Leadership Stories

Welcome back to our interview series, “Grown, not Born”, where we speak to remarkable leaders, gaining insight into their journeys and personal experiences with management. Vidal Meric is COO of IVY.com and former COO of Kano Computing. A Columbia graduate, and trained team & executive coach, Vidal works holistically with CEOs and their businesses to double their customer, prospect, and employee experience.

Welcome back to our series, “Grown not Born”, where we interview remarkable leaders and managers, gaining insight into their journeys and personal experiences with management. In this instalment, we met with Andréa Mattaliano who is Fractional COO | CFO and launched her own consultancy firm Andrea Mattaliano Ltd over a year ago.

Our “Grown, not Born” series focuses on remarkable leaders and their personal experiences with management. In this instalment, we speak with ZeShaan Shamsi. ZeShaan is in the people capability building space, working to create strategic workforces and is the founder of his own consultancy business.

Welcome back to our interview series, “Grown, not Born”, where we speak to remarkable leaders, gaining insight into their journeys and personal experiences with management. Huw Bevan is an experienced strategy and operations leader, working in scale-ups and start-ups. He is passionate about building high-performance teams and scaling fast-growing companies. Currently, Huw is working as a fractional COO and advisor.

Welcome back to our series, “Grown not Born”, where we interview remarkable leaders and managers, gaining insight into their journeys and personal experiences with management. In this instalment, we met with Vinay Sharma, a leader in the tech industry, and an experienced manager. Vinay is currently the head of IT at Onto and the co-founder of CreatorStock.

In the latest instalment of our “Grown, not Born” interview series, we sat down with Andreea Gherman. This series provides insight into the journeys of remarkable leaders and their personal experiences with management. Andreea Gherman is a Senior Director Manager at Moody’s, where she leads the engineering team that was formerly a part of PassFort, a company now acquired by Moody’s. Before joining Passfort, Andreea worked as a software engineer at Google, Amazon and Signac. She has an extensive background in managing teams, leveraging the time spent at these leading tech firms. Andreea shared her insights into successful team management in an interview with our founder, Sarah Touzani.

Andy Davis, is an angel investor and Co-Founder of 10x10 and ex-Director of Backstage Capital London. The 10x10 group of black founders has recently launched the 10x10 Fund, committed to investing in Black founders. Andy is spearheading efforts to make European investing more diverse and inclusive by raising awareness of underrepresentation, and providing financial, strategic, and networking support to Black founders. He sat down with us to talk about his experiences running startups and managing people.

In this installment of our "Grown, Not Born" series, we sit down with Jonny Slater, a serial Founder, Mentor, and Angel Investor now dedicated to guiding emerging startups. Jonny opens up about his transition from an autonomous entrepreneur to a responsible manager, sharing candid insights on the initial struggles, the importance of leading by example, and the critical role of personal wellbeing in effective leadership. Discover Jonny’s practical advice on building a results-focused team, maintaining strong relationships in remote settings, and navigating the challenges of balancing individual and team needs.

In this installment of our "Grown not born" series, we sit down with Laurent Parenteau to discuss his journey into a managerial role and the valuable lessons he has learned along the way. As a seasoned remote manager and mentor, Laurent shares his insights on navigating the challenges of remote work, prioritizing tasks, fostering team alignment, and addressing burnout. Join us as we delve into the world of leadership with Laurent Parenteau.

In this episode of "Grown, Not Born," we chat with CJ Daniel-Nield, co-founder of Planes, about his transition from Air Force pilot to tech innovator. CJ shares insights from his leadership journey, comparing military precision with startup agility and discussing the impact of technology on team management. Explore CJ's philosophy on fostering high-performing teams and his approach to navigating the challenges of modern leadership.

"Grown, not Born" is our new interview series. Welcome to our 3rd episode. The series dives into the journeys of remarkable leaders and their personal connection to management. We're thrilled to hear from Helen!Helen Hodges is a Fractional Chief of Staff & Leadership Coach, and the former Chief of Staff & Operations at Urban Jungle. She has scaled startups and helped companies with strategic and operational leadership with over 15 years of experience. Sarah, our founder sat with Helen to discuss her views on management, particularly in the startups she’s worked with.

We're launching our "Grown, not Born" interview series with a bang! This series dives into the journeys of remarkable leaders and their personal connection to management. We're thrilled to kick things off with Melissa!