Storytelling & Business Communication

Why organisations work with Lee McKenzie A live-television hosting standard. Two decades anchoring Formula 1, Olympic, Paralympic, Wimbledon and Six Nations coverage translates directly into conference and awards rooms where the brief is tight scripts, live interviews and zero margin for error. Genuine motorsport access. She has interviewed Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Max Verstappen and other Formula 1 World Champions on the record, repeatedly, over fifteen years. That access is the basis of Inside F1, her 2022 book with Black and White Publishing. A first-mover credential that still differentiates. First woman to anchor Formula 1 on British television, first female recipient of the Jim Clark Memorial Award. The story of how she got there is the spine of her keynote material. A trusted hand for sponsor-sensitive rooms. Repeat hosting work for JP Morgan, UBS, Investec, Mercedes-Benz, McLaren Automotive and Castrol indicates a presenter who can read a corporate brief and stay on it. Biography highlights Reporter and presenter, Channel 4 Formula 1, 2016 to present. BBC Formula 1 pit lane reporter, 2009 to 2015; first woman to present Formula 1 as main anchor on British television, 2012. Author, Inside F1: Life Alongside Legends, Black and White Publishing, 2022. Jim Clark Memorial Award, 2007, first female recipient. Broadcast credits include Wimbledon, Six Nations, Commonwealth Games, Olympic and Paralympic Games, Channel 4 Rugby and BBC Radio 5 Live. Patron of World Horse Welfare; former World Rally Championship co-driver, class winner at Wales Rally GB 2004. Biography Formula 1 is a useful laboratory for how senior people behave under pressure. The decisions are made in seconds, the consequences are public, and the recovery cycle from a bad result is measured in days. Lee McKenzie has been inside that environment, with a microphone, for the better part of two decades. She joined the BBC Formula 1 team as pit lane reporter in 2009 and stayed through to 2015, covering every grand prix and stepping into the main anchor chair in 2012, the first woman to do so on British television. When the rights moved to Channel 4 in 2016 she moved with them, and now serves as reporter and presenter, including the long-form F1 Meets interview series. Her broadcast range extends well beyond motorsport, taking in Wimbledon, the Six Nations, Channel 4 Rugby, and successive Olympic and Paralympic Games. Her 2022 book Inside F1: Life Alongside Legends, published by Black and White Publishing, draws on sustained on-the-record access to seven Formula 1 World Champions, including Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. It is the basis of her speaking material on composure, preparation and what elite performers do differently when results are binary. Outside the studio she is a patron of World Horse Welfare and a former World Rally Championship co-driver, class winner at Wales Rally GB in 2004. The Jim Clark Memorial Award, which she received in 2007 as the first woman to do so, recognised her contribution to motorsport in a year when she was still establishing herself in front of the camera. Key speaking topics Lessons from elite Formula 1 performers Composure and preparation under public pressure Career-building as a woman in male-dominated industries Sport, sponsorship and the corporate stage Live interviewing and storytelling under deadline Ideal for Corporate conferences and annual kick-offs that need a senior on-stage host or moderator Awards ceremonies and gala dinners with motorsport, automotive or sponsorship audiences Leadership offsites looking for a sport-led keynote on performance under pressure Panels and fireside discussions with athletes, executives or sponsors Audience outcomes A clearer read on how elite performers prepare, recover and stay composed when results are public Specific stories from Formula 1, Olympic and Paralympic environments that map onto corporate decision-making Stronger framing for women navigating early-career moves in male-dominated industries Conference flow held together by a presenter who has done it live on television

Why organisations work with Toby Moody Eighteen years as the voice of MotoGP on Eurosport, now leading the international TV feed and BT Sport’s 4K coverage, gives him a vocabulary for high-stakes live performance most speakers only describe second-hand. Eight Dakar Rally campaigns as lead international feed commentator, on site across three continents, mean his material on operating under fatigue, equipment failure and shifting conditions comes from inside the bivouac. Hands-on team experience as Media Manager for Prodrive’s Bahrain Raid Xtreme World Rally Raid team and consultant to KTM’s board for the Red Bull KTM MotoGP programme, not just an outside view of motorsport. Cross-code authority across MotoGP, the British Touring Car Championship, FIA World Endurance, the X Games and Red Bull Global RallyCross lets him tailor the same themes for engineering, logistics and sponsorship audiences. A trusted hospitality host for Audi Sport at Le Mans, Porsche Motorsport press conferences and Goodwood Festival of Speed, with the moderation and emcee craft to carry a corporate room as well as a paddock. Biography highlights Lead commentator on MotoGP for the international TV feed and on BT Sport’s MotoGP 4K coverage. Eighteen years as Eurosport’s MotoGP voice, with Julian Ryder as commentary partner for fourteen of those years. Eight-time lead international feed commentator on the Dakar Rally, on site. Lead ITV4 commentator for the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbike Championship. FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours commentary; X Games motorsports commentator for ESPN; Red Bull Global RallyCross lead commentator for NBC and Red Bull TV. Trackside commentator at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival; Audi Sport presenter at the Le Mans 24-hour arena; Media Manager for Prodrive’s Bahrain Raid Xtreme Dakar team, 2022-2024. Biography The MotoGP race weekend runs to a brutal schedule. Free practice, qualifying, warm-up, race, with riders, engineers and broadcasters all working off the same timing screens. Someone has to make sense of it live, in English, for a global audience that will notice every mistake. For most of the modern MotoGP era, that voice has been Toby Moody’s. Moody began commentating at Shelsley Walsh hill climb at 18, after working as a mechanic at Benetton F1 and Prodrive in school holidays. A contact at Prodrive led to a MotoGP commentary slot in Spain that became eighteen years as the lead voice for Eurosport, with Julian Ryder as partner for fourteen of them. He now leads commentary on the MotoGP international TV feed and on BT Sport’s 4K coverage. The breadth around that core matters. Eight Dakar Rally campaigns as lead international feed commentator, on site across Africa, South America and Saudi Arabia. FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans