Jo Fairley

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Jo Fairley Biography

Jo Fairley Main - Entrepreneur and CSR Keynote Speaker

Topics:

Business
Entrepreneurs
Marketing & Branding

Co-founder of Green & Black's, Jo Fairley is an inspiring keynote speaker. With her background in journalism and the brand's astonishing success, Jo talks on topics including entrepreneurism, corporate social responsibility, marketing and branding.

Green & Black's - Brand bigger than Marmite!

In 1991, Jo Fairley co-founded the pioneering organic chocolate company Green & Black’s (with her husband Craig Sams), which has now gone on to be ‘bigger than Marmite’ (in sales terms) and ‘cooler than Prada’ (according to two Coolbrands surveys). In 2005, the brand was sold to Cadbury’s, but Jo remains in an ambassadorial role, travelling the world as the brand grows internationally in countries including the US and Australia. In 2008, Jo and her husband Craig Sams collaborated on Sweet Dreams: The Story of Green & Black’s (Random House).

Judges Bakery & the Wellington Centre

Jo now runs Judges Bakery - an organic one-stop shop - and The Wellington Centre, an 11-room ‘boutique’ wellbeing centre, in her home town of Hastings. She continues to juggle this with her writing career: although she left school at 16 (with six ‘O’ Levels), by the age of 23 Jo was the youngest-ever magazine editor in the UK, editing first Look Now and then Honey Magazine.

Journalist

Jo is a Contributing Editor to the Mail on Sunday’s YOU Magazine, as well as to a very wide range of publications including the forthcoming National Geographic Green.

She is the co-author (with Sarah Stacey) of the bestselling Beauty Bible series of books, the world’s bestselling beauty books, including: The Beauty Bible, Feel Fab Forever: The Anti-Ageing Health & Beauty Bible, The 21st Century Beauty Bible, The Handbag Beauty Bible and most recently The Green Beauty Bible, which combines her ‘green’ expertise with her insights into the beauty world. She is also author of The Ultimate Natural Beauty Book (all these books published by Kyle Cathie). Jo and Sarah’s website, www.beautybible.com, is among the most successful beauty websites in the UK, with 55,000 subscribers.

Soil Association

For eight years Jo chaired the Soil Association’s Health Products Standards Committee, helping to set the standards for organic and natural bodycare in the UK. She is a ‘matron’ of the Women’s Environmental Network, runs makeover workshops for young women at Centrepoint and sits on the Human Rights Watch Film Festival committee.

Keynote Speaker

Jo is in huge demand on the speaker circuit telling the story of the brand, which is fêted both for its quality and ethical credentials, and about a chocolate which is not wickedly delicious and luxurious, but is also good for the planet and for the people who produce it. As well as the environmental and CSR issues, Jo also focuses on more traditional messages of marketing and branding along with growth and development in a demanding retail environment.

For further information or to book Jo Fairley, call us at Speakers Corner on +44 (0) 20 8365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

Jo Fairley News

A selection of relevant news related to Jo Fairley and Business stories. For more information on Jo Fairley or details as to how to book Jo Fairley for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 20 8365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

A Third of Women Take on the Role of Breadwinner
20th July 2010As a survey announces the rise of women’s involvement in domestic financial affairs, speakers such as entrepreneur Kanya King MBE and scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE are also becoming increasingly popular. However, is there more to the figures than initially meets the eye?

International Woman's Day is today as the first woman, Kathyrn Bigelow, wins Best Director
8th March 2010International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some countries like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday. The first IWD was run in 1911.

Mark Frith, Jo Fairley & Martin Bell announced as keynote speakers
5th February 2010Mark Frith, Jo Fairley and Martin Bell will be the keynote speakers as part of the Confex Show. These sessions will be supported by parallel seminars broadly themed to address the areas of industry debate, marketing, business skills & personal development and event organising & logistics.

