IWD: #EmbracingEquity with Helen Tupper

“I’m a big believer in challenging your limits, rather than limiting your challenges and never letting other people set those limits for you”

Who is Helen Tupper what do they do? 

I am Helen Tupper, CEO of Amazing If – a company on a mission to make squiggly careers better for everyone. My squiggly career has included leadership and Marketing roles for Virgin, and working across sales, innovation, marketing, customer insight and now career development.

The theme for this year’s IWD is ‘Embracing Equity’. Have you ever faced any challenges with equity in your career or outside of work? If so, how did you overcome this?

I’ve witnessed ‘inequitable’ conversations about people at work. At times, I was confident enough to pause the conversation and address my concerns and at times I struggled to speak up. Some of my biggest career regrets come from those situations where I didn’t speak up. I think one of the most important things we can do is to create cultures where people can speak up and address biases and behaviours that get in the way of equity at work.

As a successful female leader in your industry, what do you feel most passionate about in terms of equity and equality in the workplace?

I believe that development should be democratised. That, regardless of your level or role, you should be able to access the support you need to succeed in your squiggly career. It’s why we create and share so many free career development tools (people can access our free career toolkit here: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/)

What is your biggest achievement to date? One you talk about proudly to inspire others. 

I’m proud of the difficult decisions I’ve made about my development. The decision to leave a culture that didn’t work for me, despite the company looking so good on my CV. The decision to start a side project when people were cynical about my ability to keep it going. The commitment to complete my MBA with 2 young children and a full-time job. I’m a big believer in challenging your limits, rather than limiting your challenges and never letting other people set those limits for you.

Lastly, what advice would you give to anyone reading this who may be facing similar challenges but wants to develop their personal and/or professional skills?

Think about what you really want to stand for, then reflect on what makes you stand out and whom you can stand with that helps you learn, improve and stay energised.

– Helen Tupper, CEO of Amazing If