35 Women Under 35: The 'multi-hyphen' millennials to watch

Emma Gannon left her job as the social media editor of British Glamour in 2016 with the bold goal of rewriting the rules of work and taking back control of her career. “On paper, I had my dream job,” she says. “But inside, I felt empty.

"I’d spent six years working in PR, advertising and publishing, where it was considered ‘normal’ to get takeaways delivered to your desk, exist on five hours’ sleep and chase promotion after promotion. The career ladder felt rigid and outdated. I wanted to create my own ladder.”

So Gannon gave up the job title and the steady salary and became a “multi-hyphenate”, working on a mishmash of different jobs and side hustles. “I never did understand why the term ‘jack-of-all-trades’ was meant as an insult,” says the 29-year-old broadcaster, blogger and author of The Multi-Hyphen Method.

“Being adaptable, moulding yourself to different roles, adding new strings to your bow – that’s a huge advantage in today’s workplace.”

This year’s 35 Women Under 35 list, published by Management Today in association with Accenture to shine a light on the country’s top young businesswomen, is packed with such career chameleons.

These women entered the workforce during the financial crisis. They watched established companies crumble, entirely new industries spring up and technology evolve at an extraordinary rate. And the pace of change is about to get even faster.

So fast, in fact, that 85 per cent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven't even been created yet, according to a report by Dell and the Institute for the Future (IFTF). Survival and success in the world of work will depend on constant reinvention.

Take Poppy Gustafsson, co-founder of Darktrace. Her career has seen her pivot from chartered accountant to VC fund manager to entrepreneur. Now valued at £1.25bn (£950m) just five years after launch, her cyber security firm has become the 16th billion dollar company to come out of Cambridge and the fastest to achieve “unicorn” status.

In that time, Gutsafsson’s role has also jumped from CFO to COO to co-CEO. “I’ve always had an analytical, commercial mind,” she says. “My mum owned chickens and, at the age of 12, I was putting together business plans to help her sell more eggs. But I’ve never had a plan. I’ve just gone out and done what I’m good at – and then tried to do it better. Don’t be shackled by expectations.”

Ann Hyams also ditched the traditional career plan. “If I’d plotted a path, I never would have ended up in investor relations,” she says. “I wasn’t aware of the role or what it entailed until a few years into my career.”

She grew up in a sporty household, studied geography at Oxford University where she captained the swimming team, then joined LEK Consulting as a strategy analyst. “Even when you’re in a set role, be inquisitive and get involved in other projects. That will open a lot of doors for you.” That attitude has propelled her to investor relations manager at hospitality giant Whitbread, where she works for Alison Brittain, one of only six female CEOs in the FTSE 100 (soon to be five when Moya Greene steps down from Royal Mail).

Hyams describes her job as “the complete opposite of a 9 to 5”. She travels a lot, is rarely at her desk and is always online – which is true of 96 per cent of her generation, according to the Levo Institute and the Adecco Millennial Economy Report. But she manages her own diary and still finds time to run Eyedea, a London-based networking group to inspire and connect young female professionals.

“Women, in general, don’t ask for help enough. When we do, we inadvertently make it negative. We shouldn’t apologise for asking questions,” she says.

Nami Patel is another multi-hyphen millennial. Patel grew up in inner-city Birmingham, studied natural sciences at Cambridge and qualified as a chartered accountant in 2008, just as Lehman Brothers collapsed. To arm herself with new skills, she started working on corporate finance projects and set herself the ambitious target of becoming a chief financial officer by the time she hit 35.

She did it – with three years to spare.

In 2016, she was appointed CFO of Fox Networks Group in UK and Africa. She’s also senior vice president of business development for Europe and Africa, co-chair of the company’s female leadership group (Women@21CF) in the UK, a board director of DriveTribe and a BAFTA member.

Patel became a multi-tasker at an early age. “My mother passed away unexpectedly when I was 15 and I had to work through my grief, focus on my GCSE exams, take on a lot of the domestic work and help care for my seven-year old sister,” she says. “I got used to juggling.”

Lena Brooks’ childhood also shaped her career choices. Her father, a miner, had an accident the year before Brooks was born, leaving him unable to work. Growing up in Shirebrook in Derbyshire, she watched her mother juggling lots of different jobs to support the family financially, while her father stayed at home to raise four children. “Grafting and giving things a go was part of our family ethos,” says Brooks.

She was the first member of her family to go to university, then was snapped up by KPMG which funded her MBA at Manchester Business School. Now she’s a senior director at Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue.

