Women make up 77% of the global events workforce, yet hold only 16% of leadership roles. The imbalance is well known, but the women driving this industry forward are still too often overlooked.
The 70% is a weekly series dedicated to changing that. Each instalment profiles a woman whose work, insight, and ambition shape the events sector – from emerging talent to established leaders. Through their stories, we explore the pathways, challenges, and perspectives defining what leadership looks like today.
This week, we meet Phoebe Cherry, director and co-founder of Strive Events Agency.
How many years have you been in the events industry?
After 3 or 4 years of what I call ‘unofficially’ working in events; including hospitality roles and organising university events, I landed my first official role in the industry back in 2011, so I’ve been working in the industry for 15 years now. I started in producer and project management roles before quickly moving into leadership, and then founding Strive in 2021.
How do you balance professional growth with personal commitments and do you think the industry is evolving in terms of work-life balance?
Something I was too scared to do in my 20s was say “no” to things. I wanted to solve every problem and prove myself so badly that I’d say yes to everything that came my way. I sacrificed more and more of my personal time, ultimately creating a cycle of burnout. Over time, I slowly gained confidence and started to recognise that saying “I don’t have capacity for that” could actually benefit me, personally and professionally. I think the industry is definitely evolving in terms of work-life balance, we’re collectively learning what boundaries are, how to say no, and the younger generation these days are far better than we were back then.
How do you see the events industry evolving in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion?
From when I started in the industry to right now, I’ve seen a lot of positive movement towards a more inclusive industry. There’s always more to be done and, in terms of gender equality, I still occasionally hear stories from women in the industry about unconscious bias and remarks about being “too emotional.” I’m really proud to have an entirely female team at Strive and I love proving day-in, day-out that women in events are shit-hot at what they do.
What advice would you give to young women looking to enter and succeed in the events industry?
I would advise everyone to back themselves. There is a lack of confidence generally that can hold people back, especially women. I think so many people make the mistake of thinking there is a wrong/right answer in events, but often there isn’t a hard and fast ‘right way’ to do something.
So back yourself, use your intuition, trust a good gut feeling and a dose of common sense and just do the thing. I would also say it’s really important to be curious about as many different areas of the industry as possible; go in the kitchens and learn about catering, go to the tech desk and badger your crew for knowledge and insights, volunteer at events or for yourself, so shake off any shame. Instead, fix it.
Ask yourself why it happened and then implement ways of working to prevent it happening again. Every mistake makes you smarter, stronger and more quick-thinking. So have compassion for yourself and, if you’re a leader, for your team. Creating a culture where mistakes can be admitted in a safe space is so important, and we are totally different and try to learn all the time.
How do you handle setbacks and failures?
The thing about mistakes is: you will make them and continue to make them throughout your career. A saying I love is “nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems”. So remember when you make a mistake tomorrow it will feel a lot less dramatic than today, and by next week everyone will have moved on including you. What really matters is how you respond to them and learn from them. Beating yourself up over something you forgot or misjudged isn’t good for the client.
What changes do you think are still needed to create more opportunities for women in leadership?
Women shouldn’t have to become better at navigating a system that wasn’t designed for them. We should keep improving the system itself through things like flexible working and return-to-work policies.
As well as the system it’s about rethinking what leadership looks like, which I think the world is getting better at but it seems to differ company to company. Confidence, volume and assertiveness can still be mistaken for leadership potential. Empathy, collaboration, emotional intelligence and the ability to bring people with you are incredibly powerful leadership qualities too.