If you’ve ever thought that artists are vague, creative, head-in-the-clouds types, a half hour with Mandii Pope would certainly shatter that stereotype. She may be one of New Zealand’s most prolific commercial artists but she’s also got a business nous and tech-savvy side to her that would put many MBA graduates to shame.

Today she mixes corporate consultancy with art projects and has raised over £100,000 for charities – a goal inspired by the example of philanthropist Sir Owen Glenn who sponsored a solo show in Dubai and her first UK exhibition in 2011, a break-through event in a prestigious Cork Street gallery. She reached her fundraising goal through a series of charity auctions over five years – the period she had allowed herself in which to achieve that figure.

Most of us will go our entire lives without ever achieving our childhood career aspirations. As a little girl, Claire Kavanagh was convinced that the role of supermarket check-out operator would be the best job in the world, because you got to push a lot of buttons! At 15, she realised this dream in the Porirua Countdown. This may have been her first foray into customer service, but thankfully her aspirations didn’t stop there.

She went on to study tourism and commerce at Victoria University, becoming particularly interested in marketing. A part-time job in Telecom’s pricing team marked the beginning of a long-term interest in telecommunications, although her favourite part of the job was moonlighting for the marketing team, which she was eventually able to move to full-time in a product management role. In 2005, the marketing team was being moved to Auckland and Claire was faced with two choices: take a voluntary redundancy, or move to Auckland. She chose the former and began a new chapter, travelling solo through South East Asia, then arriving in the UK.

On Tuesday 22 January, we had our kick-off event for 2018, ‘Navigating Change with Mary Fenwick’, with over 40 women in attendance. Following some drinks and delicious canapes (courtesy of Rhonda at Escense Catering), we started the evening with Bronwen sharing updates on the year ahead, new branding for the network, industry dinners, and the mentoring programme.