Jul 19, 2021
Vanessa Vallely is someone who encompasses what true Leadership looks like and is often referred to as the ‘most well networked woman in the UK’.
She grew up in a flat in Hackney with her mum, after her parents divorced while she was still a baby. Vanessa always had big dreams to work in the City from the skyline she could see from her bedroom window. From getting her first job in banking for NatWest fresh from school and being told ‘girls don’t work in banks’ and ‘you’d never get a job’, this gave her a real valuable lesson on resilience in her early career.
Vanessa believes it just takes one opportunity. When she returned from maternity leave, she saw a job opportunity for a PMO Manager, it was that one opportunity she says that led her up the corporate ladder that she’s flourished in for the last 25 years. She is an individual that believes in persistence and having a tenacity to get where you want to be as she puts it in her book, ‘Heels of Steel.’ Her next book is due to be released in 2022.
There came a point in Vanessa’s career where she started searching for her own purpose and wanted to make a real difference. Getting more women on boards, creating a voice for professional working women, having conversations about diversity within the workplace and wanting to make a difference for the younger generation. This passion and purpose led to her setting up her own networking organisation, WeAreTheCity in 2008, to help women progress in their careers. WeAreTheCity has a huge reach, with over 120,000 members!
Her commitment to championing diversity & inclusion goes further than just gender. She received an OBE for Services to Women & the Economy in 2018, along with an impressive list of 22 awards for her work in finance, gender equality, entrepreneurship and charity. Vanessa is a former member of the GDS advisory board, Tech UK's Women's Council, CR-UK Women of Influence board. She has helped to raise over £1m for various charities and is also a regular speaker in schools. An accomplished global speaker and has delivered keynotes for over 600 global organisations both physically and virtually. Vanessa has been featured in over 75 news publications and is a regular guest on radio and TV.
Vanessa’s book Heel’s to Steel: Surviving & Thriving in the Corporate World: Heels of Steel: Surviving & Thriving In The Corporate World: Surviving & Thriving in the Corporate World: Amazon.co.uk: Vallely, Vanessa: 9781909623118: Books
The Empowered Podcast from Curium Solutions is hosted by Andy Dawson and produced by Monkey Pants Productions. We’d love to hear from you. To contact us, email contactus@curiumsolutions.com