Entrepreneurial chocolatiers Jo Fairley, Craig Sams, James Averdieck & Angus Thirlwell - are all enjoying success with their luxury chocolate brands
26th January 2010Chocolate is big news. Cadbury have been bought by Kraft and entrepreneurs Jo Fairly and Sam Craig sold their luxury chocolate business Green & Blacks to Cadbury some time ago. And this week saw another sale Gu Puds sold to Noble Foods retaining entrepreneur and founder James Averdieck as MD. Angus Thirlwell who runs Hotel Chocolat has created a luxury brand with sales coming from the web, mail order and high street shops

The Sunday Times Business Person of Year - The Finalists
23rd December 2009The Sunday Times has announced its list of contenders for their annual Business Person of the Year award. The finalists have shown true grit and determination - many have hauled their businesses through a rather perilous time unscathed and are survivors in the business world. The contenders are Angela Ahrendts (pictured left), Ross Brawn, Frank Chapman, Richard Cousins, Founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Steve Jobs, Sam Laidlaw, Alan Mulally, Kate Swann, and John Varley.

BSkyB is Britain's most admired company 2009
2nd December 2009Media firm BSkyB landed the top spot in Management Today's Britain's Most Admired Companies awards on monday night. Led by CEO Jeremy Darroch, the organisation is one of the youngest to be handed the accolade, topping each of the nine criteria to secure the award. Matthew Gwyther, editor of Management Today said: 'It (BSkyB) is barely more than a stripling upstart amongst the great names of UK business, some of which have been around for centuries in one form or another. It has shown that a class-leading product, well marketed and slickly delivered, can continue to grow and prosper even in the most challenging circumstances.' Tesco and Johnson Mathey took the second and third slots respectively, with Cadbury, GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce trailing at numbers four, five and six.

Heavyweight keynote speakers are expected at the CBI Conference today including Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Dominique Strauss-Kahn & Stuart Rose to name but a few
23rd November 2009Heavyweight keynote speakers are expected to address the CBI conference in London today. Talking to the most influential and important of business audiences will be our political leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, business chiefs such as Sir Stuart Rose and Stephen Hester, as well as Lord Adair Turner, BBC Economics Editor Stephanie Flaunders and the CBI's Director-General Richard Lambert. Chairing the conference will be CBI's President, the recently appointed Helen Alexander, former chief executive at The Economist and the first woman in the role.

Lessons learnt from Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple - one of the greatest speakers ever
19th November 2009The Times is featuring extracts from Simon Maier and Jerremy Kourdi's book 'The 100: Insights and lessons from 100 of the greatest speeches ever delivered'. Read The Times article on lessons learnt from one of the world's best speakers - Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and former chief executive officer of Pixar Animation Studios.

WHO MOVED MY GURU?
19th December 2008The economy may be tanking, but not Malcolm Gladwell. His new book, “Outliers,” a characteristically snappy look at what made the Beatles, Bill Gates and other superstars so successful, enters the hardcover nonfiction list at No. 1

Diageo wins 'Britain's Most Admired Company 2008' award
11th December 2008Drinks major Diageo has won the coveted title of Britain's Most Admired Company 2008 in MT's annual poll. At the awards ceremony last night at Claridge's, Diageo’s CEO Paul Walsh accepted the award from Lord Heseltine, chairman of Haymarket Media...

Jo Fairley Reviews

Jo Fairley has spoken and appeared at a number of recent corporate events. Please find some client speaker testimonials and reviews for Jo Fairley for a number of these events and conferences. If you would like some additional information as to how to book Jo Fairley for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 208 365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

"Just a quick note to say how impressive Jo was, we received some great feedback on the night, and are continuing to do so today. She was really approachable and mingled throughout the event with delegates. Her presentation was spot on, and gave many of our clients the inspiration they are looking for in this tough climate."
Business Link

Q & A with Jo Fairley

Speakers Corner interviewed Jo Fairley to give you a bit more insight as to the type of performance and delivery you would expect from Jo Fairley However for more information on Jo Fairley or details as to how to book Jo Fairley for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 208 365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

Speakers Corner: How did the corporate speaking all start?

