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4 Leadership Lessons From Unexpected Industries That HR Teams Can Apply Today

May 13, 2026 by HRSAdmin

May 13, 2026

4 Leadership Lessons From Unexpected Industries That HR Teams Can Apply Today

Strong people management is not limited to one sector. In fact, some of the best hiring, retention, and leadership lessons come from industries that operate under completely different pressures. Whether it’s staffing private family offices, navigating volatile energy markets, managing wellness brands, or helping families make life-changing housing decisions, every business faces the same challenge: building trust with people.

For HR professionals, there’s value in looking outside the traditional corporate playbook. The following insights from leaders across four very different industries reveal practical lessons that apply to hiring, culture, communication, and long-term employee engagement.

Stéphanie Benouari, Founder of Heritage Staffing, says many companies underestimate how much emotional intelligence matters during hiring.

“In family office recruitment, technical ability only gets someone through the first conversation. What determines long-term success is discretion, adaptability, and trustworthiness. Families are inviting someone into highly personal environments, so chemistry and judgment matter just as much as experience on paper.

I think HR teams across every industry can learn from that. Too many organizations still hire primarily based on résumés and keywords. The problem is that skills can often be taught, while attitude and emotional maturity are much harder to develop later.

The strongest hires are usually the people who can navigate ambiguity, communicate calmly under pressure, and make others feel comfortable. Those qualities improve collaboration, reduce turnover, and strengthen culture over time. Companies that prioritize human compatibility during recruitment tend to build far more resilient teams.”

Her perspective reflects a growing shift in HR toward values-based hiring, particularly as businesses place greater emphasis on culture fit and retention.

Adam Cain, VP of Marketing at ElectricityRates.com, believes one of the most overlooked leadership skills is communication during unpredictable periods.

“The energy industry changes constantly. Prices fluctuate, regulations shift, and consumer behavior evolves quickly. During uncertain periods, employees don’t expect leaders to have every answer immediately. What they do expect is transparency.

One mistake companies make is waiting until they have a perfect solution before communicating with their teams. In reality, silence creates anxiety. Employees fill information gaps with assumptions, and morale starts to decline.

The leaders who earn trust are the ones who communicate early and consistently, even if the message is simply, ‘Here’s what we know right now.’ HR departments play a major role in creating that stability because they help shape how information flows throughout the organization.

When employees feel informed, they stay more engaged and adaptable, even during challenging business conditions.”

For HR professionals managing hybrid teams, restructuring, or rapid growth, clear communication remains one of the most effective tools for maintaining trust.

Paul DiBrito, CEO of Kats Botanicals, says many businesses misunderstand what actually creates a strong workplace culture.

“A lot of companies focus on surface-level perks because they’re visible and easy to market. Free lunches, office events, and casual Fridays are fine, but they don’t create loyalty on their own.

Employees pay closer attention to consistency. They notice whether leadership follows through on promises, whether managers treat people fairly, and whether expectations stay consistent across the company.

In wellness-focused businesses especially, people can tell when a company’s internal culture doesn’t match its external messaging. That disconnect hurts trust very quickly.

The organizations that retain great employees usually have cultures built on reliability.

Employees want to know where they stand, what success looks like, and whether leadership genuinely supports them during stressful periods. Small daily behaviors from management matter far more than occasional perks.”

His insight highlights a growing trend in HR toward authenticity and operational consistency as core drivers of retention.

Wendy Porter, CEO of New Home Atlanta, says empathy has become one of the most important leadership qualities in today’s workforce.

“Buying a home is one of the most emotional decisions people make. Our team works with clients who are excited, overwhelmed, stressed, and hopeful, sometimes all within the same conversation. That environment teaches you very quickly that listening matters more than talking.

The same principle applies internally with employees. People want to feel understood before they’re expected to perform at their best. Managers who listen carefully tend to build stronger, more motivated teams because employees feel respected rather than managed.

Empathy also improves retention because people are more likely to stay in workplaces where they feel psychologically safe. Employees remember how leaders respond during difficult moments, not just when things are going smoothly.

HR teams that encourage empathetic leadership often create cultures where communication improves naturally and workplace conflict decreases over time.”

