Celebrating International Women’s Day 2022 at cxpartners
International Women’s Day is a celebration of women’s achievements. A day to raise awareness of bias in our industries and take action for equality.
cxpartners is proud to celebrate International Women’s Day, and the brilliant females we work with every day. As a business, we are proudly female-led, with our Managing Director, Fiz Yazdi at the helm, and 60% of our Senior Leadership Team being women. As a company, we are made up of 66% women, and to mark this day, we have come together to nominate the brilliant women we have the pleasure of working with and being inspired by.
Nicola Pritchard, Senior UX Researcher:
I’d nominate Emma Storey on the NHS project - despite working on so many different projects at once she has an amazing memory and ability to zoom right back into the fine detail whenever needed. She’s flexible, reasonable, trusts in people and is full of ideas and helpful feedback. I admire her kind and positive spirit too.
I’d also like to nominate my colleague, Megan Simmons. I've not worked with her directly on a project, but in every interaction I have with her I admire her ideas, her empathy, her thoughtfulness, and her 'can do' approach to every challenge. She's so smart whilst being super humble. I really hope we get to be on a project together soon!
Giles Colborne, CEO:
Nikki Marsh, Chief Marketing Officer at Leeds Building Society is one of the most impressive people I’ve worked with - focussed, energetic, straight-talking, smart, and human. She’s a real force for change and I’ve learned a great deal from her. In our industry there are a ton of women I admire. Hard to pick out just one but Brenda Laurel's book Computers as Theatre had a huge impact on the way I thought about user experiences as I was starting out my career and I’ll always be grateful for that.
Amanda Payne, Experience Strategy Director:
Sophie Grencis, cxpartners’ Commercial Director is an inspiration everyday. She is always both relentlessly herself - single-handedly bringing 90s kids’ TV show fashion into the boardroom - and relentlessly focused on driving success and achievement in her colleagues and the business as a whole.
Sophie Grencis, Commercial Director:
Bethany Jarroussié · VP Customer-Centred Design at BP, previously chair of the cxpartners board. She is an absolutely wonderful listener, but at the same time brilliantly assertive and challenging at all the right moments. We should all be more Bethany!
Stu Charton, Experience Strategy Director:
Our MD Fiz Yazdi's fearlessness rubs off on everyone around her. We can do this! When sh*t gets vague, Tam Driver (HR, Culture & Ops Director) makes it clear and excellent. Sophie Grencis (Commercial Director) can do anything she decides to do, always smiling. And in dungarees. Bairbre Doyle’s (Operations Director) brain runs billions of threads in parallel, creating order from chaos. When others start to crumble, she is practical, cheerful and kind.
Natale Morch-Monsted, Senior Account Manager:
I admire all the wonderful and smart women that work at cxpartners! Huge shout out to my colleagues Alix Stevens (Client Engagement Director) and Sophie Grencis (Commercial Director). Both are mentors, sources of incredible inspiration and help me navigate the invisible barriers that hold me back from showing up powerfully!
Amy Bracewell, Senior Project Manager:
I’d like to nominate Lindsay Conroy at UCAS who is as dedicated and impassioned as she is lovely! We recently did a talk together on apprenticeships and her drive to make real change happen is so inspiring. You can clearly see that members of the UCAS team really look up to her, and she should be celebrated for that.
I’d also like to nominate Vicky Hatfield at Stellantis who was a driving (no pun intended) force of good on our project. She had wonderful, clear objectives in mind for her project and we all admired her greatly. Especially when she was balancing a tiny child on her knee whilst also talking strategy - what a hero!
Mark Skinner, Principal Service Designer:
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have worked with so many brilliantly amazing women at cxpartners, now and in the past - as well as all the amazing women I currently work with, I’d love to give extra shout outs to Sophie Dennis and Jesmond Allen for being absolutely instrumental in me being able to do the job I do today!
Claire Barrett, Senior UX Consultant:
I want to shout out the wonderful women I worked with for 13 months on the Google Labs programme, my colleagues, Sarah Lowin (Senior Project Manager) and Charlotte Tigwell (Projects and Ops Coordinator). They are both incredible problem solvers and seem to effortlessly keep many plates spinning to keep the programme running smoothly. They’ve been a pleasure to work with, bringing a smile to every meeting and making the team feel super supported.
Lauren Howells, Senior Marketing Manager:
I feel so lucky to be surrounded by brilliant women at cxpartners. Here's some of the women I get to work with every day and why they inspire me...
Lauren Bailey, our Marketing Executive regularly astounds me with her proactivity, and despite being pretty new to the role and sector, challenges ideas and brings new ones to the table. Sophie Grencis, our Commercial Director and Cass Taylor, our New Business Director both teach me something new every time I speak to them. Fiz Yazdi, our Managing Director and Tam Driver, our HR, Culture & Ops Director both lead with empathy and patience.
