Creating an open culture in the face of British politeness

Coming out aged 40—at home & at work

Garry Senff spent over a decade in the police force, before taking the plunge with a new people-focussed career, where he’s currently Head of HR at FirstGroup. On the way, he’s trained as a wellness coach, a mental health first aider, and is a self-confessed journaling evangelist.

Redefining work—as a workaholic

Claudia Ceke is not Head of People & Culture at Tailify. It might be her job title, but she won’t let it define who she is—and how she values herself. After learning ways to manage her own mental health, Claudia trained as a mental health first aider, and is now a passionate advocate for mental health in her own team.

Learning to lead & live more consciously

Godard Abel is CEO & Co-founder of G2, the B2B software review platform used by 100% of Fortune 500 companies. As a serial entrepreneur, he’s been building tech-based businesses since the dot-com boom.

How & why recruiters should put candidate mental wellbeing first

As a Senior Talent Partner at Faculty, Laura Holcombe is determined to deliver a recruitment process that treats people like people, not just a number. She has experience in fintech, martech, SaaS, and environmental projects—and a side hustle reviewing CVs. She also has some serious emoji game.

Leading by example—for better and for worse

Jonathan co-founded Maze in 2018 to help digital product teams power up their user research process. He’s an expert in UX design, having led UX teams, taught code & design at IIM Digital School, and founded two UX-focused startups. Jonathan believes in empowering people to make their own decisions about how, where, and when they work to achieve the best possible results.

Managers have feelings too

Bridie Slater is a bonafide recruitment veteran. After cutting her teeth at big corporates, she climbed the ranks to management in her previous job at a startup. She now heads up Talent Acquisition here at Oliva.

Turning a terrible experience into a positive philosophy

Abbas is a career-long advocate of People policy centered around mental health. He’s been a Director of People/HR at established companies and startups, including Dixons Carphone, Castle Trust Bank, Moteefe, and now Careem. Abbas believes in a strong community and support at work to help employees face life’s challenges.

Special: Crying at Work

Embracing disabilities at work

After spending many years consulting on diversity & equality in the workplace long before it was trendy, Jane Hatton founded Evenbreak—the UK's only job site run by and for disabled people—in 2011 after becoming disabled herself. She has led the company as CEO for over 11 years.

The power of mindfulness & community

Marie is VP of People at Figma. Born and raised in southern California, she attended Yale University and went on to become a writer & editor. Along the way she became interested in the values of organisations. Since 2014, she’s been helping companies develop innovative people processes from the ground up.

Getting a late autism diagnosis—as a CEO

After spending years in the US Navy and as a senior manager at Dell, Peter founded Oransi—a company specialising in air purifying products—in response to his son’s asthma.  Diagnosed with autism during the pandemic, he has become a vocal advocate for inclusive hiring and workplace policies.

Caring for your brain like the rest of your body

Maria is Chief Operating Officer at Griffin. She has worked as head of People Departments at some of the fastest growing startups in the UK at key stages of their growth, including Monzo, Permutive, Snyk, and GoCardless. She’s also the writer behind the wonderful blog and opinion site, Lower Case Opinions.