My first steps in the industry

Priya Narain - Co-Founder, Event First Steps

Grace Nelson, Jordan Lewis-Pryde, Benedicta Asante

Coming into the industry for the first time, either from an event management studies background or fresh from another industry is an eye-opening experience. 4 new starters to the industry share their experiences and talk about how reality differs from the textbook.

​

Event First Steps

The Event First Steps initiative works to help industry newcomers of all ages and abilities to build their networks, learn from industry heavyweights and forge their own career path. It was formed when the co-founders discovered, through personal experience, that that the gap between what is taught and what it is like to work in the events industry is huge. They understood that taking the first steps in the events sector is daunting no matter age or previous experience and wanted to do something to change that through creating a community of like-minded people.

​

Priya Narain

After a career in the travel industry Priya made the transition into the world of events, primarily in sales, where she is currently the sales manager for an event catering company. Priya is one of the co-founders of Event First Steps which is an industry initiative aimed at encouraging newcomers to the industry to find their own career path. As a collective they are passionate about routes into the industry, visibility of the entire industry and diversity.

​

Grace Nelson

Grace is currently the Events and Marketing coordinator for a London based company. Grace has been working within this role since the beginning of the year, after graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2019 with a degree in Events Management. During her time at University, Grace continued to stay pro-active within the industry by completing a placement overseas in the United States and working part time within an events function team during her final year in Manchester.

Now that Grace has been furloughed, she has used her time productively to publish her own blog, grow her social media platforms within the events industry and has inspired recent graduates from her own University.  

​

Benedicta Asante

Benedicta is a recent graduate and venue sourcing specialist at American Express Global Business Travel. She has been in the events industry in both professional and freelance roles for 6 years. Benedicta is passionate about community and empowering young professionals across the globe.

​

Jordan Lewis-Pryde

With a First-Class BA (Hons) in Tourism and Events Management from University of Westminster, Jordan is an experienced Event Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the events and music industry. From working in major stadiums across London to working in the wedding industry at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, she has been committing the last 4 years to Ministry of Sound working on both corporate events and live music events. She has also been involved with the development of transforming the brand to Ministry Venues whereby an additional 3 venues were acquired in order to become both a venue consortium and events management agency.