Lucy Brazier is CEO of Marcham Publishing, specialist publishers of Executive Support – a global training magazine dedicated to the professional development needs of senior and aspiring administrative professionals.

Lucy is one of the world’s leading authorities on the administrative profession.

Her  passion  is  for  the  assistant  role  to  be  truly  recognised  as  a  career  and  not  just  a  job.  Her  formidable  training  expertise  and  speaking  style  have  given  her  opportunities  to train, present and chair in over 45 countries at over 400 events, including chairing the 2015 World Administrator Summit in Papua New Guinea. This has created much needed discussions from encouraging executive assistants in Blue Chip companies to work towards becoming centres of excellence within their companies to explaining why college students should see the assistant role as proper profession with a career path.

Lucy has a unique overview of the role and where it is heading. With access to the most forward thinking, passionate and knowledgeable authorities on the role in the world as well as personally meeting and speaking to literally thousands of assistants over the last seven years, Lucy’s knowledge of the market and what assistants all over the world are facing on a day-to-day basis are second to none.

Lucy’s  unique  insight  into  the  world  of  the  executive  assistants  brings  a  distinct  qual-ity  and  depth  to  her  specialist  development  programmes.  She  continuously  researches,  develops and delivers to bring the most current, innovative and challenging development programmes to support assistants in rapidly changing business environments to meet the increasing skill sets required of senior assistants.

Lucy has been a publisher and events organiser for over 29 years. Lucy previously worked as a publishing director for Wilmington PLC, and has managed a team based in Singapore, New  York,  Germany  and  London  responsible  for  13  magazines,  12  international  confer-ences, awards, trade show attendance and marketing for EMAP. Other companies worked for include: The Times, The Independent, Centaur Communications and Glass’s Guide.

Trained as a coach at Ashridge Business School in UK, I was the first Business Coach in Dubai, and have coached over 7,000 people since 1993. So I’ve been one of the senior Freelance Coaches throughout the UAE’s phenomenal rise, and have witnessed significant shifts in what’s needed from leaders and their executive assistants over the last few years. The world has changed!

My role as a Coach is to enable people to ‘Be Successful on Purpose'. So sessions with me provide a safe and inspirational space where people can expand their perspective, explore what success means to them, and then decide how to get there. It’s not rocket science, but it works really well!

I see coaching as simply a series of very helpful conversations that help get you where you want to be. So sessions quickly move you from feeling unclear about ‘where next’, to feeling focussed and confident about what you’re aiming at, and clear about how to get there. So today's session will show you how to sharpen your LinkedIn profile so it positions you completely for what’s ahead.

Style-wise, I’m extremely grounded and practical, and whilst my focus is business, I’m very holistic in approach, as it’s important to have all the key elements of your life in sync to feel truly successful. All my work is psychology in action, and my coaching is very practical. However,  I also have a master’s degree in management education, and my business experience includes 28 years as a freelance business coach, five years on the Faculty of Ashridge Business School, and 10 years in FMCG companies in UK.

After 23 years in Dubai, I moved to Ras Al Khaimah five years ago and now live surrounded by the sea. I’m a keen sports woman and adventure-traveller, and I have a 24-year old daughter who’s a tandem skydive instructor – but who is currently building an eco-house in Bulgaria.

Shailaja Khan is a former human resources manager with 20 years of experience within the corporate and consulting environments. Having worked in new and growing organisations across multiple industries, she was involved in managing several projects related to talent management and organisation development in the GCC. The depth of her professional experiences spans organisations in the creativity and innovation space such as Microsoft Gulf, Asda’a BCW, AstraZeneca Gulf, and Al Nakheel, as well as diversified family businesses, the Al Fahim Group of companies.

Today, Shailaja is an HR consultant and Executive Coach, partnering with key stakeholders in SMEs operating in the PR, healthcare, shipping, and technology sectors to provide solutions that positively impact both people and the changing business environment.

