The Career Kaleidoscope: The Highlights

22 Jul 2025

Published in: Black Country Chamber of Commerce News

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We had a great turn out at our previous Women in Leadership event, explore the best parts of the day before the next one!

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On Thursday 26th June, we hosted the first in a powerful two-part series of Women in Leadership events called ‘The Lifecycle of a Woman in Business’ beginning with ‘The Career Kaleidoscope’.

With over 60 inspiring women under one roof, it was great to hear everybody share their stories, connect with new people and engage with our speakers at our biggest event yet.

If you couldn’t attend, don’t worry as this blog will recap the highlights of the event and key points you should take away before attending part two.

We will discuss:

• Looking Back on The Career Kaleidoscope.
• Gabrielle’s journey & reflections.
• Paramjit’s journey & reflections.
• Wendy’s journey & reflections.

Are you ready to redefine success? Let’s go back in time to this inspiring and motivational day for women across the Black Country!

Looking Back on The Career Kaleidoscope:

Hosted at the Black Country Living Museum, the morning started with a networking session, getting to know new and familiar faces. Throughout the event, a raffle was held to raise money for our Chamber Charity of the Year, Beacon Centre for the Blind. Thank you to Freeths, Handelsbanken and Walsh Funerals & Memorials for their very kind donations of:

• A Grand Theatre voucher.
• A beautiful faux floral arrangement from Peony.
• A food hamper.
• A bottle of prosecco.

Before our guest speakers took the stage, Lucy Rook, chair of our Women in Leadership Steering Group made an inspiring introduction.

“The name ‘The Career Kaleidoscope’ was chosen to remind you that your journey might not be linear.

“We know from personal experience that careers very rarely follow a straight path, we often hear the phrase ‘Career Journey’ but for many of us that journey is more like a kaleidoscope”

“The idea of success cannot simply be defined as one thing; success can be attainable through a variety of different factors within an individual’s journey”

Each inspiring speaker took to the stage to explain that it’s never too late to change direction, follow a new passion, or redefine success with the opportunity for attendees to take part in a Q&A panel discussion which also included our very own Gail Arnold as she celebrates 30 years with the Black Country Chamber this year!

Gabrielle Lawrence

Gabrielle is a highly specialised Cardiologist, who studied hard to find her passion in cardiology. Along the way, she found opportunities to gain her accreditation and emphasised the importance of resilience when you go through a setback.

Gabrielle spoke about role models that helped her throughout her journey, which included her best friend and mother who were supporting her in the audience.

Here are Gabrielle’s reflections of the event and her definition of success: 

"Career changes are scary, yes it's intimidating. But are you willing to settle for just 'good enough'? There are many factors which make us question ourselves, but it is up to us to trust in what we deserve, our happiness and personal growth is a valuable pursuit.

"We should never fear failure or the fear of rejection, all experiences are a stepping stone to our own success. We can all learn from everything we do, our achievements and failures - So, let's fear the fear and do it anyway!

"A feeling of contentment and proudness. This may be related to our personal life, our achievements, relationships or even our career performance. A successful woman is being true to who you are and what you believe in."

Paramjit Nagra

As a Co-Founder of Crazy Gin, Paramjit discussed her upbringing and how this can impact your dreams and true aspirations.

By sticking to her goals and working hard to make the business a living, Paramjit and her husband sold their house and moved across the country to make their dream come true.

Here are Paramjit’s reflections of the event and what she defines as success:

“I felt incredibly grateful to be invited but also deeply moved and, at times, vulnerable. Sharing my story, especially parts I used to avoid like postpartum depression and the emotional cost of change still catches in my throat. But I made a conscious decision not to hold back, because I know how many people are carrying similar stories in silence.

“Speaking at an event like this reminded me how powerful it is when women are given space to be real. I left the stage feeling emotional but proud that I didn’t shrink from the truth.”

“Change isn’t always polished or linear and it doesn’t need to be. We often hear the success stories after they’ve been edited down. But in real life, career pivots can feel uncertain and full of contradiction. Mine involved selling our home, moving cities, having a baby, and losing parts of myself before I found clarity.

“I wanted people to leave knowing their story even if it feels messy or unfinished still has power. And the more you stop shrinking your story to make it easier to tell, the more honest and freeing it becomes.”

“Success, for me, is living in alignment. It’s not just doing what you’re good at it’s doing what feels true. It’s when your work, your values, and your life are all moving in the same direction. That doesn’t mean it’s easy or that the doubts disappear, but it means you’re no longer performing a version of yourself that doesn’t fit.

“To me, success is building with integrity and being able to look at what you’re creating and say: this is honest, this is mine.”

Wendy Garcarz

Wendy lives a double life, by day she is helping entrepreneurs reach their full potential and by night she works hard writing espionage novels. Wendy targets the importance of how society builds stereotypes as you get older and how her experience at 58 left her feeling invisible and overlooked.

Throughout her life, Wendy has done some incredible work with public organisations like the Police force, NHS and in corporate roles. Providing her with ways she can develop to be a great leader, now she mentors others to be leaders who make a difference.

Here are Wendy’s reflections of the event and what she wanted the audience to take away:

“I am a curious lifelong learner, fortunate enough to make a living from the things I love to do. I have been doing it for more than 30 years but at 58, people began making it clear that I was expected to slow down. They asked me ‘When are you going to retire?’

“That may have been their life, but it wasn’t mine. I wasn’t tired out, I felt fired up! I knew my best was still to come. I just kept thinking ‘What if our third act could be our boldest yet?’

“Older women face real challenges when running businesses: discrimination, being seen as ‘high risk’ when seeking loans, or invisible when pitching ideas. Age and gender bias intersect to create double exclusion. I wanted to expose this blind spot in society and introduce the possibility of “What happens when we say YES at 60+?

"You don’t have to be 30 to start something bold. You just have to be ready and being 60 often means you’re more ready than ever.

“An example of success for me is connecting with other women, post-menopause, post-parenting, but pre-discovery of their next chapter expected 200 people to respond in the end nearly 1600 did!

“It resulted in the 2024 Wise Women in Business Report. That led to my TEDx Talk – ‘Refirement not Retirement’.”

Conclusion

Our first event of the year was a great success! A huge thank you to our speakers Gabrielle, Paramjit and Wendy for their inspiring presentations and to the audience for taking their time to attend and engage.

We hope that by attending the event and reading this blog you find similarities that align with your own career journey, and it’s inspired you to realise that it’s never too late to redefine success.

Part-two of the powerful series ‘The Lifecycle of a Woman in Business’ is on Thursday 18th September at Black Country Living Museum, titled ‘Own Your Power & Keep Your Sh!t Together’ exploring the evolving lives and careers of women.

This time we hear from speakers on the subject of health & wellbeing, including Menopause Champion, Petra Boddington. This will be followed by a lively panel discussion and Q&A. Click here to find out more and book your place - we hope to see you there!

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