“As millennials, we expect constant flux and to take risks at work,” says Brooks, who’s just had her second child. “The world is evolving so fast. If you’re not reinventing yourself every day, you’re not staying relevant.”

That doesn’t mean changing your own skin, adds Brooks. “When I first moved to London, I still had a broad Midlands accent; a senior executive told me I didn’t sound ‘intelligent enough’ and advised me to take elocution lessons. I was astounded. You have to be proud of who you are, be bold and grab every opportunity.

“That’s what I’ll keep telling my daughters.”    

The list: 35 Women Under 35

Stephi Brett-Lee, deputy director, head of internal communications, Department for Work and Pensions, 29

With 85,000 staff and 600 location at one of the highest profile of all government departments, Brett-Lee is the very definition of a modern Whitehall high-flyer. With a corporate background including stints at Bank of New York Mellon, Sainsbury’s and Centrica, she made the switch to public service after taking a year out to travel - and hasn’t looked back. She is now a Senior Civil Servant, one of only a select few to have made the grade before 30.

Lena Brooks, senior director, global strategy, planning & PMO, GBS finance, Walmart, 34

Brooks grew up in the mining town of Shirebrook in Derbyshire and was the first member of her family to go to university, holding down several jobs to fund her degree at Nottingham. She was offered one of 12 places on KPMG’s management programme, graduated with a MBA Distinction from Manchester Business School (scooping the prize for highest overall performance), then joined Asda. Within a year, she’d been promoted to head of commercial finance and is now at parent company Walmart.

Kath Brown, trading director, Emma Bridgewater, 34

A former strategy consultant and member of Mary Portas’ retail review team, Brown made her name at Mountain Warehouse where she grew the online business fivefold in just five years. A keen runner who has completed a half marathon in the Arctic Circle, she is now in charge of all channels for Emma Bridgewater. With sales up 19 per cent despite tough conditions on the high street, Brown is living proof that rumours of the death of retail have been greatly exaggerated.

Megan Caywood, chief platform officer, Starling Bank, 29

With a background as a cognitive scientist at Stanford University and a Silicon Valley tech pedigree including global product development for Xero, US-born Caywood is now chief platform officer for UK challenger bank Starling. Described as “irreplaceable" by her chief exec Anne Boden, Caywood was on the 2017 Women in Fintech Power List as well as Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ in 2018.

Katy Colton, managing associate, Mishcon de Reya, 32

A specialist in commercial litigation for high net worth individuals, Colton acted for Gina Miller in her Article 50 judicial review claim against the government, successfully re-establishing the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. She has also obtained the UK’s first ‘fake news’ injunction. A Gold award winner in the 2017 CityWealth Awards, she was selected by Mishcon to mentor schoolgirls as part of the Women of the World International Day of the Girl programme.

Lucy Cooper, innovation director, Accenture, 32

Having begun her career at Accenture, politics graduate Cooper left to take part in a Silicon Valley fundraising tech start-up before returning to Accenture where she is now an official “Innovation Ninja”. In a nutshell, her job is to help c-suite clients develop new high-tech business strategies that enable them to be disruptors. She is also one of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers and a committed advocate for getting more women into leadership roles.

Suzy Dean, CEO & founder, AddIn365, 31

Dean is a tech entrepreneur trying to free remote workers from inbox slavery. Her business Addin365 aims to make digital collaboration more like being face-to-face. She had her first child in December and is also learning to be a pilot.

Helen Durance, commercial director, active cosmetics division, L’Oreal - 34

Boxer and ultra-runner Durance joined L’Oreal in 2014 and has played a major role in growing its active cosmetics category by 60 per cent to £45m over that time. A former buyer for Tesco, she sourced stationery in the Far East, developed own-label baby products and spent two years leading the retail giant’s £0.75bn laundry and home fragrance division. Now responsible for French skincare brands like La Roche-Posay and Roger & Gallet, her first job was in a small business supplying personal lubricants to the erotic industry.

Verity Egerton-Doyle, managing associate, Linklaters, 30

Australian-born competition lawyer Egerton-Doyle joined Linklaters in 2011 and has worked on highest profile cases, including the £43bn merger of Glencore and Xstrata and PureGym’s takeover of LA Fitness. She is currently advising on Sainsbury’s £13bn merger with Asda, expected to be one of the largest and most complex merger reviews ever carried out in the UK. She also led an international team of lawyers to produce the Women Who Kill in Response to Domestic Violence report for Penal Reform International in 2016.