Roldan Villanueva, Senior Project Manager:
I’d like to nominate Bairbre Doyle (Operations Director) - in many ways an unsung hero at cxpartners. She’ll quietly work in the background, and she’ll never claim credit for anything, but she’s the reason many of our projects get running and keep running smoothly. She’s hella busy, but she’ll make you feel listened to however she can. One of the many superwomen at cxpartners in my opinion. I'd also like to nominate Fiz Yazdi (Managing Director) - I haven't come across many MDs that appear so cool, calm and collected as she does. She can brighten any room and she has a wealth of experience. If I can think of any person that fully embodies and exemplifies cx's people first approach, Fiz is top of that list without a doubt.
Fiz Yazdi, Managing Director:
Literally ALL the women I work with at cxpartners, and Christiana Figueres has given me countless boosts in difficult times. The clarity of her questioning, and tenacity to bring out truth alongside commitment to work together on heart-shattering problems is an inspiration for all humans. Listen to https://www.outrageandoptimism.org/ to get some of that to channel :)
Tam Driver, HR, Culture and Ops Director:
Alice Chapman - the best coach I could ever have hoped to work with, the best trainer we’ve ever used, and someone who combines an amazing business brain with huge emotional intelligence. She’s taught me so much, and the whole of cxpartners continues to benefit from her experience and her intelligence.
Daniel Harris, Experience Strategy Director:
Tam Driver (HR, Culture & Ops Director) is the epitome of cool, smart judgment, seeking clarity and being direct enough to challenge ideas, not to shoot them down, but to build on them and find a dialogue to make them stronger. She’s the person in the room who brings a fresh objectivity to a discussion. I I always come out of meetings with her having moved on significantly; this woman doesn’t just get sh*t done, she catalyses everyone around her in getting sh*t done!
Catherine Walker, Senior Project Manager:
I’d like to nominate my colleague, Bairbre Doyle (Operations Director)- she’s so approachable and easy to talk to and not phased by anything that comes her way. Her first reaction is always to support me and I can’t put into words how reassuring, supportive and loyal that is.
Lauren Bailey, Marketing Executive:
I’d like to nominate my colleague, Chloe Langan (UX Consultant). She not only has an amazing brain full of so much knowledge but she is so lovely and bubbly, and always offers a helping hand with tasks outside of her remit. I’d also like to nominate Lauren Howells (Senior Marketing Manager) for being such a great mentor and an absolute joy to work with - she has taught me so much already, helped me to grow and develop both inside and outside of work and is always so supportive.
Neil Schwarz, Experience Director:
I'd like to nominate Fiz Yazdi (Managing Director) and Jesmond Allen. Both are incredible leaders and communicators who have supported, advised and inspired me throughout my career. I will always feel indebted to them both. Fiz has an amazing ability to connect with people with clarity, warmth and humour - we're very lucky to have her leading cxpartners. Jesmond has the most incredible talent for making sense of the most complex of problems (hence her amazing work as Deputy Director of HCD at Dept of Health and Social Care).
Chloe Langan, UX Consultant:
I’d like to nominate my colleague, Nicola Pritchard (Senior UX Researcher). She’s been my buddy since I joined and from day one was so welcoming and positive with some great ideas. She’s a fantastic listener and always willing to lend a helping hand on things, which I really appreciate!
Bairbre Doyle, Operations Director:
I’d like to nominate my colleague, Catherine Walker (Senior Project Manager) who has become such an important part of our team, and I’ve learned a lot from over the past year. She takes everything in her stride and even the most challenging of situations is met with humour and calmness (a great combination). Everyone who works with her feels at ease, listened to and supported - which makes for great projects and relationships with our clients.
I’d also like to nominate Amy Bracewell (Senior Project Manager) who does so much to promote diversity and raise the profile of women in work. She’s been my go-to person for pretty much everything since I’ve joined cxpartners, she knows so much about how we operate and is constantly looking at how we can improve. I really admire her ability to just go for things, like doing big public speaking events which I would find terrifying!
Cassandra Taylor, New Business Director:
Since 2017, I have been in awe of the women I get to work with at cxpartners. They are strong, intelligent and fierce! I would like to nominate Natale Morch-Monstead (Senior Account Manager), who I have watched grow in confidence and skill. She is an exceptional Senior Account Manager to our clients, and a brilliant colleague to work alongside. I would also like to nominate Lauren Howells (Senior Marketing Manager) and Lauren Bailey (Marketing Executive), who every day teach me something new, and inspire me with their brilliant ways!
Join the conversation, and join our team
Who inspires you every day and you’d nominate as an inspirational woman? We’d love to hear from you - join the conversation on Linkedin.
We’re also on the lookout for new talent - adding more inspirational people to our team. We’re looking for the following roles, but we also really like to hear from people who just think they would be a good fit for our team too! Get in touch.
We offer 'remote-first' working, with offices available in London and Bristol, and are currently recruiting for:
Amy is Programme Director in our Financial Services team and cxpartners’ longest-serving Project Manager. She’s an expert in running inclusive research and fostering collaboration.