Across industries, one lesson becomes clear: effective leadership always comes back to people. Regardless of the business model, organizations that prioritize trust, communication, consistency, and empathy are far more likely to build teams that thrive long term.

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Decoding Confidence: The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders

May 6, 2026 by HRSAdmin

DECODING CONFIDENCE

The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders

– ADVITA PATEL

New book by Communications and Confidence Strategist Advita Patel offers the mantra to decoding confidence.

Key Takeaways

Questioning

If you’re responsible for people’s development, there are some honest questions

Integrity

The habit that’s all about aligning what you say with what you actually think.

Learning

Confident leaders treat every experience as information, including their encounters with AI.

Reframe

AI, when used intentionally, doesn’t erode confidence at all. It can actually help build it.

PRIMARY AUDIENCE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ADVITA PATEL

Advita Patel is an award winning business communications consultant and professional confidence expert. She is the founder of CommsRebel, a consultancy supporting organisations to build inclusive, high performing workplace cultures, and the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, an international agency focused on inclusive leadership and employee experience. Advita is the host of the Decoding Confidence podcast, which explores confidence at work through honest conversation and practical insight. Her forthcoming book, Decoding Confidence, will be published in May 2026. An international speaker and award winning podcaster, Advita regularly speaks on confidence, leadership, inclusion, and communications. In 2025, she was the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2025.

Short Thesis

Decoding Confidence isn’t just a book; it’s a roadmap for the kind of leadership that changes lives—starting with your own. It moves past the old-school idea of the “perfect” boss and focuses on how to lead with genuine authority and heart.

Through Patel’s guidance, you’ll dig deep into what makes you tick. You’ll learn how to own your unique strengths, turn vulnerability into a superpower, and quiet that inner critic so you can finally show up with the courage your team deserves.

This journey is about impact, not perfection. To make sure these ideas actually stick, the book includes a 30-day confidence habit tracker, designed to help you turn quick insights into long-term growth. Whether you’re looking to find your voice or inspire your people, these practical tools make confidence feel less like a mystery and more like a habit.

Excerpt

I was an ordinary woman from an ordinary town doing ordinary things, until the day I decoded what confidence meant to me…that’s when things became extraordinary.

I still remember the drive that changed everything. I was heading to work, stuck in traffic on the M62, so I rang a good friend to have a chat, but that day my mood was low and I wasn’t feeling great. I complained about everything: my career, my salary, the title I thought I should have had by now. I was exhausted from shape-shifting into whoever I thought people wanted me to be, and every moment felt like I was performing as someone else.

I’d spent so long trying to mould myself into the kind of leader I thought others would respect, such as being louder, tougher, and more polished, that I’d lost sight of what leadership looked like when I played to my own strengths.

When I finally stopped talking, there was silence on the line. I thought the call had cut off. Then she said, calmly but firmly:

“So…what are you going to do about it?”

That realisation took me right back to growing up in Manchester, when my confidence in myself started to crumble. As the only Asian family on our street, I learned early that fitting in was the safest option. Day after day, being told, subtly or directly, that you don’t belong chips away at your sense of self and confidence. To ‘fit in’ I became the ultimate people pleaser, conforming to whatever would help me belong.

At school and later in the workplace, that habit followed me. My parents hadn’t worked in offices, so the world of suits, unspoken rules, and after-work drinks felt alien. I spent years trying to fit into what I thought was “acceptable,” believing that confidence and leadership were things other people were born with.

But I realised I wasn’t leading, I was performing. And deep down, I knew if I wanted a fulfilled life, this way of working and living couldn’t last.

That moment on the motorway was when everything shifted. I pulled into the car park at work, and I sat there in stunned silence, realising that my friend was right, change was within my control. It was the first time I understood that it was my confidence, or rather the lack of it, that was holding me back, not anyone else. I realised that my progression was determined by always waiting for validation or permission before I believed I was worthy enough to succeed.

And if I wanted to lead differently, I knew I’d have to decode what confidence means to me.