Caroline Field, partner, Fox & Partners, 25

A rising star of employment law and a legal entrepreneur in her own right, with two colleagues Field raised the money to buy boutique firm Fox & Partners from its eponymous founder Ronnie Fox in June last year. A marathon runner and keen amateur dramatics performer, Field is now focussed on making her firm a real force to be reckoned with, building a team of 14 to take on new opportunities, especially in the financial services market.

Karen Forster, investment professional, Centre on Global Energy Policy, 31

Born in east London, Forster spent her childhood in foster care as her Ugandan mother and British father were both too ill to look after her. Now a private equity investor specialising in energy, she works alongside Jason Bordoff, founding director of Colombia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy in the US, and has also launched the Women in Energy programme. She previously worked for the Carlyle Group and started her career as an analyst at top Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs.

Emma Gannon, author and broadcaster, 29

Two years ago, Gannon left her job as the social media editor of Glamour to start her own media platform Ctrl Alt Delete – a book and award-winning podcast with more than two million listeners. Her second book, the “ultimate modern career guide​” called The Multi-Hyphen Method, hit the shelves earlier this year and became an instant Amazon bestseller. The 29-year-old also works with the Prince’s Trust and Media Trust to pass on skills and lessons to young people who want to thrive in the creative industry.

Lauren Garey, banker, JP Morgan, 27

As UK head of female client strategy, Garey is responsible for building and developing relationships with some of the UK’s most successful female entrepreneurs and executives. She is also on the leadership team of JP Morgan’s 20,000 strong Women’s Interactive Network.  A passionate advocate for the future of women and girls, she created a micro-fund in Ghana to support female-founded businesses and chairs the Founders4Schools diversity advisory committee, which aims to provide more female STEM role models.

Amy Golding, CEO, Opus Talent Solutions, 32

The UK’s youngest female CEO of a $100m (£76m) company when she took the job at Opus last year, Golding is on target to increase the 250-strong recruitment group’s net profits by 200 per cent. A qualified yoga teacher and former journalist, she was headhunted by ex-Dragon James Caan to be his personal business adviser, helping to develop his recruitment company Alexander Mann Group. She then set up her own successful business, Recruitment Entrepreneur, which she sold in 2016.

Natasha Guerra, CEO, Runway East, 30

Physics graduate Guerra set up co-working provider Runway East in 2014, after realising that many shared workspaces don’t deliver on their promise to provide genuine networking opportunities for the start-ups. With three London locations (plus a Bristol one in the offing) and over 1,000 members, Runway East’s revenues are now in excess of £5m. Guerra’s customers have secured backing of over £210m in total and include Blockchain software outfit ConsenSys and online estate agent eMoov.

Poppy Gustafsson, co-CEO, Darktrace, 35

Gustafsson is at the helm of Cambridge-based cyber security firm Darktrace, which uses AI to mimic the human immune system. Set up in 2013, by a mix of mathematicians and government intelligence experts, and backed by Autonomy founder Mike Lynch, the company is now valued at $1.25bn (£950m) – giving it the coveted “unicorn” status  – and has just announced a record year’s trading. Chartered accountant Gustafsson was named City AM’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2017.

Claire Hardy, director of corporate affairs and global CSR, WorldPay, 32

Formerly group head of external communications for WorldPay, Hardy made the step up to her current role in February, following the firm’s merger with US giant Vantiv to create the world’s largest payment services provider. In between providing full-time strategic counsel to the CEO and top team, Hardy finds time to study for an executive MBA at Imperial College Business School.

Zahra Husain, 33, and Sarah Laitung, 33, co-founders, Humans in Finance

A pair of City high fliers who have been friends since they were at school in Blackpool, Husain and Laitung started Humans in Finance in 2016. Using social media to tell the stories of inspirational people in financial services globally, Humans in Finance is a social enterprise which spreads the word about the good the industry can do, and has gathered 11,000 followers in 18 months. The pair also manage to hold down day jobs – Husain as an investment director for Commerzbank, and Laitung as senior government corporate finance adviser for DBEIS.

Ann Hyams, investor relations manager, Whitbread, 28

Oxford graduate Hyams started her career with consulting firm LEK Consulting before bagging a job with FTSE 100 hospitality giant Whitbread, owner of Premier Inn. As investor relations manager, she works alongside CEO Alison Brittain and the board to prepare trading updates, results presentations, analyst notes and competitor trends. Hyams is also a co-founder of Eyedea, a networking group for the capital’s young female professionals.

