030 Part 1: In Conversation with Shannie Mears

Diversity Alliance Talks

Birmingham born, Shannie Mears is Co-founder & Head of Talent at The Elephant Room, alongside iris worldwide's former CEO, Dan Saxby, who asked her to be his co-founder after recognising her ability to build, connect and develop relationships with young people from the wider creative industries.

Formed to directly address advertising's lack of diversity and inclusion, The Elephant room was created with the mission to help build brands that are genuinely inclusive. Shannie consults with top brands on how to find fresh talent and new ways of approaching recruitment, so we were keen to see if their approach is something the events industry could emulate.

Shannie also regularly lectures at Kingston University.

We originally planned for this podcast to be about inclusivity in branding and how to fix underrepresentation in the events, marketing and advertising industry (don't worry, we still cover this) but the conversation just flowed and ended up being a 50 minute recording! So we have decided to split this episode into 2 parts.

In Part 1 we talk about Shannie's journey up to this point, we reflect on the advice we have been given and advice we would give to those looking to make that next step in their careers, plus the importance of passion and purpose.

Shannie has come along way and made a lot of impact in her 27 years, so it was a real delight to have her as a guest on the show.

Be sure to follow Shannie and The Elephant Room on socials:

Linkedin: Shanice Mears

Instagram and twitter @elephantroomuk and @Shannieloves

Part 2 will be out on 13th May 2021, SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss it!