Today the Institute of Directors (IoD) held its 2017 Enterprising Women Summit in London, which focuses on equipping Britain’s female business leaders for a global Britain.

Supported by Amazon, the event brought together some of the country’s top businesswomen, and provided an opportunity for attendees to meet and hear from leaders working in a diverse range of sectors.

The event was opened by Chair of the IoD, Lady Barbara Judge, with a call to get more women into senior, executive decision-making roles: “We gather here to listen to women who have reached the top of their game, and to learn from their success. We hope to be inspired and be able to inspire and motivate our own daughters, sisters and friends so that they can work up to their potential and achieve all that they desire in their chosen careers.”

Our Director of Amazon Fashion, Sarah Miles, was the first speaker of the day. Drawing on her decades of experience in global businesses, Sarah provided the audience with insight on lessons she’s learnt on her path to senior leadership; and why, no matter what stage you are in your career, “it’s still Day 1”.

“As with so many people the foundation stone for my career was laid in my childhood with my family. I’m lucky to come from a loud, happy, competitive family where I had three sports-mad brothers and parents who taught me different but very complementary things. From my Dad I got: believe in yourself, push yourself hard, and anything is possible…from my Mum I got: always always always think about others, be kind, be respectful, but equally don’t settle, and never believe you are done.

“I’ve loved fashion since I was a little girl, but never imagined I’d get the opportunity to lead a team developing a fashion business for Amazon. Throughout our business we encourage our teams not to be afraid to fail, because taking calculated risks is important for enabling innovation and growth – and as women, we all need to spur each other on take those risks and opportunities presented to us.”

In addition to Sarah, a number of other high-profile business and media figures spoke to attendees; offering guidance on how to accelerate their careers, and advice on how to make positive and lasting change in their business to foster greater diversity in senior leadership.

For more information on the Enterprising Women Summit, visit: https://www.iod.com/events-community/events/event-details/eventdateid/4008.