commentary. ITV4 lead on the British Touring Car and British Superbike championships. X Games motorsports commentary for ESPN, and Red Bull Global RallyCross for NBC. Trackside roles at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival. The point for corporate audiences is range: live performance pressure tested across very different sports, formats and cultures. He has also worked inside the teams, not only the broadcast booth. Canon Williams F1 PR in the early 1990s. Two British Rally titles with Nissan as PR. Media Manager for Prodrive’s Bahrain Raid Xtreme team in the World Rally Raid Championship from 2022 to 2024, working with Sebastien Loeb. Consultant to KTM’s board for the Red Bull KTM MotoGP team. That dual track, broadcast and team operations, is what gives his corporate material specificity that pure presenters do not have. Key speaking topics Live broadcasting and composure under pressure MotoGP, Dakar Rally and Le Mans paddock storytelling Team performance and decision-making in elite motorsport Motorsport sponsorship, hospitality and brand activation Conference moderation, emcee and after-dinner hosting Cross-code motorsport: bikes, cars, endurance and rally raid Ideal for Corporate hospitality and client events at MotoGP rounds, Le Mans, the Dakar Rally and Goodwood Sales kick-offs and annual conferences looking for a named motorsport voice to host or headline Engineering, operations and supply chain leadership audiences drawn to precision-under-pressure themes Automotive, motorcycle and motorsport sponsor activations needing an industry-trusted moderator Audience outcomes A practitioner’s view of how factory race teams prepare for events they cannot fully predict. Stories from inside the MotoGP paddock and the Dakar bivouac that make performance under pressure tangible. A clearer sense of how a single voice and a clear running order hold a long, volatile live event together. Material that lands with motorsport enthusiasts in the room and colleagues who have never watched a race.

Why organisations work with Rosanna Lockwood She has anchored live business news for CNBC International, MSNBC, NBC and Bloomberg TV, so she can chair a CFO, a central bank governor and a sanctions analyst in the same hour without losing the thread. Her brief is built where the audience expects it to be tested: Downing Street, the Singapore Strait, Istanbul, Dubai. That field record carries weight with senior delegates who can spot a host briefed only from a deck. She has moderated for COP, the World Economic Forum and LEAP, formats where the chair has to manage geopolitical sensitivity and named-company exposure in real time. She holds her own opposite Nobel laureates, central bank governors and CEOs without ceding the room, which is the actual job when the panel includes a sitting minister and a sceptical buy-side audience. Biography highlights Anchor on CNBC International, presenting Squawk Box and Street Signs from London and Singapore, with European markets reporting for CNBC US, MSNBC and NBC. Host of Prime Time with Rosanna Lockwood on TalkTV, and Piers Morgan’s stand-in on Piers Morgan Uncensored. Earlier broadcasting roles with Bloomberg TV, Reuters in Dubai, the BBC, LBC and ITN. Moderator at COP, the World Economic Forum and LEAP, plus conferences and summits in London, Paris, New York, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Singapore. BJTC-accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism, London College of Communication; BA English Literature and Drama, Royal Holloway, University of London. Senior Fellow of the John Schofield Trust, mentoring early-career journalists. Biography Live business news is unforgiving territory. The anchor has minutes, sometimes seconds, to read a central bank statement, frame the implication for markets and put the right question to the next guest. Lockwood spent over a decade in that seat, anchoring Squawk Box and Street Signs for CNBC International in London and Singapore and reporting European markets for CNBC US, MSNBC and NBC. That work shaped a specific kind of moderator. She is fluent in the vocabulary of monetary policy, corporate strategy and geopolitical risk because she has had to translate it on air, in real time, with a Nobel laureate, a CEO or a finance minister opposite her. Earlier roles at Bloomberg TV, Reuters in Dubai, the BBC, LBC and ITN extended that range across foreign policy, defence, sustainability and energy. The conference work follows the same logic. Lockwood has chaired and moderated for COP, the World Economic Forum and LEAP, and across summits in London, Paris, New York, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Singapore. The brief in those rooms is concrete: keep a senior panel honest, surface the disagreement that matters, and leave the buy-side or board audience with a signal they can act on. She qualified through a BJTC-accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism at London College of Communication, after a BA in English Literature and Drama at Royal Holloway. As a Senior Fellow of the John Schofield Trust, she mentors early-career journalists in the UK. Key speaking topics Conference moderation and panel chairing Investor day and AGM hosting Business and finance interviewing Geopolitics and foreign policy Sustainability and energy transition Macroeconomics and central bank policy Defence and security Ideal for Boards, IR teams and CFO offices commissioning chairs for capital markets days, AGMs and investor summits Sustainability, public affairs and ESG leads convening regulator-facing or COP-adjacent conversations Heads of communications and event leads at banks, asset managers and energy companies running flagship summits Government and multilateral programme leads at WEF, COP and LEAP-tier convenings Audience outcomes Senior speakers handled with the discipline of a live news desk, including the unscripted moments Sharper questions in the room, including the ones panellists would prefer to skip A chair who can connect a macro print, a corporate decision and a policy shift inside a single panel Confidence that sensitive geopolitical territory will be navigated without diplomatic damage A through-line for the audience, so the day reads as one argument rather than a sequence of sessions

