70 Driven Girls, 18 Inspiring Women; Recipe for Success

The atmosphere within the St Matthew Academy building was buzzing with excitement and chatter by so many different, young female students who were united as one on the 31st May, we were given the opportunity that evening to have speed mentoring sessions with countless, inspiring women of different ethnicities. I was incredibly happy knowing that I was chosen to attend the evening, as it was just brimming with opportunities and advice to take with you for the rest of your life.

I’m currently in Year 10, which means I was one of the first girls to enter St Matthew Academy (a failing school in its past life) and I wouldn’t have it any other way, because events such as this proved that women of all races and backgrounds can achieve anything they put their mind to, something which St Matthew Academy and the Twenty Ten Club constantly promote.

Octavia Goredema’s warm smile and enthusiastic approach commences the evening, and shortly after Barbara Lindsay MBE shared words of wisdom that really changed the way I thought about my future, She reminded us that knowledge is POWER, that you should never ever give up and that the sky is the limit, Ms Lindsay’s radical and strong approach definitely reinforced the advice given to us.

I aspire to be Editor-In-Chief of a fashion magazine, and I was lucky enough to meet Annika Allen; Editor-In-Chief of FLAVOUR Magazine, Annika was very informative and encouraging and when Ms Allen told me about her humble beginnings, it instantly encouraged me as it was an amazing feeling knowing someone who came from the same background as me being so successful and live the dream. As a budding fashion journalist and current fashion blogger, the Twenty Ten Club help introduce me to Chi-Chi Oriaku who has her own business of helping websites earn money, although we wasn’t on the verge of signing a million pound deal, Ms Oriaku gave me so much advice and tips on how I can develop my blog into an online success, and I really couldn’t be more grateful. Chi-Chi’s passion and drive was truly refreshing and very motivating.

So far, this event proved to be a huge success, but it wasn’t over yet; I had the great honour of meeting Jessica Huie, founder of the award winning JH Pubilc Relations, working with one of the most powerful men in British Media; Max Clifford and Publicist to the stars Connie Filipello there was no doubt that I was nervous to approach her, but I plucked my courage and spoke with her and now that I think about it, I am very happy that I did. Ms Huie told me about her beginnings aswell as giving me much needed advice, once again I felt ecstatic knowing that such a successful, articulate woman like Jessica didn’t come from the richest areas and go to the best schools, that she was in fact like me.

The whole evening, although filled with different women, together echoed this one message; your start in life doesn’t define your future, knowledge is power and you can anything you put your mind to. On my home, I contemplated on the event, thinking to myself how fortunate I was to attend it, because in this day and age of recession and unemployment, it is so important that organisations such as the Twenty Ten Club display normal women making a name for themselves, breaking the mould and promoting an enterprising attitude – Something which I think the youth of today, leaders of tomorrow can benefit from.

Words by Taylor-Dior Rumble.

For more information on St Matthew Academy visit www.stmatthewcademy.co.uk

The Twenty Ten Club is currently inviting schools to apply to take part in the 2011-2012 Interview an Entrepreneur programme. To find out more please contact the Twenty Ten Club office on 0207 193 4615 or via email on info@twentytenclub.com