NIKKI CHEETHAM

Nikki’s particular expertise is in live tv, big event television (factual), documentary, and format development.

She spent her working life in TV production, from a researcher in BBC News & Current Affairs to a Producer Director on historical documentaries (BBC 2 : All Our Working Lives, Out of the Dolls’ House, Now The War Is Over) to authored documentary (40 Minutes) and features (Food & Drink) – ending her BBC career as Series Editor of Crimewatch UK and Executive Producer of associated crime programming for BBC1.  She followed this with years leading an independent tv production company with Sir Peter Bazalgette as MD of Bazal, then Hawkshead, and finally Endemol UK Productions. There  she led large teams in TV development and created many series (Restoration – BBC2, Extinct – ITV & Pet Rescue – C4 being real favourites!)

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“The freelance culture of TV today means that Researchers, APs, PDs and SPs are working so hard and with such long hours that it can be hard to plan the next step in a career.”

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GISELE PHILLIPS

Gisele Phillips is a multi-disciplinary producer, creative impresario and strategist with experience in content development in the fields of performing and visual arts, film and publishing.

Since 2011, she has produced three art house films as well as the works of a number of high-profile artists such as Michael Nyman, Jocelyn Pook, Jan Fabre; Martha Fiennes, Ken McMullen, Jody Shapiro and Isabella Rossellini amongst many others.

Gisele has previously chaired the International Collectors' Forum, sat on the board of the Contemporary Arts Society and led the Signy and Olaf Willums Foundation in Provence. She currently Chairs the Board of the International Center for Contemporary Music in London.

https://artcinema.art/

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"Creativity and entrepreneurship are closely related. Sometimes, we experience limitations that limit the potential of this relationship. Good mentorship helps us recognise ways across limitations."

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CHRIS CHOA

Chris Choa is Founder and Director of OUTCOMIST, where he assembles extraordinary teams, leads complex urban projects, builds consensus, and creates comparative advantages for a broad range of public and private stakeholders.

Chris has extensive international experience as an architect, urban planner, and strategy consultant.

He is a Global Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and is also an active board member for organizations related to real-estate, urban mobility, energy, and digital arts. Previously, Chris led AECOM’s Cities Consulting practice in London, and was senior partner at HLW in New York and Shanghai.

Chris has been an instructor or guest critic at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Yale School of Architecture, The Bartlett, and the Oxford MSUD program. 

www.outcomist.net

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"You have the capacity to realise outcomes that you define for yourself.  But sometimes the hardest part is recognising if you really want them in the first place.  It helps to talk this through with an experienced mentor."

ALAN HIGGS BArch PhD RIBA

Alan founded Alan Higgs Architects in 1997. He has been responsible for 300 commissions, at every relevant work stage, in several countries.

Alan has wide knowledge of architectural history, including the English country house, American modernism and the Australian vernacular and they influence his design work in many ways. He always seeks calm and order while maximising the attributes of any site or existing building.  Alan is adept at plotting a course through the complexities of planning, costing and construction and has worked for the same families and institutions over multiple projects and many years. 

Alan lives and works in a building developed to his own design in central London. His recent doctorate’s title, "I didn't ask for this - Private practices in the creation of a residential architecture", alludes to the way clients often say their projects have produced results far beyond their initial imaginings.

www.alanhiggsarchitects.com

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"Young architects face extraordinary development and problem-solving challenges. Good mentorship can help individuals within established firms and practitioners establishing their own companies."

JAMES HINDHAUGH

For the insatiably curious among us, a career in advertising is the place to be. It’s about being a 'quick read', understanding a client’s business and getting to the nub of the issues a brand is facing, occasionally in a matter of hours. Sometimes it’s been an airline account in the morning, a limescale remover in the afternoon and a breakfast cereal the same evening.

I’ve loved it from the start and it’s been a career made richer by working on a number of global businesses which allowed me to live and work in New York, Paris and Milan, as well as London.

I now work as an independent brand and communications strategist. The variety of business is the same, as are the principles of comms and brand strategy, despite the many changes in the way we all communicate since I started out in the late 70’s.

https://www.jameshindhaugh.com

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"I'm grateful for the times in my career when I’ve been mentored, sometimes on an ad hoc basis, sometimes more formally. I've benefited from the value of mentorship first hand,"

GERALDINE BEDELL

Geraldine Bedell is a journalist, author, and occasional broadcaster. She has been a columnist and interviewer with the Independent on Sunday, and an arts and features writer for the Observer. She writes freelance for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, from the FT to the New Statesman, the Guardian to Good Housekeeping.

Geraldine has published several novels and a memoir. She has authored and presented documentaries for Radio 4; edited essay collections for think tanks and charities, including Nesta, the RSPCA and the Centre for London; and she set up Gransnet with Mumsnet. She now specialises in the social impacts of the internet, especially as they relate to families, and is a consultant on strategy, policy and comms for Parent Zone, a social enterprise that works with tech companies. She co-hosts the Tech Shock podcast.

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‘Journalism and writing can be lonely and individualistic activities, more so than ever these days. I am grateful for the help I had in developing my career; I could have done with more. There is so much tacit knowledge that can be useful - plus it often helps to have support from someone who’s able to take a longer view.’