Why organisations work with Clodagh Griffin She has built a major media brand’s TikTok presence from zero to 70,000 followers and tens of millions of views, so her advice on what travels on the platform is operational, not theoretical. She has reported undercover on TikTok’s child-safety failures for BBC Panorama, which gives her a working view of platform risk that most marketing speakers cannot offer. She works inside The News Movement, a social-first newsroom built for audiences under 35, so she sees content patterns shift in real time across news, culture and entertainment. She is a working presenter, not a former marketer talking about social media, which matters when a brief calls for on-camera moderation, panel hosting or live content capture alongside the keynote. Biography highlights Multimedia journalist at The News Movement, covering investigations and culture for a social-native audience. Built and fronted Yahoo UK’s TikTok account, reaching 70,000 followers and tens of millions of views. Undercover reporter on BBC Panorama’s “Is TikTok Safe?”, produced by Hardcash Productions. MA in Television Journalism, Goldsmiths, University of London (distinction, 2021); BA in Psychology. Career began at TV3 Ireland, now Virgin Media One, in 2014. Publicly known as “The TikTok Professor” across UK speaker agencies. Biography Most brands still treat TikTok as a publishing channel. Griffin treats it as a newsroom problem. Her work at Yahoo UK started with a blank account and ended with 70,000 followers and tens of millions of views, built through a daily editorial discipline: what is happening today, who cares about it, and what is the shortest credible way to put a brand in the middle of that conversation. That craft sits on top of a journalist’s training. Griffin holds an MA in Television Journalism from Goldsmiths, completed with distinction in 2021, and a BA in Psychology. Her career began at TV3 in Ireland in 2014 and moved through multimedia journalism, radio and digital production before settling into the format that suits her: short-form video built for a social-native audience. The work that distinguishes her from other social media speakers is BBC Panorama’s “Is TikTok Safe?”, produced by Hardcash Productions. Four weeks of undercover research, posing as a 14-year-old, exposed how predators were using the platform to groom children. She presented the findings on camera. For a marketing team thinking about brand safety, this is rare ground. The speaker has actually been on the other side of the platform’s failure mode. She is now a journalist at The News Movement, a social-first newsroom built for younger audiences, where she runs investigations and builds the arts and entertainment strand. That gives her a current view of where attention is moving, which is what brands are actually paying for when they book her. Key speaking topics TikTok strategy for brands Social media content and storytelling Emerging platforms and youth audiences Digital safety and platform risk Investigative journalism on social media Short-form video production Ideal for Heads of social, brand and content marketing CMOs reviewing TikTok or a younger audience strategy Comms and brand-safety leads inside consumer and media businesses Editorial and newsroom leaders moving to social-first formats Audience outcomes A working view of what makes a brand’s TikTok content travel, drawn from a 70,000-follower build at Yahoo UK. A direct account of how predators operate on TikTok, and what that means for brands putting content in front of younger users. A current read on where social audiences are moving across news, culture and entertainment, from inside a social-first newsroom. A clearer brief for an internal social or content team on what to test next.

Why organisations work with Lottie Hulme A working journalist inside one of the UK’s largest entertainment newsrooms, with daily access to celebrity stories, talent and the cultural conversation brands are trying to enter. Hosting credit on The Sun’s National Television Awards Winners Room, twice, plus the YouTube franchise Strictly Secrets, which gives clients an MC with a track record on the kind of stage they are trying to reproduce. A TikTok and Instagram following built specifically around showbiz commentary, which puts brand activations in front of the audience that already watches entertainment content. A podcast host (#NoFilter) and regular talk radio contributor, useful when a brief calls for long-form interview craft rather than autocue presenting. Equally comfortable on the red carpet, in the host chair and behind a microphone at a corporate event, which removes the usual gap between a presenter who looks polished and one who can actually carry a live room. Biography highlights Senior Showbiz Reporter at The Sun, delivering celebrity exclusives across the title’s digital and video platforms. Host of Strictly Secrets on The Sun’s YouTube channel. Hosted the National Television Awards Winners Room twice on behalf of The Sun. Former Showbiz and Lifestyle Reporter at OK! Magazine. Former Deputy Editor of The Handbook, a London luxury lifestyle magazine. Host of the #NoFilter podcast and a regular entertainment contributor on talk radio, including Petrie Hosken, David Bull and Fubar Radio’s Access All Areas. Biography The fastest route to a consumer brand moment in 2026 runs through showbiz coverage and social video, not press releases. Lottie Hulme works at that intersection professionally, as Senior Showbiz Reporter at The Sun, where she delivers celebrity news and exclusive interviews across the title’s digital and video platforms. Her route into the chair was deliberate. She began at i-on, Scotland’s biggest fashion and lifestyle magazine, moved to London as Deputy Editor of The Handbook covering high-end venues and events, then joined OK! Magazine as a Showbiz and Lifestyle Reporter before her current role at The Sun. The career has been built inside the publications that set the day’s entertainment agenda. The hosting work has been built in parallel. She has fronted the National Television Awards Winners Room twice for The Sun, presents the YouTube franchise Strictly Secrets, and contributes regularly to UK talk radio. Her #NoFilter podcast brings the same interview craft to long form. For brand clients, she is bookable as MC, awards host, red carpet interviewer and panel host, all delivered with a working journalist’s instinct for the story in the room. Outside the studio, the TikTok and Instagram channels function as their own distribution. Lottie’s showbiz updates reach hundreds of thousands of viewers, which makes her one of the rare presenters who arrive at a corporate event with an existing consumer audience already paying attention. Key speaking topics Entertainment journalism and the modern celebrity story Social media and TikTok for brand audiences Red carpet hosting and awards presenting Influencer marketing and creator partnerships Interview craft for podcasts and live events Luxury lifestyle and consumer brand storytelling Ideal for Consumer brand marketing teams briefing on social-first activation Awards organisers and corporate event leads needing an experienced MC or host Media, entertainment and lifestyle conferences Internal events where a journalist-host can chair panels and conduct on-stage interviews Audience outcomes A clearer read on how entertainment stories actually travel across The Sun, TikTok and broadcast in 2026. A working journalist’s view of what makes celebrity and brand collaborations land or fail. Practical reference points on building a social following around a specific editorial niche. A live demonstration of interview and hosting craft when Lottie chairs sessions on the day.

