Who You Know: The power of networks to build your business

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Your network can make or break your business.

Join us live in Birmingham at our FREE Be the Business #StriveUK networking event for ethnic minority business owners.

To hear more about our participation in the Strive UK initiative and for more information on our upcoming events, subscribe to our fortnightly Striving Forward newsletter here.

Date: Tuesday 11th October

Time: 5pm to 8pm

Venue: Legacy Centre of Excellence – 144 Potters Lane, Birmingham B6 4UU

Hear from our exciting speakers, meet new people, enjoy tasty food and drink and get ready to build your own powerful business network!

Follow us on social @BetheBusiness

Share your thoughts and network before, during and after the event – #BtBWhoYouKnow

Byron Dixon OBE (Keynote Speaker) – Founder & CEO at Micro-Fresh

Byron began his career as a lab technician, developing leather finishing products for ECCO in Denmark. He returned to the UK to launch Corium Solutions in 2001.

Byron’s breakthrough anti-fungal leather treatment on sofas developed into the Micro-Fresh® brand in 2006. 15 years later, Micro-Fresh® is the go-to brand for innovation and freshness in products.

Today, Micro-Fresh® can be seen in major retailers across the world, incorporated into a wide variety of products from footwear to baby bedding.

Indi Deol – Founding Director DESIblitz, UK’s largest online British Asian magazine

Indi is the Founding Director of the UK’s largest online British Asian magazine DESIblitz where he leads on advertising, leadership development and strategic business growth.

He also runs Aidem Digital CIC, a Social Enterprise and digital media agency focused on delivering projects that produce a positive social return.

Indi sits on the board for Culture Central, the collective voice of the cultural sector in the West Midlands, the advisory board of Aston University Business School, and the West Midland Combined Authority Cultural Leadership Board.

He is also a Consultant for the BFI Film Audience Network.

Zamiha Desai – Founding Director of RecommendAsian and ProfessionalAsian online communities

Zamiha refers to herself as an "accidental entrepreneur". In April 2016, Zamiha started a Facebook Group, RecommendAsian, as a place to share ideas, tips and recommendations on Asian lifestyle with her friends.

The group launched with 219 Asian women members. Today the online community has grown to over 70,000 members, and the sister group, ProfessionalAsian (for both women and men), has over 80,000 members.

Both groups are focused on Asian lifestyles and are affectionately referred to as “the Asian Google” where you can find everything Asian-related – from advice to gifts to products and services.

Mildred Talabi – LinkedIn Personal Branding Coach, Speaker & Trainer / Networks Development Manager, Be the Business

Mildred Talabi is a LinkedIn Personal Branding Coach, Speaker and Trainer who specialises in helping women build authentic and impactful personal brands, through being visible on LinkedIn. She is a 4x published author and the founder of Visible Women Tribe - a global membership community for high-achieving women in business and leadership.

At Be the Business, Mildred oversees the #StriveUK programme with the remit of providing free business support to business owners from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Your host:

Chris Donnelly – Dancer, Presenter & Host

Chris has been in the performance industry over 15 years as a dancer, presenter and host, and more recently as an actor and model.

He is renowned for his energetic style and has performed on many stages including on X-Factor as a background dancer for Cheryl Cole, and on Britain’s Got Talent in George Sampson’s comeback performance.

Chris (and his friend Wesley Clack) were crowned the champions of Sky’s Got To Dance reality TV show in 2011, after wowing judges and audiences over two auditions and three live performances.

Host or Publisher Be the Business