Last week I had the pleasure of joining the Women in Furniture Network panel at the Manchester Furniture Show, hosted by the brilliant Simone Ward, Community & Content Manager at Top Drawer, Home & Gift, Furniture Shows and REVEAL (Clarion Events).
The theme of the discussion was “Shared Growth in Action” exploring what growth really looks like beyond business plans and job titles. We talked about collaboration over competition, leadership, confidence, mentorship and the people who help shape our careers along the way.
One of the things I enjoyed most was hearing the different journeys from the other women on the panel. Although our careers have taken very different paths, there were so many shared experiences; saying yes to opportunities before feeling completely ready, learning from great mentors, navigating moments of self-doubt and recognising that careers rarely follow a perfectly straight line.
For me, one of the key takeaways was that growth is rarely something we achieve alone.
Throughout my career, the biggest opportunities have come through relationships, whether that’s someone taking a chance on me, introducing me to the right person, or simply offering encouragement at the right moment. It’s one of the reasons I’m such a strong advocate for collaboration and knowledge sharing within our industry. I’ve never believed that helping someone else succeed comes at the expense of your own success. In my experience, quite the opposite is true.
It was also a real privilege to speak with so many people after the panel. Hearing attendees share their own experiences, challenges and ambitions reminded me why these conversations matter. Sometimes all it takes is hearing someone else’s story to realise you’re not navigating yours alone.
A huge thank you to Simone Ward for hosting such an open, honest conversation, to my fellow panellists for sharing their experiences so generously, and to everyone who joined us and continued the discussion afterwards.
Here’s to more conversations, more collaboration and more shared growth across our industry.