Why organisations work with Eunice Olumide A first-hand authority on what fast fashion looks like inside the industry, with parliamentary testimony that fed into the UK’s first inquiry on its environmental impact. A published voice on exploitation and sustainability in fashion through How To Get Into Fashion (Luath Press, 2018), drawn from a career walking for Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry and Christopher Kane. An MBE-recognised broadcaster across BBC, ITV and Sky, comfortable holding a room of senior leaders without losing the substance of the argument. A curator and gallery founder whose programme links contemporary art with social and environmental causes, useful for organisations whose brand strategy intersects with culture. A V&A Design Champion with credibility in design, production and sustainability conversations that most fashion-adjacent speakers cannot match. Biography highlights MBE, 2017 Birthday Honours, for services to broadcasting, the arts and charity. Honorary Doctor of the University, The Open University, 2024. V&A Design Champion, 2018; permanent display at the National Museum of Scotland. Author, How To Get Into Fashion (Luath Press, 2018); contributor, Loud Black Girls (2020), edited by Bernardine Evaristo. Founder, Olumide Gallery, representing artists including Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Richard Wilson, The Connor Brothers and Bradley Theodore. Acting credits include BAFTA-winning Trouble Sleeping, BAFTA-nominated Middleman, Star Wars: Rogue One, The Last Jedi and Noughts and Crosses. Biography Fashion is one of the largest polluters on the planet, and the people best placed to say so are the ones who have worked inside it. Eunice Olumide MBE walked for Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry and Christopher Kane before turning her attention to the industry’s harder questions. Her testimony at the Houses of Parliament fed into the UK’s first inquiry on the environmental impact of fast fashion. Her 2018 book How To Get Into Fashion, published by Luath Press, is the long form of that argument. It treats exploitation, sustainability and diversity not as separate brand campaigns but as connected supply chain problems. The book sits alongside her V&A Design Champion role and her work with the Centre for Social Justice as evidence that her sustainability work is operational, not aesthetic. Olumide is also a broadcaster across BBC, ITV and Sky, an MBE recipient for services to broadcasting, the arts and charity, and an honorary Doctor of the University from The Open University. She founded Olumide Gallery in 2016 and represents contemporary artists including Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Richard Wilson and The Connor Brothers, with a curatorial line that returns regularly to inclusion and environmental responsibility. For organisations, the value is the combination of access and argument. She has lived inside the commercial machinery she critiques, and she has put that critique on record in Parliament, in a published book, and through institutions including the V&A and the National Museum of Scotland. Key speaking topics Sustainability and ethics in fashion Fast fashion and supply chain accountability Diversity and inclusion in creative industries Art, culture and social impact Climate action and the consumer economy Women of colour in media and fashion Brand purpose and authentic advocacy Ideal for Boards and CSOs in fashion, retail and consumer brands working through ESG substance versus narrative. CMOs and brand leaders building sustainability and inclusion into commercial strategy, not communications. Cultural institutions, arts funders and philanthropic boards engaging with diversity in the creative sector. Conferences and leadership events seeking a credible voice on fashion, climate and social justice in one speaker. Audience outcomes A clearer view of how fast fashion actually operates, including the labour and environmental trade-offs that rarely surface in public discourse. A sharper sense of where corporate sustainability narrative diverges from supply chain reality. Practical reference points for inclusion in creative industries from someone who has worked at the top of one. Renewed confidence that ethics and commercial strategy can be argued together rather than traded off.