Jo Fairley: I found I was being asked more and more to give speeches for free about the story of Green & Black’s, and then pow! Someone paid me to do it. And I thought, ‘I’m missing a trick here.’ So I immediately e-mailed Christine Hamilton – who famously dug herself and Neil out of a huge financial hole via public speaking – and asked her if she had any tips. Within 10 minutes, with Christine’s custom efficiency, I had a list of military-style instructions! And I haven’t looked back. (We have been friends ever since I gave her a ‘makeover’ for YOU Magazine, and she ditched the celebrated black velvet hairband!)

Speakers Corner: Can you remember your first speaking engagement?

Jo Fairley: At the Prowell Women’s Conference in Peterborough (or somewhere equally unmemorable). That was my first paid engagement and the moment the lightbulb went off: that I loved doing it, but that I could also be paid to do something I really, really enjoyed!

Speakers Corner: And your last event?

Jo Fairley: I was asked to speak at Confex, the conference organisers’ conference, in February. A challenging gig (tons of background noise), standing room only, but I managed to keep my cool in a packed hall even when one of the audience basically fell out of the auditorium through a side panel.

Speakers Corner: Which event has been your favourite and why?

Jo Fairley: Any women’s enterprise event, basically. Women particularly like to hear the story of a woman who’s smashed through the glass ceiling, who left school at sixteen with 6 ‘O’ levels but has gone on to create a £100 million brand while juggling all the things women have to do (make sure there’s food in the fridge, loo rolls in the loo and kids are picked up from school, etc.) Entrepreneurs generally (of both sexes) do especially enjoy the story of our rollercoaster ride at Green & Black’s.

Speakers Corner: If you could speak at any event, past or future, what would it be…

Jo Fairley: A cruise would be nice! Mmmm, Hawaii…?

Speakers Corner: Who would you most like to share a platform with?

Jo Fairley: Bill Clinton, Arianna Huffington and Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web, and who decided it should be free, thereby changing the world as we know it. It wasn’t until I saw a BBC documentary recently that I realised someone had actually had to decide whether the web should be a free resource. What a huge debt we owe him…

Speakers Corner: On average, how many times a year do you speak at corporate events.

Jo Fairley: I had 25 engagements last year.

Speakers Corner: Do you use powerpoint.

Jo Fairley: I have a mouthwatering holding slide with chocolate which usually gets the audience salivating, but I believe that mostly, Powerpoint is a distraction. I know if I’m watching a Powerpoint presentation, I tend to drift off and not look at the slides. My slides are only ever visual with a few words, so that I can weave a story around them. But I’m happier not using it at all, except for the one opening slide.

Speakers Corner: Are you as happy speaking to 50 as to 1,000 people?

Jo Fairley: Either is fine. There’s an intimacy with 50 people but for some reason I don’t get butterflies even when it’s 1,000 (as at the 02 Marketing Conference). My father was the Science Editor for ITN and then had one of the first businesses doing media training, so I had a lot of coaching from him when I was in my 20s. I’m much more terrified walking into a cocktail party of friends and acquaintances than stepping onto a stage in front of 1,000 strangers

Speakers Corner: How do you like to be introduced.

Jo Fairley: As Co-Founder of Green & Black’s Chocolate. My husband Craig Sams and I are always very fair about giving each other credit.

Speakers Corner: Do you always like to do a briefing call before the event.

Jo Fairley: As someone who’s been a journalist for 30 years (blimey!) the brief is everything. So yes, yes, yes. (And I’m also always happy to do any media surrounding the event, if it’s feasible.)

If you are interested in booking Jo Fairley for your live event or require any additional information regarding Jo Fairley then please fill in the enquiry form below and one of the Speakers Corner booking agents will contact you within 24 hours.

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