NextGen Talks

We were delighted to speak to Paul Edwards, Head of Legal and Chair of the Pride Alliance network at FTSE 100 company British Land. In this podcast, Paul discusses his career to date, and how being an out gay man and first in his family to go to university has helped to shape his career. We also discuss the importance of meaningful diversity and inclusion initiatives within the workplace and what we, as future leaders, can do to support positive change.   About Paul Edwards Paul Edwards is the Head of Legal at FTSE 100 company British Land. Previously a private practice lawyer with Hogan Lovells, Paul joined British Land in 2018, as a senior Legal Counsel before being becoming the Head of Legal in 2019. Paul is the Chair of British Land’s Pride Alliance and, as well as being an experienced lawyer, is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion within the workplace.  

We were delighted to speak to Ian Leman, who specialises in influence and unlocking high performance in individuals, using his experience and expertise from defence liaison operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. In this thought-provoking podcast, we discuss how to achieve high performance and how to overcome challenges and failure to perform better. We also explore techniques that can be applied to influence others effectively and help to lead a team. About Ian Leman Ian spent 12 years in the UK military, where he completed three tours of Afghanistan, leading elite teams on human intelligence operations. He also spent time as a senior leadership instructor in the military training future leaders. Since leaving the military, Ian has advised global sports teams and FTSE 100 companies on, among other things, how to perform better and how to gain a competitive advantage.

We had the pleasure of speaking to former competitive diver and Olympic silver medallist, Leon Taylor, on the pivotal and highly topical issue of mental health and well-being. As we slowly transition back to some sort of “normality”, everyone will be feeling different levels of anxiety, concern and stress. So how can we manage some of the challenges we may face during this transition period and beyond? How can we support one another through this process? And what lessons from the pandemic will help shape how we live and work in future, and to improve our mental well-being? In this insightful conversation, Leon provides some positive, practical advice and guidance on these important topics. About Leon TaylorAfter 20 years in elite sport, Leon has gone on to become the BBC’s “Voice of Diving” and he is now a valued mentor to Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In addition, he coaches corporate clients and delivers workshops on a variety of high performance topics. He combines mentoring and high performance experience with a passion for mental wellness.

We had the pleasure of talking to Anthony Lavers, who reflects on his career of “two halves”, from academic researcher to sustainability consultant and now sustainability manager for a FTSE100 company. He also shares some of Taylor Wimpey’s ongoing sustainability initiatives, reflects on the role of the construction industry in promoting similar initiatives and offers small steps we can all take in our everyday lives to support the sustainability agenda.

In our first episode, we had the pleasure of talking to Anna Pinder, who shares her inspiring career journey, from chef to food entrepreneur to Head of Food at Gousto. Anna reflects on her career highlights as well as some of the challenges she has faced along the way and gives us insight into what it’s like to work for a successful and fast-growing start-up, especially during a global pandemic. Anna also discusses how Gousto approach sustainability and inclusion.

In the third episode of Season 3 of our NextGen Talks podcast series, we were delighted to speak to Carla Simas, Legal Director for Latin America of Haleon – a world-leading consumer health company headquartered in the UK. In this episode, we cover the challenges posed by gender inequality and how we can address them to create a better environment for our next generation of leaders. Women are still in a significantly weaker labour market position than men across all OECD countries, despite considerable improvements over the last few decades.  This not only goes against basic notions of fairness, but incurs significant economic costs by not fully utilising women’s human capital.  This podcast covers Carla’s lived experience in Brazil and the UK, and touches on the wider implications across the world.  

In the second episode of Season 3 of our NextGen Talks podcast series, we are delighted to bring you our first transatlantic collaboration. Our guest is Ian Brownlee, the former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Ian’s career in the US State Department spanned a remarkable 30 year period, and on this podcast he talks about: his experiences in the US State Department, including some career highlights and anecdotes; the ‘arc of leadership’, and how he moved from being a doer, to a manager, to a leader as his career developed; the importance of relationships (both professional and personal) and how getting those relationships right is integral to a successful career.

In the first episode of Season 3 of our NextGen Talks podcast series, we were delighted to speak to Seng Choon Koh, founder of Dignity Kitchen, a social enterprise that aims to restore dignity to the differently-abled and disadvantaged through culinary training and vocation with passion. Dignity Kitchen currently operates in Hong Kong and Singapore. In this podcast, Seng Choon: describes the inspirational mission of Dignity Kitchen; explains how his diverse background led him to start a social enterprise; reflects on how to overcome challenges both in our professional and non-professional lives; offers thoughts as to how the NextGen community can give back through volunteering; and talks about his exciting future plans for Dignity Kitchen.   About Seng Choon Koh Before starting Dignity Kitchen in 2010, Seng Choon worked in engineering and consultancy roles, spending many years abroad in the UK, India and China. Seng Choon was most recently awarded a Champion of Change Award as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 programme.     About NextGen Talks Mayer Brown's NextGen Talks podcast explores key themes and issues, such as the future of work, next generation leadership, sustainability, well-being and more, with special guests from various industries and sectors.   Podcast speakers Seng Choon Koh, Founder of Dignity Kitchen Wei Na Sim, Counsel, Mayer Brown James Ford, Senior Associate, Mayer Brown Jason Leung, Senior Associate, Mayer Brown

In this fourth and final episode of Season 2, we were delighted to speak to Greg Bateman, a professional rugby player with the Welsh club Dragons and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the craft brewing company with a difference, People’s Captain. In this podcast, Greg discusses his rugby career to date, and the mental health journey that he went on that led to him founding the People’s Captain. Greg and Chris then explore the concept of mental fitness, and the importance of having open conversations about mental wellbeing. About Greg BatemanGreg Bateman is a professional rugby player who currently plays for Dragons. Greg started his career at London Welsh, followed by spells at Exeter Chiefs and Leicester Tigers. Alongside rugby, Greg founded the People’s Captain in 2018, and the company and its sister foundation – The People’s Captain Foundation, combine Greg’s love of craft beer with a passion for mental health advocacy.

We were delighted to speak to Jon Van Gorp, Chair of Mayer Brown. In this podcast, Jon discusses his own career path from before the law to becoming chair of an international law firm and provides insights into the role of a senior leader at an international organisation. Jon also shares his thoughts on effective leadership, the future of work and the power of networks like NextGen, and offers some fantastic tips on how we – the Next Generation – can already serve as effective leaders in our current roles.   About Jon Van Gorp Jon Van Gorp is the chair of Mayer Brown. Jon has served on the firm’s Management Committee since 2017 and previously served as a co-leader of the Banking & Finance, Capital Markets and Structured Finance practices. He has practiced continuously for more than 20 years at Mayer Brown. Jon is a passionate advocate for the NextGen initiative.  

We were delighted to speak to Andrew Griffiths, whose work with Planet Mark and the Institute of Directors supports people and businesses towards reaching meaningful sustainability goals. In this podcast, Andrew breaks down what it means to be sustainable, explains exactly what is COP26 and what it is trying to achieve, as well as discussing growing trends such as the impact of greenwashing on our progress towards achieving sustainability.   About Andrew Griffiths Andrew Griffiths is Director of Community & Partnerships at Planet Mark and Chair of the Institute of Director’s National Sustainability Taskforce. Andrew harnesses the power of community to mobilise people around social causes. Alongside his current roles with Planet Mark and the IOD, Andrew is a founder of Sustaineers – a community movement to support people to drive change within organisations – and is an advisory board member to the Global Sustainability Film Awards, alongside a number of other projects, each with community and mobilisation at their core.