Why organisations work with Barbara Serra She holds the room when senior figures are practiced at controlling the conversation. Two decades anchoring live news at Al Jazeera English and Sky News mean she does not defer when a CEO or sitting minister tries to bridge back to talking points. She is credible on the European populism story in a way most broadcast hosts are not. The 2020 documentary “Fascism in the Family” and the 2025 book of the same name are her own work on her own family’s history, which means a panel on the populist current in Europe gets a chair who knows the material from the inside. She works comfortably across Italian, English, Danish and French audiences. For organisations whose flagship events are cross-border or whose European operation matters, this removes the awkward Anglo-defaulting that limits a lot of corporate event hosts. She owns a specific content lane on second-language English in international business. The argument is that what most companies call “global communication” is really English-language communication, with all the cultural narrowing that implies. For multilingual leadership teams operating in an English company language, this lands as a real internal issue with bite. Biography highlights Sky News presenter since 2023, anchoring News at 10 and the Press Preview Anchored Al Jazeera English’s flagship NewsHour from London 2006 to 2022; founding launch-team member First non-native English speaker to anchor a primetime news programme on British terrestrial television (Channel 5 News, 2005) Awarded the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy) by the Italian President in 2019 for international journalism “Fascism in the Family” (Al Jazeera, 2020) won gold in both the Current Affairs and History categories at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards; companion book “Fascismo in Famiglia” published in Italy in 2025 Hosting and moderation client roster includes KPMG, Baker Hughes, Technogym, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Poste Italiane and ENEL; presented the Royal Television Society’s TV Journalism Awards in 2017 Biography Al Jazeera English launched in 2006 with a London evening news strand built to challenge the Anglo-American framing of international stories. The anchor it picked for primetime was Italian-born and working in her second language. Barbara Serra held the seat for sixteen years. That tenure followed an earlier first. In 2005 at Channel 5 News, she became the first non-native English speaker to anchor a primetime news bulletin on British terrestrial television. She has since moved to Sky News, anchoring News at 10 and the Press Preview. Outside the studio, the most distinctive piece of work is the 2020 documentary “Fascism in the Family”, which she co-produced, wrote and presented. The film traces the role of her own grandfather, the regime-appointed mayor of Carbonia, against the rise of the contemporary far right in Italy. It won gold in both the Current Affairs and History categories at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards. A companion book, “Fascismo in Famiglia”, was published in Italy in 2025. The corporate hosting work is the other half of her commercial profile. She has chaired and moderated for KPMG, Baker Hughes, Technogym, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Poste Italiane and ENEL, alongside presenting the Royal Television Society’s TV Journalism Awards. The discipline transfers directly from live news: holding senior figures on the question, and reading the room fast enough to fix it when something is going wrong on stage. Key speaking topics Conference hosting and live moderation Industry awards ceremonies and set-piece corporate events European political affairs and contemporary populism The legacy of fascism in modern Italian politics Second-language English in international business Cross-cultural communication in multilingual leadership International current affairs and live news analysis Ideal for Heads of corporate affairs and investor relations planning flagship convenings where the chair carries the event Multinational corporates with Italian or wider European leadership, where senior conversations move regularly between English and Italian Industry awards and high-stakes set-piece events where the host needs to handle live ad-libbing and recover quickly when something goes wrong on stage Boards and leadership teams hosting external speakers on European political risk and contemporary populism Audience outcomes A sharper read of contemporary European political affairs, particularly the populist current, from a serving prime-time news anchor A specific account of how Italy’s fascist past keeps shaping its present politics, drawn from her documentary and book An honest analysis of how the dominance of English in international business narrows whose perspectives get heard, and what that means for multilingual leadership teams

Why organisations work with Will Young His book To Be a Gay Man provides a specific, argued analysis of how internalised shame develops and compounds; giving organisations something more useful than personal testimony: a framework for understanding why policy alone doesn’t change culture As the first Patron of Shout, the UK’s 24/7 crisis text service, he carries the kind of sustained, institutional commitment to mental health that distinguishes an advocate from a performer talking about their own story His JP Morgan Blue Monday Fireside Chat appearance demonstrates he operates credibly in formal corporate environments, not only in entertainment or charity contexts He is one of very few speakers who can hold the intersection of LGBTQ+ experience, clinical mental health literacy, and mass public recognition in a single conversation, without any of the three undermining the others The Sunday Times bestseller status on two consecutive books signals consistent public authority, not a single media moment Biography highlights Winner of the inaugural series of Pop Idol (2002); debut single the second best-selling UK single of the 21st century; four UK #1 albums; two Brit Awards Sunday Times bestselling author: To Be a Gay Man (Penguin/Ebury Press) and Be Yourself and Happier: The A–Z of Wellbeing Olivier Award-nominated actor; stage credits include Cabaret and Strictly Ballroom; screen credits include Mrs Henderson Presents First Patron of Shout, the UK’s 24/7 mental health text crisis support service Honorary degree, University of Exeter (2023); originally studied Politics at Exeter Corporate speaker engagements include JP Morgan Blue Monday Fireside Chats; Leeds International Festival of Ideas Biography Gay shame is not a niche subject. It describes a mechanism, internalised identity conflict producing low self-worth and destructive behaviour, that shapes the working lives of LGBTQ+ employees long after any formal discrimination has ended. Will Young’s To Be a Gay Man, published by Penguin in 2020 and a Sunday Times bestseller, is the most visible attempt by a British public figure to articulate that mechanism in terms that are both personal and intellectually serious. Young won the first series of Pop Idol in 2002 and built one of the most durable careers in British pop, with four UK number one albums, two Brit Awards, and a debut single that remains the second best-selling UK single of the 21st century. That public history matters to organisations not as decoration but as context: Young spent two decades navigating