Some 38 professionals attended the inaugural evening, sponsored by professional recruitment group Alexander Daniels, at the boutique office complex Grosvenor House in St. Paul’s Square.

The delegates heard about the rise to success of two prominent businesswomen, Sharon Walton, COO of Property Management Consultancy GVA, and Eileen Schofield, Chairwoman of the Birmingham Law Society.

The event saw Sharon and Eileen talk about their paths to the top and the challenges they met on the way, sharing key tips and answering attendee questions.

Eileen Schofield, who is also principal solicitor at Schofield & Associates, said; “I truly believe in working together to empower each other across the professions to succeed in our career goals and objectives, and building relationships is vital to this.

“We can learn so much from other people’s knowledge and experience that can help us both in our careers and our personal lives. Attending events like this, joining industry groups or becoming members of a governing body or taking up a non-exec role, are all excellent ways to, not only learn new skills and meet new people, but also contribute to the success of others.”

Sharon Walton, who has worked at Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors and GE Commercial Finance, said: “These events bring a great networking environment and an opportunity to share what has worked well for each of us and how we moved forward when things didn’t go the right way.

“There is an increasing amount of pressure on professionals to succeed in their careers, and as a parent, as a partner and all other areas of their life. That is why it is really important that individuals define their own success. By doing so, we not only become much happier with our achievements and feel life is more balanced but most importantly we become confident, enabling us to take those steps to reaching our full potential.”