Climbing The Rungs – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In today’s episode I sit down with Sophie Pender, the Founder and CEO of the 93% Club. 

Before training as a solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills, Sophie grew up in a single parent household on a council estate in North London and balanced two jobs in McDonalds and John Lewis alongside her schoolwork. After becoming the first student in her school to achieve straight A*s at A level, Sophie left for the University of Bristol to study English. In her second year, Sophie founded The 93% Club, a society dedicated to improving the experience of state school students at university. Since then, The 93% Club has become a nationwide charity and is the largest network of state educated students in the UK.

Sophie was recently named a finalist in the 'Rising Star' category of the UK Social Mobility Awards and has been profiled in the BBC, ITV, LBC, The Guardian and the Telegraph for her work in this space.

In our conversation we discuss her challenging upbringing, which included her fathers battle with alcoholism and drug addiction, the class-based issues she experienced whilst at university and why she founded the 93% Club.

This is a super inspirational episode with an unequivocal future leader so be sure to listen to this episode in full!

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I sit down with Sam Friedman, Professor of Sociology at the LSE. Graduating with degrees from both the University of Edinburgh and the LSE, Sam has spent his academic career specializing in class and inequality, particularly focusing on the cultural dimensions of contemporary class division. After publishing his preeminent book “The Class Ceiling – Why It Pays To Be Privileged” Sam has quickly become one of the most well-known academics in the UK featuring in BBC documentaries, commissioning reports for the UK government and most recently being appointed to ITV’s Cultural Advisory Council.

 In our conversation we discuss a litany of topics such as Sam’s privileged upbringing and how this motivated him to explore class inequality, the differences in risk-taking between privileged and less-privileged professionals and what can be done to promote more social mobility in the UK  .

This is a really informative episode with a key social mobility influencer so I know you’ll enjoy this one.

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I speak with Avishen Thondrayen.  Avishen is a Strategy Associate at one of the Big 4 professional services firms based in London. Before entering the working world, Avishen graduated from the LSE with a degree in Economics. After university he enjoyed two gap years where he not only travelled across Asia but also enjoyed short stints in Fast Moving Consumer Goods at Kraft Heinz and Mergers & Acquisitions at Credit Suisse.

In this episode we discuss why first generation and less privileged students do not participate in extracurricular activities, the challenges Avishen faced when trying to obtain a graduate job and tips on how you can progress your career as a management consultant, which to be honest, can be applied to any profession so be sure to tune into those!

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I speak with Tolu Oke. Tolu has a wealth of cross industry experience having worked within the third sector, investment banking and management consultancy. She is a well known and experienced diversity and inclusion leader, having recently led a number of award nominated D&I programmes at Sainsburys – she was actually recognised as a Future Leader by the Ethnicity Awards last year so she knows a thing or two.

This episode is just as informative as it is entertaining because Tolu is so funny! We talk about the challenges she faced when applying to the University of Cambridge, why there is a £5000 pay gap between privileged and less privileged Oxbridge graduates and what organisations can do to support people from low socio-economic backgrounds. I know you’ll enjoy this one!

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I speak with Tolu Oke. Tolu has a wealth of cross industry experience having worked within the third sector, investment banking and management consultancy. She is a well known and experienced diversity and inclusion leader, having recently led a number of award nominated D&I programmes at Sainsburys – she was actually recognised as a Future Leader by the Ethnicity Awards last year so she knows a thing or two.

This episode is just as informative as it is entertaining because Tolu is so funny! We talk about the challenges she faced when applying to the University of Cambridge, why there is a £5000 pay gap between privileged and less privileged Oxbridge graduates and what organisations can do to support people from low socio-economic backgrounds. I know you’ll enjoy this one!

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I speak with Dr Leanne Armitage. Leanne is a qualified medical doctor and the founder of the Armitage Foundation, a charity that aims to increase diversity across UK medical schools. She has been recognised as a Queens Young Leader, a LinkedIn Top Voice and has been interviewed and profiled by a number of news outlets such as BBC Radio, Channel 4 News and the Evening Standard.

We discuss quite a few things in this episode such as the tragic event that led Leanne to pursue a career as a Doctor, why the medical profession is heavily populated with people from privileged backgrounds and how having a powerful why is the tool that can enable you to overcome any obstacle that may come your way. From our conversation you’ll quickly find that Leanne is quite the inspirational character and I’m excited for you to listen in.

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I sit down with Warren Wellington. Warren is a solicitor at a top international corporate law firm. He has experience advising domestic and international companies on a wide range of corporate transactions in particular mergers & acquisitions. He is also the co-founder and chairman of the Black British City Group, a network of Black British professionals who seek to empower the Black British community through leveraging their collective skills and resources.

Our conversation covers a number of interesting strands from our thoughts on why the poorest families tend to stay to poor, how young people from less privileged backgrounds can enter the legal profession, to the effect of social codes and unwritten rules at work. I know this episode is over an hour and you’re probably think “jheez, do I really have the time for this?”. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this one!

Aspiring Solicitors be sure to check out Simranjeet Kaur Mann here:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SimranjeetKaurMann
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simranjeetkmann/

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

In today’s episode I speak with Shauna Bull. Shauna is a Regional Account Manager at LinkedIn based in Singapore. She is one of LinkedIn’s top sales talent, having won a place at LinkedIn’s Presidents Club in 2019, an award for the top 10% of sales people at LinkedIn globally. This comes as no surprise though as she was recognised as the WeAreTheCity Rising Star in Sales winner in 2017.

In our conversation we discuss her upbringing in the east end of London, how travelling can build your cultural capital and the intersectionality of class and gender. Shauna is super humble yet fiercely driven so I know you’ll find this episode interesting!

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***

Climbing The Rungs is a social mobility podcast that aims to inspire young people from less advantaged backgrounds to achieve career success and raise awareness of issues related to socio-economic background. Here is a short preview of what you can expect from Climbing The Rungs. The first three episodes launch on Wednesday 24 February so be sure to subscribe to be the first to listen in!

In today’s episode I sit down with Joe Seddon. Joe is the Founder and CEO of Zero Gravity, a tech startup which mentors students from low-income backgrounds into the UK’s best universities and careers. Launched from his bedroom in West Yorkshire, Joe has grown Zero Gravity from a student bedroom startup into one of the UK’s leading social mobility organisations. In 2020, Zero Gravity mentored 1000+ low-income students into highly-selective universities, including 151 students into Oxbridge. Last year, Joe was named as one of the Top 10 Young Digital Leaders in the UK by Lloyd’s Bank, and his work with Zero Gravity has been recognised with a social impact award from the Prime Minister.

In our conversation we discuss a range of topics such as the north/south divide in opportunities in the UK, why so few students from the poorest households get into top universities and how Zero Gravity is disrupting the social mobility space. This is a really informative episode so lets get straight into it!

Check out Zero Gravity here:
Website: https://www.zerogravity.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinzg/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joinzg/

***Please note that the views shared in this podcast by the speakers are personal and do not represent their respective employers.***