Sukhi Jutla, founder and COO, MarketOrders, 34

A serial entrepreneur and qualified expert in blockchain technology, Jutla’s business MarketOrders should be worth its weight in gold. The online B2B marketplace for the jewellery industry links suppliers and customers for luxury gold and diamond products all over the world, and is on target for a seven figure turnover within the next 18 months.  As if that’s not enough, she was a finalist in the latest Asian Women of Achievement Awards and also the author of three books, including 2017’s bestseller Escape the Cubicle – Quit the Job You Hate, Create the Life You Love.

Emma Kent, director, construction, Metropolitan Police Service, 34

One of only two directors of construction for the Met, Kent is responsible for a portfolio ranging from police stations and training centres; to armouries and stables. As part of a drive to turn the Met into a 21st century organisation – and generate annual savings of over £50m - she oversees some 30 projects with a contract value of around £400m. A former Institute of Civil Engineering Graduate of the Year Award winner, Kent is a strong advocate of female leaders and was the London Chapter leader of women in the built environment networking group Urbanistas until 2017.

Nadia Manzoor, partner, head of business development and general counsel, SW Mitchell Capital, 32

Made partner aged only 29, at fund manager Stuart Mitchell’s eponymous European equities boutique, Manzoor has helped grow assets under management by over 30 per cent since she joined four years ago. She has built a strong US base of high quality investors – including several top US CIOs – and was called “Finance’s Number One Rising Star” by Forbes last year. She has also been on the board of the JP Morgan American Investment Trust since 2016, making her the youngest ever woman to sit on the board of a company listed on the main London Stock Exchange.  

Beth Mitchell, director of field customer service, BT, 35

Former management consultant Mitchell cut her teeth on bank IT programmes, and has subsequently held a number of increasingly senior roles at BT where she has been instrumental in delivering the nation’s broadband services via the Openreach division. A keen advocate of leadership for all, her achievements include developing a coaching toolkit to help failing managers reboot their results, and she is also a champion of BT’s “Women in Tech” network. She now leads the firm’s team of over 1,000 – predominantly male – field engineers and runs a budget of £50m.

Neha Mittal, CFO, MarketInvoice, 34

Mittal is CFO of one of the UK’s fastest-growing fintechs. Since joining the business in March last year, she has reduced cash burn by 40 per cent. A graduate of the prestigious IIT in Delhi, Mittal spent six years in the fixed income division at Deutsche Bank, becoming VP before she left to take an MBA at Wharton. She founded two successful tech start-ups of her own before moving to MarketInvoice.

Melissa Morris,  CEO and co-founder, Lantum, 32

Former McKinseyite Morris started Lantum in 2012 to tackle the NHS’s biggest problem – staffing. Backed to the tune of £10m, the intelligent software tool connects medical facilities with doctors in order to fill vacant appointments. The London-based business employs 50 people and is part of the NHS Innovation Accelerator. Morris is a member of the London Stock Exchange ELITE programme, and a lecturer in healthcare and design at Imperial College London and The Helix Centre.

Natasha Mudhar, CEO, Sterling Media, 35

Mudhar is at the helm of Sterling Media, the London-based PR agency started by her mother Teji Singh in 1995. Her hero campaigns range from launching Aston Martin in India; to popularising Harrods in the Middle and Far East. Part of the core team at Richard Curtis’s Project Everyone, Mudhar was behind the global launch of #WhatIReallyReallyWant – a remake of the Spice Girls’ Wannabe video designed to raise awareness of female inequality, which totted up 150 million views.

Deepti Patankar, co-founder, Hostmaker, 34

Pantankar grew up in India and studied at NLSIU, the country’s top law school, before moving to London to train with Linklaters. She co-founded Hostmaker in 2014 with her husband Nakul. Their upmarket Airbnb management service aims to remove the hassle homeowners face when managing short-term rentals, and provides an array of services, from housekeeping by five-star-hotel trained staff and professional photography to guest vetting and interior design. It has operations in eight cities across Europe, employs 200 people and turns over more than $50m (£38m).

Nami Patel, CFO, UK and Africa & SVP business development, Europe and Africa, Fox Networks Group, 34

Brought up in inner city Birmingham, Patel’s Indian immigrant parents told her that education would unlock a “better life”. She graduated from Cambridge University with first-class honours before being snapped up by Deloitte and qualifying as a chartered accountant. She joined 21st Century Fox as a senior finance analyst in 2010 and has rocketed up the ladder to become CFO of Fox Networks Group UK and Africa.

Michelle Pearce, co-founder and CIO, Wealthify, 29

Pearce is on a mission to get more Brits investing. She left medical school to work as a stockbroker and wealth manager with Brooks Macdonald before co-founding fintech firm Wealthify in 2014. Based in Wales, this low-cost “robo” investment service makes the process of becoming an investor easy, quick and affordable and now has 19,000 registered users. Insurance giant Aviva bought a majority stake in the business last year.