visibility, media scrutiny, and identity in an industry that rarely handled any of those things well. His second book, Be Yourself and Happier: The A–Z of Wellbeing, extended his work beyond LGBTQ+ experience into broader mental health and personal development. As the first Patron of Shout – the UK’s 24/7 text crisis support service – and a speaker at JP Morgan’s Blue Monday Fireside Chats, he has moved steadily from public profile to institutional engagement. The Olivier Award nomination for Cabaret and an honorary degree from the University of Exeter complete a picture of someone who has built genuine plural credibility – in entertainment, publishing, mental health, and now corporate settings – rather than recycling a single story across formats. Key speaking topics Gay shame and internalised identity Mental health and psychological safety at work LGBTQ+ inclusion beyond policy Authenticity and belonging in organisational culture Public visibility and personal resilience Wellbeing and self-acceptance Media, representation, and cultural change Ideal for CHROs and People Directors leading LGBTQ+ inclusion or mental health strategy DEI leads and LGBTQ+ employee network events seeking substance beyond lived-experience storytelling Leadership and culture conferences where psychological safety and authentic belonging are on the agenda Organisations marking awareness moments (Mental Health Awareness Week, Pride, Blue Monday) who want credibility over celebrity Audience outcomes A working understanding of how internalised shame operates, and why policy change without cultural work leaves the core problem intact Language for discussing gay shame and identity conflict that is grounded, specific, and usable in organisational contexts A more nuanced picture of what LGBTQ+ inclusion looks like in practice, beyond representation metrics Reflection on the relationship between personal authenticity and professional performance Awareness of the practical mental health resources and frameworks Young has developed through his books and Wellbeing Lab platform

Why organisations work with Brian Keating His argument about incentive systems is not borrowed from management theory. He conceived a Nobel-contending experiment, experienced a public retraction, served as a Nobel nominator, and co-founded the Simons Observatory: a $100M project involving 380+ scientists across 40+ institutions. The authority is operational. Losing the Nobel Prize (W.W. Norton, 2018) makes a specific structural case that endorsers including Brian Greene and reviewers in Nature, Science, and Scientific American have engaged with seriously: the systems organisations use to reward individuals actively prevent the inclusive, rigorous, collaborative work that produces real discovery. Into the Impossible (2021) draws from first-person conversations with 11 Nobel laureates to identify the specific mental habits (disciplined curiosity, tolerance for failure, sustained collaboration), that distinguish people who achieve genuine breakthroughs from those who optimise for recognition. He gives boards and senior leaders a precise structural vocabulary for why innovation programmes underperform: not insufficient ambition or budget, but reward architecture that was never designed for collaborative, long-horizon work. As co-director of the Arthur C. Clarke Center for the Human Imagination at UC San Diego, he bridges frontier scientific thinking and the broader question of how organisations cultivate the conditions for original thought. Biography highlights Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics, Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, University of California San Diego Principal Investigator and co-founder, Simons Observatory – a four-telescope array in Chile’s Atacama Desert involving 380+ scientists and engineers from 40+ institutions, with approximately $100M in funding raised Inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) telescope; co-leads the POLARBEAR2 and Simons Array experiments Author of Losing the Nobel Prize (W.W. Norton, 2018), reviewed in Nature, Science, and Scientific American, and endorsed by theoretical physicist Brian Greene Author of Into the Impossible (2021) and Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner (2025), drawing on first-person interviews with Nobel laureates across physics, economics, and beyond U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; Fellow of the American Physical Society; Buchalter Cosmology Prize; 2022 Legend of Flight, International Air & Space Hall of Fame Host of the Into the Impossible podcast – long-form conversations with Nobel laureates, scientists, and technologists – with more than 200,000 subscribers Biography Organisations that fund innovation but reward speed tend to get neither. The dynamic is structural, not cultural: when recognition flows to individuals who move fast and announce loudly, the slow, rigorous, collaborative work that genuine breakthroughs require becomes a career liability. Brian Keating has spent more than two decades inside that tension. Not observing it from the outside, but navigating it at the frontier of experimental cosmology. Keating is the Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California San Diego and Principal Investigator of the Simons Observatory, a four-telescope array in Chile’s Atacama Desert that he co-founded in 2016. The project grew to involve more than 380 scientists and engineers from over 40 institutions, with Keating raising approximately $100 million in funding from the Simons Foundation. Keating teaches undergraduate quantum mechanics at UC San Diego in the same weeks he records long-form conversations with Nobel laureates on the Into the Impossible podcast. Guests have included Roger Penrose, Frank Wilczek, Sara Seager, and Andrei Linde. Active experimental research alongside sustained engagement with the field’s most consequential thinkers is the working basis from which he addresses two questions senior audiences are now asking him directly: what AI does to the scientific method, and what is happening to the research university as a credentialing and funding institution. Managing that collaboration across disciplines, institutions, competitive pressures, and high-stakes scientific uncertainty is the practical foundation on which his speeches rest. That argument appears explicitly in Losing the Nobel Prize (W.W. Norton, 2018). Keating, who conceived the original BICEP telescope and was closely involved in the BICEP2 collaboration whose findings made global headlines before being retracted, uses the experience to make a case that extends well beyond physics: the Nobel Prize, as structured, rewards individual speed and competition while punishing the inclusive, methodical, collaborative work that real discoveries require. Reviewed in Nature, Science, and Scientific American, and endorsed by physicist Brian Greene, the book gives senior audiences a precise structural vocabulary for a problem most organisations recognise but struggle to name. The follow-up volumes, Into the Impossible (2021) and Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner (2025), draw on first-person interviews with Nobel laureates across physics and economics to identify the working habits that distinguish genuine breakthrough thinkers from those who optimise for recognition. Keating is also co-director of the Arthur C. Clarke Center for the Human Imagination at UC San Diego, a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a 