Visit Book Website

In Conversation with the Author

In Conversation With Advita Patel

May 6, 2026 by HRSAdmin

In Conversation With

Advita Patel

Author

Decoding Confidence: The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders

Advita Patel is a leading communications and confidence strategist, the 2025 CIPR President, and CEO of CommsRebel. Her new book, Decoding Confidence: The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders, arrives at a critical juncture for HR leaders navigating the intersection of human judgment and artificial intelligence.

Hi Advita, thank you for joining us! You’ve noticed a pattern in the workplace regarding AI that has you concerned. What is happening to leader confidence?

Advita Patel:

There is a quiet erosion of confidence happening right now. Leaders who used to trust their instincts are now routinely deferring to AI before they’ve even formed an original thought. We are seeing professionals outsource their communications, arguments, and judgment to machines.

The problem is that confidence isn’t built in moments of ease; it’s built by the small acts of trusting yourself, forming a view, and even getting it wrong sometimes. When we repeatedly skip that process by using AI as a crutch, we lose the habit of independent thinking and start to doubt our own capabilities.

You reference Daniel Kahneman’s “System 1” and “System 2” thinking here. How does that apply to our AI usage?

Advita Patel:

Most of us operate in System 1—fast, automatic, and intuitive—especially when we are overwhelmed. That is exactly when we reach for AI. It feels productive, but it’s a shortcut that bypasses the slower, deliberate System 2 thinking where rational decisions are made. If leaders model this uncritical adoption, their teams will eventually stop bringing their own thinking to the table.

Your book introduces the BELIEVE framework. How can this help HR leaders develop more resilient talent?

Advita Patel:

Confidence is not a personality trait; it is a learnable skill built through repeatable habits. The BELIEVE framework consists of seven habits:

Boldness
Empathy
Learning
Integrity
Empowerment
Vulnerability
Energy

Two of these are vital in the age of AI. First, Learning: Confident leaders ask what an AI tool can teach them and where it falls short, rather than letting it replace their judgment. Second, Integrity: This is about knowing the difference between your own voice and a generated one, and being willing to say “this is what I actually believe”.

Many HR leaders are currently focused on AI competence. Are we missing the bigger picture?

Advita Patel:

Exactly. The question for HR isn’t whether people are using AI—they should be—but whether they are using it in a way that develops them or hinders them.

HR leaders should be asking:

Are our programs building genuine confidence or just tool competence?
Are we creating enough space for people to be wrong and learn from it
Do our managers understand that no algorithm can replicate the impact of a human leader investing in someone’s growth?

Your research suggests a strong link between management and confidence. What did you find?

Advita Patel:

My research found that 71% of people said genuine feedback from managers made the biggest difference to their confidence. That human element is where confidence actually gets built.

What was the primary motivation behind writing Decoding Confidence?

Advita Patel:

I spent years coaching brilliant people and realized they weren’t struggling with a skills gap, but a confidence gap. This gap costs organizations far more than anyone wants to admit.

The book also addresses the systemic side—McKinsey’s research shows that employees who don’t see leaders who look like themselves are more likely to doubt their own capabilities. Leaders have a responsibility to shape an environment where everyone can be heard. As Juergen Maier CBE (Chair of Great British Energy) notes in the foreword, the book is a powerful tool for reflecting on our own leadership styles.

“The organizations that will navigate the AI era well aren’t the ones with the most sophisticated tech stack. They’re the ones whose people are confident enough to think critically, speak honestly, and lead with judgment that no algorithm can replicate.”

Decoding Confidence: The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders by Advita Patel is now available at Amazon and major booksellers.

Visit Book Website

Visit Book Page

Advita Patel is an award winning business communications consultant and professional confidence expert. She is the founder of CommsRebel, a consultancy supporting organisations to build inclusive, high performing workplace cultures, and the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, an international agency focused on inclusive leadership and employee experience. Advita is the host of the Decoding Confidence podcast, which explores confidence at work through honest conversation and practical insight. Her forthcoming book, Decoding Confidence, will be published in May 2026. An international speaker and award winning podcaster, Advita regularly speaks on confidence, leadership, inclusion, and communications. In 2025, she was the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2025.

How to Avoid the Most Preventable Form of Employee Turnover

May 6, 2026 by HRSAdmin

May 06, 2026

How to Avoid the Most Preventable Form of Employee Turnover

Clark A. Ingram, Founder and President, People Profits, LLC

Finding the right people committed to staying with your organization starts with making sure that you and the job applicant are on the same page.

