In this shorter form episode, Andrew has a one on one chat with the brilliant Irene Graham OBE.

Irene was identified as a leader from a young age, with her "can do" mindset and collaborative approach being the cornerstones of a senior career with Standard Chartered, where she harnessed her entrepreneurial spirit to create and lead a range of global projects and businesses, eventually resulting in her being an architect of the UK "open banking" revolution. Irene now sits on the Board of Creative UK, and as founder and CEO of the ScaleUp Institute, has supported for the last 10 years the UK's growing businesses and start-up economy.

She is also a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde University and holds a variety of other non executive director and advisory roles across the creative, business and finance communities, and was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to business and the economy.

It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome Irene, a truly impressive and inspiring guest.

We talk about:

• Growing up surrounded by strong female role models
• Being asked to take leadership roles from a age
• The traits of leaders - born or bred?
• Bringing her entrepreneurial flair to developing new businesses within banking
• Meetings challenges with the question "how can we solve", rather than "can we solve"
• The value of building inclusive, collaborative relationships
• Innovation and intrapreneurship
• Our choices and attitudes in the face of AI
• Her creation of ScaleUp Institute and its broad mission in supporting the crucial thousands of growing UK businesses
• The importance of following your instincts and being true to yourself
• Her innate drive and openness to make a difference in everything she has done

Irene:

https://www.scaleupinstitute.org.uk/

Us:

www.linkedin.com/in/greg-vartoukian

www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwainstein

www.boxlist.com

https://www.andrewwainstein.com/