Talking to my Younger Self

Brett Jacobson started Mediaworks in 2007 when he was fresh out of university. Headquartered in the North East, it’s a full-service digital agency. Over the past two years, Mediaworks has opened offices in Leeds, Edinburgh  and Manchester, and doubled headcount to 200 people.

Michael operates as an Investment Director, overseeing a portfolio of investments, and as the Head of Corporate Finance for Together, the UK’s largest non-bank lender. Specialising in high-value partnerships and strategic opportunities, his extensive career spans both large and small advisory businesses, latterly holding directorships across financial services and technology businesses. A Chartered Accountant by training and originally from Manchester, Michael lived in France during his formative years and has also worked professionally in London. Known for his straightforward and commercial approach, he boasts a strong track record in equity and debt-funded M&A transactions within the small to mid-market deals space and has worked with several of the UK’s fastest-growing companies.

Sam Booth is Co-Chief Exec of pro-manchester, the growth network that brings together ambitious businesses across Greater Manchester to connect, develop and shape the future of the city region.

Sam leads the organisation’s outward-facing agenda, building strong relationships across the region and working closely with partners, members and stakeholders to understand where the biggest opportunities are for business. She brings an external perspective to pro-manchester’s work, helping to identify what matters now, where momentum is building, and how the organisation can create the right conditions for collaboration, growth and influence.

Alongside Co-Chief Exec Nicola McCormick, Sam is part of a leadership model that breaks from tradition. Together, they lead pro-manchester through a shared, collaborative approach that reflects the organisation’s belief in community, support and creating opportunity together. As two women leading side by side, they are proud to be showing that in Manchester, leadership can look different – and stronger – when it is built on partnership.

Sam has been at pro-manchester for 17 years and has been an integral part of its growth. A firm part of the Manchester business community, Sam is a familiar face to most, constantly and efficiently working to bring businesses together in the city region.

Sam also sits on the board of trustees for Forever Manchester, a charity that supports community activity across Greater Manchester. As well as this, Sam also sits on the Greater Manchester Economic Resilience Board, the Greater Manchester Organisational Representatives Group, the Manchester Business Sounding Board, the Bee Net Zero Advisory Board and the Manchester tech hub Board.  In 2019 Sam also became the Regional Deputy Chair of TheCityUK, where she helps to engage the national body on a regional level on behalf of individuals in the financial and professional services industries.

Kirsty Collin is Global Head of CRM and Lead of Women at Gleeds, where she is actively involved in championing inclusion, particularly for women, working parents and neurodivergent individuals.

Kirsty brings both a workplace and client‑side perspective to conversations about how work is designed, experienced and delivered.

Since becoming a mother in 2010, Kirsty has navigated first‑hand the complexities of balancing career and parenthood, a journey further shaped in recent years by discovering her own neurodivergence and her children’s. These experiences have deepened her commitment to creating more inclusive workplace cultures that better reflect the realities faced by both employees and clients.

Kirsty believes that workplaces still aren’t designed with parents or neurodivergent minds in mind, and that honest conversations about the hidden and visible juggle are essential for meaningful, lasting change.