Many times, while working with an organization, I see employees who should never have been hired. Often it’s due to either the organization not identifying in detail their target candidate criteria or making unwise exceptions to their criteria. The excuse is always the same: “We need bodies — now.”

Job candidates make it even worse when they don’t have their own criteria for what they’re looking for in an employer. They say: “I need a job — now.”

It’s only a matter of time before the employee decides to move on or the organization decides they “don’t fit in.”

This is amazing to me. They decide six months later that the employee doesn’t fit in? The organization should have known back when they reviewed the candidate’s application or during the interview that the person didn’t meet their criteria. Both the organization and the employee are hurt for the same reason — trading a short-term problem for a long-term one — and they’ve wasted a lot of each other’s time.

In these cases, the organization has done a disservice to the employee by hiring them with a very real chance they won’t fit in. They’ve also damaged their organization by setting up a future problem that will need to be resolved.

Here are the real questions organizations need to address: What do our ideal candidates look like and how can we find them? Think of that old cliché that you can’t hit a target you can’t see.

Finding quality people becomes a lot easier once you’ve identified your candidate criteria in detail. Then it’s a matter of finding the appropriate sources and determining how to get their attention.

One company I knew of hired every Machinist Mate out of the Navy they could get their hands on. The reason was simple: given the skills those employees had obtained in the Navy, they already had most of the capabilities needed for the job when they started. They also had a work ethic and were revenue positive much quicker than other candidates.

On the flip side, what about the candidates’ criteria? What are they looking for? Not knowing is a related root cause to employee turnover.

Many candidates are looking for a “good job.” What does that mean? For that individual, it can mean many different things. The more information you can provide about your organization, the more the candidate can reflect. “Is what you’re hearing sound like something you want to do?” “Does the culture and environment feel comfortable?” Clarifying these aspects up front will help them think through what they’re looking for.

You should also look hard at their resumes and their answers to your questions. They may be giving you indirect clues as to what they’re after. If you get the feeling the candidate is just after a job, move on.

It’s much more prevalent now for people to try a job and then decide whether to jump. This means you must get them to see why they should stay.

On the other hand, the better candidates are looking at how they’ll fit in, grow, and be challenged in the future. They’re looking for a “value path” showing them how they can bring value to the organization and how their increased value is rewarded. Good employees expect the organization to articulate and then provide this path.

Many companies struggle with establishing how employees will be challenged beyond what they were hired for originally. Employees want a clearly defined, well-thought-out path, in writing — including the training, experience, and accomplishment standards for success. When your organization has this as a recruiting tool, you’re able to recruit, hire, and retain the type of employees you want and need.

This fundamental truth regarding good and unsuitable employees affects your employee turnover in so many ways. So how do you maximize the good and minimize the bad?

Be able to spot the differences before the time of hire.

Fully understand the multilevel cost of bad employees.

Know your organizational opportunities and sell them to candidates.

Recognize that hiring just to provide warm bodies is always detrimental in the long run.

Prevent employee turnover and gain control of your hiring process by clearly showing who you are. Be able to read between the lines of a resume and discover who candidates really are. Develop value paths to instantly show your candidates the opportunities available. Employing these strategies, you’ll begin to pull in who you need and fend off who you don’t.

About the Author

Clark A. Ingram is the Founder and President of People Profits, LLC, which focuses on the three greatest human capital problems affecting organizations: employee turnover, chronically open positions, and skills gap. He consults with a spectrum of companies and has consistently reduced turnover by more than 40 percent in the first year and achieved staffing at more than 90 percent. His new book is Churn: Proven Strategies to Overcome Failing Conventional Talent Management and Achieve Zero Turnover (People Profits, March 26, 2026). Learn more at peopleprofits.com.

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3 Myths That Will Derail Your Change Initiative

May 4, 2026 by HRSAdmin

May 04, 2026

3 Myths That Will Derail Your Change Initiative

Josh Cardoz, Chief Creative & Learning Officer, Sponge

In Formula 1, a pit crew can replace four tires in under two seconds. It’s a notorious example of precision, speed, and coordination.