2022 Legend of Flight inductee at the International Air & Space Hall of Fame. His podcast, also titled Into the Impossible, has reached more than 200,000 subscribers and has hosted over 11 Nobel Prize winners. Key speaking topics Incentive systems, innovation culture, and the structural conditions for breakthrough Large-scale scientific collaboration and high-stakes research leadership AI and the future of scientific discovery, peer review, and the research workflow The structural future of higher education and the research university Cosmology, the cosmic microwave background, and the science of the early universe The culture of ambition and discovery in high-performance environments Failure, resilience, and the creative habits of exceptional thinkers The future of curiosity-driven research in an era of AI and data Ideal for Chief Innovation Officers, R&D leaders, and boards wrestling with why innovation programmes underdeliver Senior executive teams in science- and technology-intensive industries (pharma, aerospace, deep tech, energy) where collaboration at scale is a strategic challenge University presidents, provosts, and trustee boards addressing the AI-driven restructuring of higher education and the legitimacy questions facing research institutions Foundations, philanthropic funders of science, and policy bodies designing the next generation of research grants, prizes, and incentive structures Audience outcomes A clear structural diagnosis of why incentive systems that reward individual speed and visibility tend to suppress the collaborative, rigorous work that genuine breakthroughs require Practical examples – drawn from one of the most ambitious scientific projects of the past decade – of how large, distributed collaborations can be designed and sustained under uncertainty A set of mental habits and working practices, sourced from conversations with Nobel laureates, that distinguish breakthrough thinkers from those who optimise for recognition A more precise vocabulary for discussing innovation culture with boards and leadership teams – one grounded in evidence, not aspiration Perspective on how organisational ambition can be redirected from visible short-term wins toward the patient, inclusive work that produces durable results

Why organisations work with Leee John He carries the weight of a verifiable cultural archive. The Flashback documentary alone represents over a decade of original interviews with figures including Labi Siffre, Billy Ocean and Pauline Black, giving inclusion conversations a body of named, recorded testimony rather than slogans. His authority on Black British contribution is built on lived participation. He fronted one of the defining British soul acts of the 1980s, which lets him talk about representation, visibility and creative gatekeeping from inside the room rather than the academy. He moves an audience emotionally. A career built on falsetto vocal performance and stage presence translates into keynote energy that DEI sessions, gala dinners and cultural-anniversary moments often lack. His humanitarian work is concrete, not decorative. As an ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages he has campaigned annually for World Orphan Week and was recognised with a Humanitarian award in France, which gives credibility on purpose-led brand and CSR programmes. He brings a reinvention story senior audiences recognise. Singer to producer to documentary director to charity ambassador is a useful proof point for any room thinking about second-act careers, creative longevity or staying commercially relevant across generational shifts in taste. Biography highlights Founding member and lead singer of Imagination, the British soul/funk trio with three UK top 10 singles, including “Just an Illusion” (UK No. 2, 1982). Imagination earned four platinum discs, nine gold discs and over a dozen silver discs between 1981 and 1983. Director of Flashback: The History of UK Black Music, an independent documentary featuring 80+ interviews across jazz, soul, funk, reggae, ska and 2-tone. Ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages and recipient of a Humanitarian award in France for charity work; also holds a UK Lifetime Achievement award. Released the jazz album Feel My Soul on Candid Records in 2005; later solo album Retropia reached No. 1 on UK Soul and UK Reggae charts. Trained at the Anna Scher Theatre School; appeared in the 1983 Doctor Who serial Enlightenment, and went on to host and produce television including ITV’s Night Network strand Leee’s Place. Biography The history of British Black music is mostly told in fragments. Leee John has spent more than a decade pulling those fragments into a single record, with over 80 filmed interviews across jazz, soul, funk, reggae, ska and 2-tone now sitting inside Flashback: The History of UK Black Music. Subjects include Labi Siffre, Billy Ocean, Jaki Graham, Pauline Black and Neville Staple. Before that work, he was the front of Imagination, the British soul/funk trio whose 1982 single “Just an Illusion” reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in Spain. Imagination earned four platinum discs and nine gold discs in a two-year run between 1981 and 1983, which places him inside the small group of Black British artists who broke into mainstream European pop charts in that era. That career is the substance behind his keynote work on inclusion, identity and creative reinvention. He talks about gatekeeping, visibility and longevity from someone who has been on both sides of them, and he extends the same argument into philanthropy as an ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages, where his campaigning was recognised with a Humanitarian award in France. The reinvention thread runs through everything: lead singer, jazz recording artist on Candid Records, film and television producer, documentary director, charity ambassador. Flashback is the current centre of gravity, and it is the body of work that gives a contemporary inclusion conversation a name, a face and a primary source. Key speaking topics Diversity, equity and inclusion Cultural identity and Black British heritage Creative resilience and career reinvention Storytelling and oral history Music, media and representation Purpose, philanthropy and brand Motivation and inspiration Ideal for DEI and ERG leadership programmes seeking a culturally substantive keynote presence rather than a policy-led speaker. CSR, purpose and brand teams marking heritage moments such as Black History Month, World Orphan Week or cultural-anniversary launches. Senior audiences in media, music, entertainment and creative industries debating representation, longevity and the economics of Black British creative output. Conference organisers wanting a closing keynote that combines testimony, performance presence and emotional lift. Audience outcomes A clearer mental map of British Black music history and why it underwrites contemporary conversations about representation. A worked example of creative reinvention across four decades, useful for anyone thinking about second-act careers and staying relevant. A felt understanding of why inclusion is a question of belonging and visibility, not compliance language. Direct exposure to a cultural archive most rooms have never heard, drawn from the Flashback documentary interviews. An emotional close, often involving live vocal performance, that lifts the room rather than ending on a slide.

