Whether they are perfecting their craft or branching into a new field, every industry stands to benefit from the inclusion and diversity all genders bring. International Women’s Day gives us the opportunity to platform the varied successes of the women who are honing their careers at Portman Marylebone. The women featured below discuss the moments in their career that enabled them with the confidence and knowledge to achieve their goals.
Sophie: Nobu Hotel London Portman Square
Sophie recently joined Nobu to lead the bar team as Bar Manager. Sophie brings with her 20 years of experience on the London bar scene as well as personal passion for mental health which she plans to integrate into her strategy for Nobu Bar.
Sophie lists one of her biggest successes as landing her role at Nobu Bar. True to her aim of executing a healthy work environment for her team she also says one of her career highlights “has to be one of my team members thanking me for letting them be part of the friendliest team he’s ever worked in. I try really hard to maintain a healthy work life balance for the team so this made me super happy.”
22 Portman Square
www.london-portman.nobuhotels.com
Judi: anatomē
Judi, Sales & Operations Manager at anatomē is an experienced women’s health and emotional wellbeing expert. She looks to pass on her expertise whenever possible by advising the wide array of women who look to anatomē’s products to help them achieve a well-balanced lifestyle.
Being able to turn a challenge into a success is testament to Judi’s approach to wellbeing as she reflects on her first months with anatomē. She helped “to steer the brand through the pandemic. We drove into London daily to pack the e-commerce orders. No one was sleeping and everyone was stressed, so many people turned to the brand for more natural solutions.”
16 Chiltern Street
www.anatome.co
Mary: Grandirosa
Mary Wood’s professional journey is proof that one can be best friends with their business partner. Since Mary and Lil Caldwell set up their floral design business they have worked with a host of exacting women, from event planners, creative directors, hospitality gurus, and brides-to-be.
Mary is especially proud of the fact that Grandirosa was “awarded the floristry contract for The Ned early in our business career and the relationship still stands strong today.” Like most businesses, their plans to open their own shop was delayed by Covid, and they had to focus on steadying the ship. For Grandirosa a sure sign of their success was the loyalty of their clients during this time and as Mary says, “when the time was right, we were able to start looking at spaces again. When we saw the space on Chiltern Street – we knew it was the one! We love bringing our brand to a whole new audience and have been thrilled by the response.”
36 Chiltern Street
www.grandirosa.com
Julia: Atlas Gallery
The co-founder of Atlas Gallery, Julia Bostock is an influential figure in photographic art. Julia brings her passion into the running of the gallery by embracing photography in all its forms, with extensive holdings of work by 20th Century masters as well as representing a diverse range of contemporary photographers. From classic vintage photography, photojournalism and fashion to experimental and art photography, Atlas offers extensive expertise on every aspect of the medium.
Julia’s biggest success since starting the gallery with her husband is “showing both world rated and well known photographers’ work as well as lesser known ones we have helped raise the profile of. This has assisted the photographer and their photography to becoming a profitable investment platform. We have developed a very strong brand which we have adhered to and is now well known worldwide.” Like many business owners, the pandemic posed a challenge that Julia has since turned into a success. “We have managed to keep going through the pandemic by keeping a conversation going with our customers and through this platform we have been able to raise money for various charities. We are currently putting on an exhibition of children’s photography from our existing archives and with the addition of works from contemporary photographers to raise money for the children of Turkey and Syria along with UNICEF.”
49 Dorset Street
www.atlasgallery.com