But that level of performance doesn’t happen because someone simply tells the team to move faster. It works because every role is clear, every movement is rehearsed, and every person understands exactly how they contribute to the outcome.

Businesses are always looking to enhance their competitive advantage with that same level of speed and efficiency. With the rise of AI, constant digital transformation and pressure to do more means organizations expect employees to adapt as soon as possible.

But today’s workforce is navigating more change than ever before. Economic uncertainty, technology shifts, digital overload, and constant transformation have created what we call Generation Numb — a workforce that has become desensitized to constant disruption.

The success of any large transformation hinges on whether your workforce chooses to get on board or not. In this environment, what follows isn’t always resistance. Instead, it is something worse: apathy. People won’t push back. They’ll nod, attend the meetings, and continue delivering, but without real belief or energy behind the change.

In today’s Generation Numb workplace, which is shaped by constant change and unclear priorities, employees have seen too many initiatives come and go. Unless something feels meaningfully different, they default to going through the motions rather than engaging.

That’s why the first 90 days matter the most when introducing change or new initiatives. This is the window where leaders need to create clarity, relevance, and belief. If they don’t, the initiative won’t fail with fanfare. It will quietly stall, with teams appearing aligned but not truly changing how they work. Employees are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged when they understand how their work contributes to company goals.

#1 — KPIs Create Alignment

No doubt, metrics are important to every business. And most transformation efforts begin with defining the KPIs leaders want teams to hit. The assumption is this: if everyone understands the numbers, the actions they need to take to reach them will follow.

Wrong! The establishment of metrics alone rarely changes behavior. Rather, it ends up raising questions like: “What does success look like in my role?” and “What should I actually do differently tomorrow?”

Leaders need to shift from KPI metrics to behavioral clarity. Instead of solely defining outcomes, leaders need to define the lead indicators — the specific actions and behaviors that produce those outcomes. Leaders often default to announcing the destination but don’t provide a map on how to get there.

Alignment happens when strategy is translated into clear expectations employees can practice in real moments at work. When people understand what success looks like in their every day, momentum can start to build. But there’s more that comes along with it.

#2 — Resistance is the Risk

Resistance is not ideal during a time of transformation, but it’s also not the worst outcome you can get. In many ways, resistance is healthy. It shows your team is motivated enough to take a stance on something and have a conversation. Resistance allows you to be aware of where your people stand on certain issues – and it shows that they care.

What’s more dangerous than resistance is apathy. With apathy, you don’t get questions or resistance. There is no warning sign. Your people are quietly disengaging and disinterested in what’s going on around them. From a leadership perspective, this is much harder to detect and even harder to reverse.

The workers who are a part of Generation Numb report that they’re just surviving. Innovation, creativity, and customer experience require energy. And energy is the opposite of apathy. Leaders must consider whether teams actually have the capacity to deliver the transformation they’re asking for, because even the best strategy in the world won’t gain traction if their people are in survival mode.

#3 — Productivity Equals Performance

When transformation efforts start to ramp up, organizations start to push harder. More meetings, more reporting, more activity.

But activity doesn’t always equal performance.

Ever had a meeting about a meeting and nothing came from either conversation? In fact, employees spend nearly 60% of their time on “work about work” like meetings, emails, and status updates.

Think back to the Formula 1 pit crews or even Michelin-star kitchens. In both cases, teams perform under incredible pressure and speed. Every second counts. That speed is possible because the conditions are right. Roles are clearly defined. Teams move in sync. Everyone understands their part in delivering the outcome.

Leaders in those environments don’t simply demand results. They design systems that make high performance possible. As leaders, your job is to create the conditions for high performance, not simply demand higher productivity.

When those conditions exist, teams can naturally move forward and faster.

Clarity (The Me stage)– Employees need to understand their role and what success looks like in the new environment.

Connection (The Us stage) – Build true community, where people work collaboratively and teams are invested in each other as well as the task.
Conditions for performance (The It stage) – Once clarity and connection exist, teams can focus on the challenge itself.

Organizations often chase pace during transformation. But the most effective leaders do something different: they create the conditions that allow teams to move together. With clarity, connection and conditions in place, the pace sets itself – and productivity, outcomes and impact follow.

