Entrepreneur Event

Our Head Girl has initiated a new event series to promote the value of entrepreneurial thinking.

For her inaugural event in Waterlow Hall, Arya invited the founder of Addison Lee, who started his business with just one car in 1975; it is now one of the largest independent cab companies in the UK. Arya deftly interviewed Sir John Griffin before opening up the discussion to the audience of pupils, parents, staff and students from local schools. Arya reports back on her first event:

‘At South Hampstead, I’ve learned the importance of turning belief into action. My aim for this series is to highlight that creative leadership, financial responsibility, and trend-setting thinking are arenas that are open to everyone. By interviewing a range of successful entrepreneurs, I hope to better understand the origins behind entrepreneurial innovation – how an idea develops ‘from the page to the stage’ – and to explore how we as girls, who sit outside the dominant paradigm, can create our own systems. Two of Sir John’s messages really resonated with me: the key to success is self-belief, and ‘positivity builds, negativity kills.’ He created the largest taxi and private hire firm in London, overcoming tuberculosis and the prejudice of his working-class background. His passion for high quality service is a characteristic I anticipate finding in all the entrepreneurs I meet. I look forward to continuing the series in the spring term, so keep your eyes peeled for our next guest…’