Why organisations work with Kudzi Chikumbu He built TikTok’s creator marketing, education, and community functions from a small U.S. team into a global operation, so he speaks from inside the engine room rather than from the outside as a commentator. He teaches the operating logic of authenticity as a brand strategy, not as a values statement, with a specific framework brands can apply to product launches, executive presence, and creator partnerships. He carries dual credibility: a senior platform operator who has also built a personal creator brand (Sir Candle Man) at meaningful scale, with coverage in The Hollywood Reporter, WWD and The Economist. His perspective on diversity and representation is grounded in what actually moves engagement and trust on platform, which makes it usable for CMOs who need substance rather than signalling. He now teaches at Stanford Graduate School of Business, which gives a structured curriculum behind what could otherwise be presented as anecdote. Biography highlights Former Global Head of Creator Marketing at TikTok; longest-serving member of TikTok’s U.S. team. MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business; current faculty at Stanford GSB. Began career as an accountant and management consultant at Deloitte. Author, Let It Burn: Illuminate Your Life with Candles & Fragrance (Chronicle Books). Creator of Sir Candle Man, featured in The Hollywood Reporter, WWD, NY Mag, The Economist, and on The Rachael Ray Show. Fortune 40 Under 40, The Hollywood Reporter Next Gen 35 Under 35, Variety’s Hollywood’s New Leaders, AdWeek Experiential Executive of the Year, ADCOLOR Innovator Award. Biography The shift in marketing power from media buyers to creators happened faster than most brand teams adjusted. The companies that responded well treated creators as an operating channel with its own logic. The ones that didn’t treated TikTok like a new ad placement and underperformed on both reach and reputation. Kudzi Chikumbu spent the years that defined that transition inside TikTok, where he built the creator marketing, education, partnerships and community functions as the platform scaled from new entrant to global infrastructure. He was the longest-serving member of TikTok’s U.S. team and rose to Global Head of Creator Marketing, working at the point where brand strategy, platform mechanics, and creator economics meet. His operating thesis is that authenticity functions as a commercial system, not a value statement. Audiences pay attention when a brand or executive shows up with a specific point of view, a clear identity, and a willingness to be legible as a person or a culture. He has tested that thesis on himself: as Sir Candle Man, he built a luxury fragrance creator brand recognised by The Hollywood Reporter, WWD, The Economist, and Chronicle Books, which published his book Let It Burn. He now teaches at Stanford Graduate School of Business, the same institution where he earned his MBA after starting his career at Deloitte. The combination of platform operator, working creator, and faculty member is unusual, and gives him a vocabulary that translates between marketing teams, executive sponsors, and the creator partners they are trying to work with. Key speaking topics Creator marketing and partnerships Brand authenticity as a commercial discipline Niche communities and audience strategy The future of social platforms and digital content Diversity and representation in consumer brands Personal brand and executive presence online Career pivots and reputation strategy Ideal for CMOs, brand directors and marketing leadership teams rebuilding their creator and platform strategy Communications and corporate affairs leaders preparing executives for visible digital presence Consumer brand, retail and lifestyle businesses where culture and creator influence drive purchase DEI, talent and culture leaders working on representation as a commercial, not symbolic, lever Audience outcomes A clearer model of how creator partnerships actually create commercial value, beyond reach metrics Specific tests for whether a brand’s content is platform-native or simply repurposed advertising A practical view of what authenticity means in marketing decisions, from product to executive voice Sharper understanding of how niche communities convert into durable audience relationships Renewed perspective on personal brand and online presence for senior leaders and emerging executives

Why organisations work with Kim Davis Live broadcast experience that translates directly into stage presence: she presents The Travel Show on BBC News and writes regularly for CNN Travel, CNN Underscored and The Telegraph, so a panel or conference plenary in her hands feels editorially produced rather than improvised. A working marketer’s view of communication, not a theorist’s. Sarsaparilla, the consultancy she founded after moving from New York to London in 2004, operates inside campaigns, brand work and go-to-market decisions for commercial clients. Range across the unlovable formats. After-dinner, awards-night emcee, panel moderation, fireside interview and keynote, performed without the tonal mismatch that normally appears when speakers cross between them. A keynote thesis on arts-led achievement, given on the TEDxLukelyBrook stage in 2022, that gives leadership and culture audiences a route into creativity without the usual self-help register. Biography highlights Presenter, The Travel Show on BBC News. Contributing writer, CNN Travel, CNN Underscored and The Telegraph. Founder and CEO, Sarsaparilla Marketing, London. TEDxLukelyBrook speaker, “How The Arts Can Help You Achieve Anything”, 2022. New York native, London-based for over two decades; works across UK, US and EU markets. Stage and broadcast credits include Carnegie Hall, the O2 Arena and the TED platform (per speaker representation). Biography A live audience makes decisions about a speaker inside the first sentence. Davis was trained for that. Her day job is presenting The Travel Show on BBC News and writing for CNN Travel, CNN Underscored and The Telegraph, work that depends on getting a viewer or reader to lean in before a single fact has been delivered. That broadcast craft is what organisations are buying when they put her on stage. As a host and moderator she structures conversations the way an editor structures a segment: a clear thread, time discipline, and the ability to draw a usable answer out of an executive who would otherwise read from notes. The substantive content sits behind that. In 2004 she moved from New York to London and founded Sarsaparilla, a marketing and communications consultancy that runs campaign, brand and go-to-market work for commercial clients. Her keynote material draws from this practice and from her own performing background, including the TEDxLukelyBrook talk on arts and achievement she delivered in 2022. The combination is unusual. Most marketing speakers cannot present. Most broadcasters cannot speak credibly about commercial growth. Davis is booked when an event needs both in the same person. Key speaking topics Hosting, moderation and emcee craft Media and broadcast communication for executives Marketing and brand building Customer and audience engagement Arts-led approaches to creativity and achievement Female leadership in media, business and culture After-dinner speaking and awards-night presenting Ideal for CMOs, brand directors and marketing leadership teams looking for a working practitioner rather than a marketing academic Conference organisers and internal event leads who need a host or moderator with broadcast credibility Awards nights, gala dinners and customer events that need a confident emcee with editorial range Leadership and culture programmes wanting a session on creativity, communication and presence Audience outcomes A clearer view of how a journalist structures a story, and how to apply that discipline to a board narrative or all-hands talk Specific techniques drawn from broadcast and stage performance for holding attention in high-stakes settings A working framework for using arts and creative practice as a tool for executive communication For events: a tightly run room, a coherent through-line across sessions, and interviews that produce usable quotes rather than safe ones