About the Author

Josh Cardoz is Chief Creative & Learning Officer at Sponge Group, where he leads The Practice consultancy and The Studio. A recognised authority in learning and development, he has partnered with a wide portfolio of Fortune 500 and Interbrand organisations – with roles
in digital learning strategy, solutions design, business development, and creative leadership. Josh blends a strong strategic lens for connecting L&D to performance, while championing
moments of human resonance in the workplace

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Why I Wrote a Book About Confidence (And Why It Matters More Than Ever)

April 29, 2026 by HRSAdmin

April 29, 2026

Why I Wrote a Book About Confidence

And Why It Matters More Than Ever

By Advita Patel

CEO, Communications and Confidence Strategist, CIPR 2025 President

I never set out to write a book about confidence, and honestly, for a long time, I wasn’t sure I was the right person to write it.

But after years of coaching leaders and watching brilliant, capable people hold themselves back, I kept seeing the same pattern. It wasn’t a skills gap or an experience gap people struggled with, but a confidence gap. It was costing people, teams, and organisations far more than anyone was willing to name out loud and that’s what led me to write Decoding Confidence: The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders.

If you work in HR, people development, or organisational leadership, I think it might be one of the most practically useful books you’ll read this year.

What the book is actually about

This isn’t a self-help book that tells you to believe in yourself, and everything will work out. I have very little patience for that kind of advice, and I suspect you do too.

Decoding Confidence is grounded in research, including a survey of 507 professionals, and built from over a decade of coaching more than 150 leaders across sectors. What I consistently found is that confidence is not a personality trait you either have or don’t. It is a learnable skill, built through deliberate, repeatable habits.

Those habits form the BELIEVE framework: Boldness, Empathy, Learning, Integrity, Empowerment, Vulnerability, and Energy. Each gets its own chapter with real stories, honest reflection, and practical tools you can actually use and there is no jargon and definitely no fluff.

What makes it different

The book doesn’t prescribe a type of leader you should become but rather meets you where you are. Whether you’re a first-time manager wrestling with imposter syndrome, a senior leader who’s stopped taking risks, or an HR professional trying to build a more psychologically safe culture, there’s something in this book that will speak directly to your situation.

It also takes the structural and systemic dimensions of confidence seriously. There’s a reason some people have to work harder to be seen, heard, and believed in the workplace, and the book doesn’t shy away from that. McKinsey’s research tells us that employees who don’t see leaders like themselves are more likely to doubt their own capabilities, regardless of how qualified they are. Confidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The environment shapes it, and leaders have a responsibility to shape the environment.

Who it's for

Primarily, this book is for leaders at any level who want to lead more authentically and effectively. That said, I’d argue that this is essential reading for anyone in HR designing leadership development programmes, building culture, or trying to understand why certain people keep getting passed over despite being clearly capable.

The foreword is written by Juergen Maier CBE, Great British Energy Chair and former CEO of Siemens UK, who describes it as “a fabulous way to help us reflect on our own leadership styles.”

A personal note

Writing this book was its own exercise in confidence.

There were moments when I questioned whether my voice, my story, and my research deserved a place in the leadership conversation.

As we get closer to launch day, I can say I’m so glad I pushed through the doubt because one thing I know for certain, after everything I’ve researched and everyone I’ve coached, is that the world doesn’t need more leaders who perform with confidence, it needs more leaders who’ve actually built it.

That’s what this book is for.

Decoding Confidence: The 7 Habits of Confident Leaders by Advita Patel

Available from 5th May on Amazon and all major book sellers.

https://decodingconfidence.com

About the Author

Advita Patel is an award winning business communications consultant and professional confidence expert. She is the founder of CommsRebel, a consultancy supporting organisations to build inclusive, high performing workplace cultures, and the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, an international agency focused on inclusive leadership and employee experience. Advita is the host of the Decoding Confidence podcast, which explores confidence at work through honest conversation and practical insight. Her forthcoming book, Decoding Confidence, will be published in May 2026. An international speaker and award winning podcaster, Advita regularly speaks on confidence, leadership, inclusion, and communications. In 2025, she was the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2025.

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