Lift as you climb: Marcella Meehan on positive people management

Marcella Meehan is the events manager of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, a role that oversees more than 200 events each year including five flagship award ceremonies.

In a fascinating interview, Marcella shares the power of positive people management while setting out a challenge to Accelerate Action in the end.

What inspired your career or business journey?

As with many others in this industry, I fell into Events without even realising! (Have you ever heard a ten-year-old say they wanted to be an event manager when they grow up?!)

As someone who loves a project, enjoys seeing the end product of my work, and with a background in performance, Events is a great fit for me.

Having led teams working on events, and undertaken professional development in coaching, I also realised how much I enjoyed people management- supporting people to achieve their best, and enabling them to see their own talents bring me real joy, and I am very proud to manage the Events Team here at GBCC.

The Events industry is dominated by women, and the range of skills needed to succeed is vast: project management, interpersonal skills, organisation, communication, attention to detail, analysis, budgeting... the list goes on.

Yet, many still see Events as an "easy" job and don't appreciate the work, skill and leadership that goes into making every event a success.

Like many female-dominated industries, it's the sort of thing that people only notice when things go wrong, and the effort to ensure that doesn't happen is very overlooked.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a woman in business and how did you overcome it?

I often find, as a woman under 35 and in a leadership role, people don't quite know how to react to me.

Presenting myself as a youngish (emphasis on the ish) woman in an overlooked industry to suppliers and delegates, I recognise all too well the look of "can I talk to the manager?"

In those moments, I have to put on a brave face, stand my ground, and demonstrate that I do in fact know what I am doing.

I have, sadly, found at times other women to be the greatest barrier to success- and I do not say that lightly.

As a woman, you do have to fight that little bit harder to have your voice heard and your work recognised.

But it is important to remember that all your female colleagues are in the same boat, and we all need to support each other, rising together, and not stepping on others to ensure you reach the top.

What’s one key piece of advice for women looking to succeed in your industry?

Anyone who works in the events industry needs to be adept in so many different skills, and spin so many different plates all at once.

Be confident in your decisions and in your talents, and don't be afraid of lifting others up with you.

The greatest feeling of success often comes from seeing someone else shine, and knowing you helped get them there.

How has gender equality in business changed and what still needs to improve?

Whilst it is great that businesses talk about gender equality, we need to see more action- fairer pay, fairer policies, and more females in senior positions.

One of my personal gripes is the lack of awareness and flexibility for women of menstruating age.

It's great to see workplaces discussing menopause and family/ maternity policies, but we need to acknowledge the impact of menstruation on the workforce- productivity, communication, relationships, capability and wellbeing are all affected.

How has being part of GBCC supported your business or career?

Working for GBCC has expanded my network and helped me see the range of successes of other women in our region.

This year’s IWD theme is Accelerate Action. Given that gender parity may take until 2158 what does IWD mean to you, and how can we drive faster change?

Every IWD a share a quote that I saw several years ago. it encapsulates the real meaning of IWD perfectly, and if everyone stuck to it, we would be making huge strides in gender equality.

"I would prefer that you didn't celebrate with me today, but rather that you fought at my side on the other 364 days of the year."