𝙁𝙄 𝙀𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚10𝙩𝙝 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣’𝙨 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩

𝙁𝙄 𝙀𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚 30 | 10𝙩𝙝 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣’𝙨 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩 | 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨 2025

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨, 6 𝘼𝙈 - 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨. Walking through Paris in the early morning, I made my way to the 𝙁𝙄 𝙀𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣’𝙨 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩. I arrived in time to find a good place in the room, a conference space opening toward the Eiffel Tower… the city waking slowly.

As women from across the food industry filled the space, the atmosphere shifted. Curiosity, experience, and purpose began weaving new connections even before the panel started.

A sip of coffee… and the conversation opened.

✨ 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

The discussion, guided with clarity by Francesca Berry, brought together

Mayka van Acht, Grace Bryan, Claire Brumby, Mathilde Do Chi, LL.M., and Lu Ann Williams - each offering a perspective shaped by experience, intuition, and purpose.

During the discussion, 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗸𝗮 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝘁, we addressed the power of saying yes in the early stages of your journey - and how those choices reveal both what energises you and what doesn’t. Learning to say no, she noted, often becomes the more complex skill, yet essential as we refine our direction.

Mayka reflected on resilience - recognising when your energy is depleted, understanding what helps you reset, and staying grounded in who you are while leading others. She also spoke about stepping into new challenges, like public speaking, and how these skills strengthen over time. Her book recommendations, 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙔𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙍𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙐𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙂𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙣 𝘿𝙤𝙮𝙡𝙚, offered practical guidance on courage and reinvention.

Mayka closed with a thought that stayed with many of us: “𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 - 𝙖 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙙𝙤𝙢.”

𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙮 added a powerful reflection from her entrepreneurial journey. In her early years building a food business, she often said “yes” to too many things - sometimes out of hope or possibility - and later felt the consequences of decisions that weren’t fully aligned.

With experience, intuition became her compass. Claire now asks one essential question:𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 - 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙩?

If it isn’t a wholehearted yes, she explores what lies underneath: fear, a boundary, a past lesson, or a misalignment with values or direction. Claire’s message was clear and grounded: 

𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚.

Another shared insight touched on the power of listening - not to respond, but to truly understand. A subtle shift that deepens connection and shapes how we lead.

✨ 𝘼 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

Each participant received a signed copy of Claire Brumby’s book, The Winning Mix - a thoughtful way to end a morning built on shared experience.

Later that day, I joined the 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙉𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙇𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝 & 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙄 𝙀𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚’𝙨 30𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 2025 - a moment to reflect on broader industry directions and on my own 30 years in the global food world.

But that story belongs to another post…the following menu of the day - the Lunch & Learn I stayed for.

✨ As we are in PARIS…

𝙅𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙧è𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣 𝙙’𝙖𝙣𝙣é𝙚, 𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙝è𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡è𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨.𝙒𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧.

🎬 In the video below, a glimpse of the panel in motion, the photo: a moment with Francesca Berry, who guided the morning’s discussion.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/25160e_a9327efec1124799b65321bac6f6fef2/720p/mp4/file.mp4