Council) discussing the future of the poultry market in the UK.

In conversation with Katie Doherty, CEO of International Meat Trade Association on what Brexit means for the UK meat sector

Episode 3 | In conversation with Professor Jane Turner (Teesside University, Pro Vice Chancellor)How important it is for men and women to work together to shift the gender stereotypes. The need to find your own voice, truly live in the moment and not to be a warrior.

Episode 2 | In conversation with Ashley Gray (GM at Beef and Lamb New Zealand Inc)"When you form communities amazing things happen"