Guests at the event, entitled Breaking Boundaries: Charting Your Path to Success, heard from panellists Lily Samuels, of Lily Samuels Nutrition; Seánna Holland, Co-Founder and Business Development Director of The Pack Smart Group; Emma Clewes, Director and Head of Tax at Prime Accountants Group; and Sandra Godley OBE, CEO of Godley Music and Events.

They shared their own personal stories of resilience and discussed their careers, the challenges they have faced and who has inspired them, while delving into topics such as imposter syndrome and wellness.

Each of the panellists spoke about the barriers they have overcome and the passion which led them to where they are today, and shared a variety of insightful tips and advice.

They all agreed that women should be confident in their skills and look not only to others, but to themselves for inspiration.

Emma said: “Everyone should question what their success actually is, because not everyone’s success is the same which makes a huge difference to their journey.

“Success doesn’t always have to mean becoming a manager or owning a business - success is whatever you want to achieve because you enjoy it, and people should worry more about their own happiness rather than what everyone else thinks.

“If I was to give one piece of advice to my younger self I would say ‘be your own success, whatever it looks like’.”

Speaking about imposter syndrome, Sandra added that being prepared is a key way to overcome this.

She said: “I quite literally have statements written down to help me in these situations so that I’m prepared for obstructions, or for when it’s clear that people would prefer to hear from a man.

“I’ve been in situations where I have had valuable things to say, but have been slapped down, so as women we should have a learnt language to help ourselves. It’s about human theatre, and we need to rehearse.”

Keely Hancox, of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, chaired the panel.

She said: “Our latest Women in Business lunch was an extremely inspirational event, and I would like to thank all of the panellists for sharing their incredible stories.

“Each had a different career path, but all have showed a remarkable amount of drive and resilience to overcome a number of barriers to get to where they are today.

“There were some interesting discussions with lots of questions from the audience, and our panellists gave a number of insightful pieces of advice to help women achieve their own version of success.   

“It was a very interactive session and we look forward to hosting more panel events in the future.”

Caption: Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce hosted its latest Women in Business event at Weston Hall Hotel, in Bulkington.