If you’re considering getting on the property ladder or trading up to a place with more space, here’s what you should know about the current residential property climate.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has dramatically altered our everyday lives – and one of the more radical shifts we’ve seen, of course, has been the transition to working from home. At the request of the government and employers, staff have vacated their offices en masse for the relative safety of their own private living spaces.
Our October Spotlight is shining on the amazingly talented and creative Zoe McGee, founder of Magpie and Mink. Magpie and Mink is a luxury crochet brand committed to making beautiful pieces in an ethically conscious way. Everything is handmade from quality fabrics, like merino wool, alpaca, and silk.
Our September Spotlight is shining on the wonderfully talented Amirun Khanom, clothes designer and founder of Amirunkhanom London (AK London). AK London seeks to empower women by offering tailor made, well finished clothes, with carefully selected colours to make women feel strong and confident and make the right impact. AK London has created a collection of high quality, work wear for women, cut in classic silhouettes to make the women feel strong, confident, and empowered in their daily interactions with others.
Financial Resilience – 5 lessons from lockdown
The phrase ‘financial wellbeing’ has been in use for a while now, and generally means that you have a sense of being financially secure, you’re in control of your money and have freedom to make choices.
Through life, there are periods when times are good and easy, and others when it’s tougher – be that for you personally, or society as a whole. 2020 has been the latter, when we have become more aware of the risks we face both at home and in the wider world, and which has undoubtedly tested our resilience in all areas of life.
Since early 2018 I’ve been running International Marketing at InVision, a fully distributed organisation with over 800 employees working across teams and time zones. Recently I’ve been asked by a number of companies, including Google, how to set remote teams up to succeed. The subtext being, how can we crack on and get things done despite not being in an office? I would counter that it’s more effective to ask the question; how can this experience of working remotely help us to be better at what we do?
Our August Spotlight is shining on the inspiring Meuthia Endrojono-Ellis Co-Founder, CEO Aequum Health Ltd. A newly formed Digital Health Social Enterprise specialising in early diagnosis, by using genetics analysis & genome sequencing to provide individual preventative health plans, accessible from any Smart household good (phone, tablet, laptop or computer), by combining digital technology, big health data, public health education & targeted therapies.
Congress has so many amazing members and this year we want to shine a spotlight on some of your achievements. Each month we will share a journey from one of our members to give you an insight into the wonderful work that is being achieved by Congresswomen.
Our July Spotlight is shining on the amazing Katherine Baker, co-founder of Congress London and Founder of Intrinsic Energy, an EdTech platform which takes you on an interactive live virtual learning journey, focusing on topics that cover Communication Skills, Personal Development, Business Growth and Management/Leadership.
Our June Spotlight is shining on the wonderful Layla Sargent, co-founder of Congress London and Founder of The Seam, an online marketplace for local clothes repairs and customisations. The team at The Seam are passionate about recycling, up-cycling, vintage clothes, second-hand and made-to-measure. They are making it easier than ever before to give our clothes the long lifecycle that they deserve.
At Congress London we felt it was imperative to follow up on our recent post showing our solidarity on Blackout Tuesday.
Congress will always strive to show continued support for the black community. We feel it is now important to follow up with a list of tangible ways to actively help, places to donate and materials to read and watch in order to help further our collective education.
Our 2nd May Spotlight is shining on the fantastic Collette Philips, founder of Brand by Me and former Director of International Communications at a global animal charity. Brand by Me combines straight-talking, straightforward strategy with practical planning, so that they help you build a brilliant brand that drives everything you do. As a brand consultancy Brand by Me helps you to identify your purpose and embed this in your everyday activity.
I’ve had therapy- there we go, I said it, I admitted that I have a past in which I have needed to seek outside counsel and guidance. Guess what- it helped, it made me grow as a person, it made me feel ok to be me. For me this is a statement of strength not weakness, because I firmly believe it is ok to ask for help when you need it. I am a rational, emotionally astute individual who went through something I didn’t choose to and yet came through it a much better me.
