Tuesday 7th August
We are thrilled to welcome three wonderful speakers for August’s Spark:
Cally Beaton
Under her birth name Caroline, Cally Beaton has spent more than 25 years working in high profile roles in the international media – most recently as Senior Vice President, Viacom International Media Networks – and brands including MTV, ITV and Comedy Central and she was the youngest ever board member at Carlton Television in the early 00’s.
Cally leads a hugely successful double-life as both business leader and stand-up comedian. Her first episode of QI on BBC2 aired in January 2018, and she has made appearances on BBC Radio 4 ‘s Museum of Curiosity and Radio 6 Music. She took her first show, Cat Call, to Edinburgh in 2016 with comedy partner Catherine Bohart, where it received a Malcolm Hardee Award. Her debut solo show, Super Cally Fragile Lipstick, was a sell-out hit at Edinburgh in 2017, receiving 4**** reviews, national press coverage and picked as Best of Edinburgh Fringe by The Arts Desk. Cally also won the prestigious 2017/2018 Piccadilly Comedy Club New Act of the Year competition after being tipped as one of the comedians to watch for 2017 by Chortle.
In 2004 she founded Road Trip Media, working with clients who want to change and grow their businesses, helping them release their potential and equipping them with decision-making as well as creative tools. She is a BAFTA voting member and holds a seat on the Development Board of MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation.
A naturally gifted speaker with rare insight and an utterly distinctive voice, we are so excited to welcome Cally to Spark where she’ll be sharing with us: How To Manage A Muti-Dimensional Career.
Tom Horne & Will Green, Founders, L’Estrange
Tom and Will are the founders of menswear clothing brand, L’Estrange and we are thrilled to welcome them to talk about their business story at Spark .
Tom and Will have a very interesting approach and are part of a new wave of young retail brands challenging traditional rules adhered to in the fashion industry to date – they recently made the decision to pull away from all their wholesale partners (including Collette, Isetan, Saks 5th Avenue, Selfridges, etc) moving away from seasonal collections to focus on considered garments and engaging brand spaces.
At the end of last year they hosted a space in Soho called the Apartment, where they held ‘insider’ events, building their community, showcasing new samples and speaking directly to their customers. They are now in a new space in Soho where they are hosting a series of events that promote the brand ethos, including a recent event to discuss mental health in partnership with Sanctus.
Tom and Will will be sharing with us their brand story and presenting: Why Challenging Traditional Rules And Conventions As Business Owners Is Important.