Hannah Penn, deputy head of account management, AMV BBDO, 30

Penn joined advertising giant AMV BBDO fresh out of Cambridge, shooting up the ladder to become the firm’s youngest ever board member and youngest department head. She’s worked on campaigns for clients including Camelot, PepsiCo and Sainsbury’s and currently heads up the European team on Mars Chocolate. Outside of her day job, she worked on the national launch of wealth management startup Netwealth and helped to secure £16m in funding for the brand.

Amy Tinley, special adviser to the Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, Department for International Trade, 31

As special adviser to the Secretary of State for International Trade, Tinley reports directly to Dr Liam Fox MP. Alongside helping to create the Department for International Trade (DIT) – set up to negotiate free trade agreements and market access deals with non-EU countries – Tinley is responsible for drafting international trade policy. She joined the House of Commons as an intern, following a degree in politics and an MA in war studies.

Sarah Walker, investment director, BlueGem Capital, 35

Oxford grad Walker started her career with Deloitte and Centrica before pivoting into the world of private equity, where only 5 per cent of investment roles are held by women. Earlier this year, Walker became the first woman to join the investment team at BlueGem Capital and is a non-executive director at three of its portfolio companies: Mamas & Papas; Enotria&Coe; and The Private Clinic. She has an MBA from London Business School.

Linda Wang, co-founder, Lendingblock, 26

Wang is the entrepreneur behind Lendingblock, the world's first crypto asset lending platform. The Cambridge and UCL graduate worked as a tech consultant with Deloitte for two years before joining deep tech accelerator Entrepreneur First, where she founded her first company, Lendr. She co-founded London-based Lendingblock with former Deloitte colleague Steve Swain last year after raising £10m through an initial coin offering (ICO).

Francesca Warner, co-founder and CEO, Diversity VC, 28

Just 13 per cent of decision-makers in the venture capital industry are female. Warner wants to redress the balance. An investor at Seraphim Capital, she co-founded a non-profit last year called Diversity VC, which promotes diversity in the sector through events, research, training courses and toolkits for VC partners. It also runs an internship programme for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. London Tech Week named Warner as a 2018 “Changemaker”.

Melissa Yorke, on trade sales director, Diageo GB, 31

After studying law at Cambridge, Yorke joined Asda’s graduate scheme and was promoted to a buyer within four months. Now with drinks giant Diageo, she’s not only the youngest on trade sales director (and the first female in this role), she’s also the youngest member of the executive leadership team. Tasked with defining and rolling out a new national selling model for independent pubs, Yorke heads up a team of 215 and looks after some of Britain’s most iconic brands, including Guinness and Smirnoff.

ONES TO WATCH: Management Today also selected five Ones to Watch who narrowly missed out on the full list

Razan Alsous, founder, Yorkshire Dama Cheese, 35

Alsous fled the civil war in Syria in 2012 and moved to Yorkshire. Struggling to find work, she started her own halloumi-making business, Yorkshire Dama Cheese, using a £2,500 Local Enterprise Agency grant. The business has won 18 awards and has expanded into new products including “Labneh” spreadable yoghurt and matured yogurt balls.

Sheree Atcheson, business consultant, Deloitte, 27

Sri Lanka-born Atcheson set up the UK cohort of Women Who Code in 2013: it now has more than 8,000 female members. She has held several tech roles, including software engineer for Kainos and product analyst for SR labs, and is currently a technical business consultant for technology, strategy and architecture at Deloitte UK.

Ashleigh Hinde, founder, Waldo, 29

This South African entrepreneur is a true visionary. The Harvard grad launched online contact lens retailer Waldo last year, disrupting a market dominated by big, established players. Funded by the investors behind Domino’s, Simba Sleep and Cornerstone, Waldo will be expanding into the States this year.

Jessica Leigh Jones, engineer, Sony, 24

Leigh Jones is a graduate astrophysicist and qualified electrician and engineer. Aged 24, her career has already seen her working as an R&D advisor to the CEO at electronics retailer Maplin, a research associate in lightning strike protection for aircraft at Cardiff University, and an engineer at the Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed, South Wales.

Ellie Van Leeuwen, product designer, Spearmark, 25

Van Leeuwen is the brains behind the Droplet: a flashing cup that prompts patients to drink more fluids. She came up with the concept as part of her final project at Bournemouth University, where she was studying industrial and product design, and is now working with Spearmark to trial the product in care homes and hospitals and bring it to market.