JANE EVANS. CO-FOUNDER & HEAD OF VISIBLE CREATORS
Jane is one of the most successful female creatives of her era. She was a regional Creative director for JWT, won a swag of awards and created campaigns that still run after 30 years. She’s most famous for creating James Squire, Australia’s top selling craft beer before there were craft beers. But in her fifties she found herself completely invisible to the advertising industry. Her immediate reaction was, “If I can become invisible, what hope do other women have?” It was the first time in her career where she had no clients or briefs so she made midlife women her client and brief to change the narrative for all of us.
JACQUIE DUCKWORTH CO-FOUNDER & HEAD OF VISIBLE START
Jacquie has spent most of her career in media - working across mainstream consumer magazines, national press, digital and events. In 2018 she launched ‘Financially Fabulous’ an initiative with Hearst Magazines where she learned the horror stories of midlife women’s finances. A year later she teamed up with Jane to achieve their goal of unleashing the power of midlife women. Jacquie leads our Visible Start course with empathy, inspiration and a kick up the bum when needed. She is passionate about growing this opportunity for thousands more women in all industries and sectors.
CAROL RUSSELL CO-AUTHOR INVISIBLE TO INVALUABLE
Carol and Jane met at the National Film and Television school on a television writing course and became close friends. They have a strict rule that they don’t answer the phone to each other unless they both have two hours to spare. So when Jane had the first germ of an idea for Visible Inc, Carol was her creative partner in bringing it to life. The manifest they wrote turned into a book - Invisible to Invaluable: Unleashing the power of midlife women. Caro; is a BAFTA nominated screenwriter, her latest work was on Lenny Henry’s ‘Three Little Birds’ and she’s our head of film for Visible Creators.
MARIA DALEY MARKETING MANAGER
Maria had a successful and exciting career working in media publishing – both magazine and newspapers which she loved. Outside of work she also managed unsigned bands on the London music circuit. 15 years ago she made the pivotal decision to hit pause and take a career break to raise her three children. In her parental role she developed a lot of additional, transferable skills – like conflict management, and prioritising workloads in an ever-changing environment and often having to creatively think outside of the box! This journey ignited a passion within her for supporting fellow midlife women in their professional journey. She believes in the immense value that midlife women bring to the table, and the transformative impact they can have when given the opportunity. She’s on a mission to help educate business of the benefits and commercial upside of integrating midlife women at all levels in their workplace.
SARAH BROWNE - TECH GURU
Sarah Browne, also known as the "Guru of New", is a seasoned CMO, innovation strategist and recent graduate of Oxford's AI Programme. Her mission is to demystify AI, particularly for midlife women, encouraging them to "hack the hype" and tap into its massive potential. A serial entrepreneur and digital pioneer since her days as a partner at America Online's legendary Greenhouse incubator, Sarah excels in ideation plus transforming concepts into market-ready products. After winning the Assistant Engineering Challenge, she is currently building a customised AI agent for her upcoming Future Finder app which will help answer the blazing question: "Who will you be next?"
MAUREEN ANDERSON - MENOPAUSE & RELATIONSHIPS CONSULTANT
Maureen is a vital member on all our planning teams. She is a Parenting Consultant and Director of Parent Lab - supporting people navigating the stresses and confusing times of parenthood. She is the founder of MAMM (Melanin and Menopause Moments), the host of the Black Menopause Collective and The Kitchen Table (set up in 2020 after losing both parents) – she describes herself as an adult orphan who is fortunate to be in a position to support people, encouraging them to come together to talk about, to share and to learn from practitioners in various fields about how best to manage their menopause experiences or their grief journey. Oh she’s also a mother of one, a grandma of three, an aunt of 30 and a mummy of this very cute fur baby.
SONIA COTTAM VISIBLE START COMMUNITY MANAGER
Sonia is our living, breathing proof of the power of transferable skills. A mother of two who devoted two decades to raising her children, she was a member of Visible Start’s first cohort. We immediately recognised Sonia's planning skills (she had her Christmas decorations all sorted and installed by early November!) and since then she has been our community manager. After years away from the workforce, Sonia has discovered a newfound passion for helping others through her role at Visible Start. With a heart for empowering women, she now assists fellow women in finding fulfilling new opportunities, leveraging her own journey as inspiration. And they love her for it!