Shailaja holds an MBA, with a focus on employee relations from the University of Leicester, UK, and is an ICF credentialed coach. She is also a certified senior professional in human resources (SPHR) from the HR Certification Institute, US, a Level A and B occupational assessor from Psytech International, UK, and an instructional designer from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) India.

Reem Ahmed is an accredited relationship coach and international author who has worked with 50-plus clients as they journey towards personal transformation, relationship development, elevated self-acceptance, and lasting change.

With training in neurolinguistic programming, hypnosis, and relationship coaching, she understands her clients on a uniquely deep and empathetic level and appreciates the uniqueness of every person and their life journey as they work to create meaningful change. She works with individuals and teams as a partner and helps them release their emotional burdens, find relief, acceptance, and self-awareness to let go of frustration and help them move into brighter and much happier relationships and future.

She helps people start feeling more hopeful, calmer, and happier. They eliminate negativity and start becoming more proactive, rather than being reactive and complaining. They become more focused and positive with regard to their relationships and start making better choices.

Educator at heart, with a motto to have skill development as an indispensable part of schooling and curriculum development. Her work is to add creativity, curiosity, and innovative alternatives that promote meaningful and enjoyable learning through right pedagogy and right medium. With 12 years of experience in the field, Kinnari Kotecha has worked on various curriculum like Pearson, IPC, CIA, IB, CCEA, creative curriculum, and so on…

She has headed creative curriculum and teacher training for a group of 147 schools in India. She has been pursuing her passion for training by constantly training teachers at K.J.Somaiya College of Education and UKCBC Education Department (Dubai) and GEMS Education for NLP in education and career guidance.

Her experience as a business faculty, coordinator, Senior curriculum manager and teacher trainer helps her in proficiently creating futuristic design with curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy.

To enhance her expertise in that area she has been writing her research on ‘Emotional and social intelligence competency in high school students that are future ready workforce’. She believes self-aware individuals who knows how to manage themselves and relationship with self and others have successful professional as well as personal life.

Lina El-Assaad is an accomplished Executive, Leadership and Team coach, and Corporate Facilitator. She is certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), where she currently serves as the President of the largest chapter of the MENA region, the ICF UAE Chapter.

With over 20 years of practical corporate experience working with Fortune 500 companies in senior leadership roles, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her coaching practice and provides practical and effective coaching solutions tailored to the unique needs of each client. Lina is dedicated to empowering her clients, C-Suite executives, ministry cabinet advisors, and business professionals, to achieve their goals and reach new levels of success. She has a proven track record of helping individuals and teams overcome challenges, navigate complex situations, and achieve their full potential.

She’s a multiple award winner and holds several certifications in coaching from renowned coach training schools: Co-active, CPCC, Organization and Relationship System Coaching ORSC CRR-Global, and Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholders Centered Coaching, among others.

Lina is passionate about creating social impact and is a catalyst in creating positive change as part of her mentor role for Challenge to Change & REACH, and in her role as an Ambassador for Female Wave of Change, where she enables and empowers women on self-confidence, career developments, and transitions.

Ulrika Hedlund is a tech entrepreneur with a passion for technology and storytelling. She is the founder and managing director of Storyals, an ed-tech startup with a modern training product to help organisations inspire, motivate, and educate users on how to effectively use technology through video-based storytelling. Ulrika is a frequent blogger, public speaker, and an active spokesperson for women in IT.

Ulrika started her career in 1997 as a systems engineer at Microsoft in Sweden and in 2007 she moved to the United Arab Emirates, where she held numerous positions in Microsoft Gulf, including Enterprise Marketing Manager and Customer and Partner Experience Lead. In 2011, after finishing her MBA, she resigned from Microsoft and founded her first company – Business Productivity, a media and consulting business. Today she has multiple companies with employees in four countries.

Ulrika has a Master of Science (MSc) in electrical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from London Business School. Since August 2022, she has lived in Stockholm, Sweden, with her husband Peter and their three children, 11, 9, and 7 years old.