I have always been aware of statistically how privileged I am. I know that I’ve been exceedingly lucky in life so far, much just by virtue of my birth and through no merit of my own. But it’s only within the past few years and with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that I have truly begun to understand the extent of my good fortune Navigating these unchartered times has made me realise, with increasing discomfort and embarrassment, exactly what that privilege means. It’s made me determined to rectify my ways – and in future to ensure that my two-year-old son will not become blind to his own advantages, as I have been.
There comes a point when you realise that life isn’t quite shaping up to be the way that you first thought it would be. You might have all the lemons, and are trying to make lemonade, but somehow it just isn’t working. I am sure you have been there too. The pandemic has stopped many people’s careers in their tracks. We have all been brutally whipped into having to do some self discovery and that might include moving in a new career direction. It is daunting, especially when you were pretty good at what you had previously done. So the last thing you need is friends bringing self doubt into your career shift.
Our May Spotlight is shining on the amazing Mrs Mummypenny, Lynn Beattie, is a qualified ACMA management accountant, mum to three boys and founder of Mrs Mummypenny the personal finance website. Mrs Mummypenny has had many write ups from The Financial Times to Huffington Post to Women's Own. Lynn writes about personal finance made simple, lifestyle choices that will save you time and money, as well as products and services that offer great value. Lynn’s mission is for women to be financially free. Free of financial worry and prepared for their future.
Congress has so many amazing members and this year we want to shine a spotlight on some of your achievements. Each month we will share a journey from one of our members to give you an insight into the wonderful work that is being achieved by Congress women.
Our April Spotlight is shining on fantastic Congress Member Hannah-Beth, who is a secondary school teacher and founder of The Little Surprises Company. During these times we are all thinking of friends and family near and far, The Little Surprises Company means that you can send your loved ones a nice surprise to brighten their day, whether it’s for a birthday, an anniversary or just because.
ondon is slowly going into lockdown, tube stations are closing and Boris has just announced the compulsory closure of all restaurants, pubs, cafes, gyms and leisure centres - places we congregate in to meet our friends and family, talk, laugh and move our bodies. As social creatures, we are starting to feel the straitjacket tightening on our freedoms, one that’s been well-worn by our friends in China and Italy for some time. I haven’t hugged someone since Monday (its Saturday as I write) and handshakes stopped a week before that. I don’t know about you but the lack of physical proximity to other human beings is starting to get to me, and I’ve been described as a ‘self-sufficient’, ’fiercely independent singleton’!
Our March Spotlight is shining on amazing Congress Member, food and beverage enthusiast, events manager and stand-up comic Serena Gasparini.
Serena has turned her love and extensive knowledge of food and beverage into her own business, Serena G Consulting, which focuses on event management, marketing consulting and hosting wine tasting events. Working with food and drink brands to plan amazing events and propel their marketing strategies.
Congress has so many amazing members and this year we want to shine a spotlight on some of your achievements. Each month we will share a journey from one of our members to give you an insight into the wonderful work that is being achieved by Congress women.
Our February Spotlight is shining on Congress Member and serial entrepreneur Vabyanti Endrojono-Ellis. Vaby currently works for Guild as a Business Development Manager, Guild is an app that provides a sophisticated, private and secure platform for professionals to communicate. Whilst studying at university, Vaby co-founded Nunude, a progressive fashion brand that provides nude attire to suit all skin tones, promoting cultural and physical diversity challenging the stereotypes defined by the media. Nunude was covered on some of the biggest media outlets in the world: Elle, Business of Fashion, Yahoo, Forbes to name a few.
The definition of a gift is something given freely without payment. To me feedback is exactly that. It helps you figure out who you are - what you need to improve on and what people think of you. All great leaders seek feedback. Winston Churchill even set up a team specifically to give him negative feedback. He had team members tell him where he was going wrong and allowed them to shine a light on the negative side of his decisions.
