SHS alumna Katherine, who learned to row on the River Severn, set a new Atlantic crossing world record alongside teammates Hatty Carder and Bobbie Mellor, completing the “World’s Toughest Row” in 40 days 10 hours and 51 minutes. Katherine took on the challenge to show her three young children that “ordinary people” can do extraordinary things and to fundraise to protect those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Jessie Reid’s folk-influenced, percussive fingerstyle guitar playing has drawn comparisons with the likes of Ben Howard, Newton Faulkner, Lucy Rose and Nick Mulvey. Her latest singles have amassed over five million streams.

Jessie received the 2021 ‘Artist of the Year’ award from BBC Introducing in Shropshire and has been named ‘Artist to Watch in 2022’ by Atwood Magazine. She was long listed for the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition in 2019 and has travelled as far as New York and Brazil in the promotion of her debut singles.

At Glastonbury 2024 she was given a spot on the acoustic stage.

Dr Alice Bunn OBE is the Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and previously International Director at the UK Space Agency, responsible for increasing the UK’s global influence in science, security and trade through space.

Alice was one of the first women to win at Marie Claire’s Women at the Top Awards in 2014. She joked at the time that, ‘in a room full of testosterone, you need a bit of oestrogen’. She is an advocate for getting women into STEM, and is deeply committed to supporting the progression and visibility of women in such a male-dominated field. Alice has championed flexible working over the last 10 years, working part-time in order to spend time with her 4 children whilst also delivering senior leadership roles at national and international levels.

Alice has been involved in programmes to encourage students to engage with space missions and last year, delivered a TEDx talk on cooperation and leadership in the space industry.

In addition to her day job, Alice is the first female vice chair of the Council of the European Space Agency, co-chair of the World Economic Forum council on space technologies, member of the board of the US space foundation, and fellow and council member of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

We were delighted when Dr Bunn was our guest speaker at Speech Day and formally opened our new Junior School on Town Walls in September 2021.

For 10 years, Deborah Lloyd was the Chief Creative Officer at Kate Spade, responsible for overseeing design, store design, and creative marketing. Deborah joined the company in 2007 and made it the iconic brand that it is today.  Deborah Lloyd was a pupil at Shrewsbury High school until 1977. Whilst at school, she started her first job selling jeans at Jean Genie.

Deborah then went to Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, London, followed by the Royal College of Art where she gained a distinction. She worked as a fashion designer for many leading international companies.

Her big break was as Vice President of Women’s design at Burberry responsible for the reinvention of a classic heritage brand. After five years she was headhunted to become creative director of Banana Republic in New York when she moved to Kate Spade to become President and Chief Creative Officer.

Her advice for the current girls is to be tenacious. To stand out from the crowd and have a point of view. To always do your homework before meeting people. To have pride in your work – if something is worth doing, do it to the very best of your ability. To always be gracious. And smile, it will get you so much further!

In the autumn of 2022 Deborah returned to Shrewsbury High School to hold a Q and A with our students and was Special Guest at our Whole School Arts Show at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.

Professor Dame Mary Beard is an English scholar and classicist. Professor Beard has been described by Paul Laity of the Guardian as “Britain’s best-known classicist”.

At the age of eighteen, Professor Beard won a place at Newnham College, Cambridge. Whilst in her first year at university, Beard found that some of her male peers still held very dismissive attitudes regarding the academic potential of women, which only strengthened her determination to succeed and developed her feminist views.

Mary Beard is a committed and vocal feminist and is the of ‘Women & Power: A Manifesto’. In this book, Mary revisits the gender agenda and shows how history has treated powerful women. In 115 pages, Beard traces the roots of misogyny to Athens and Rome.

Mary is a Sunday Times Bestseller who has written 18 books. Many of her books are about classics. Examples include, ‘Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures and Innovations’ and ‘SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome’.

Professor Beard also writes a blog, A Don’s Life, about her work, current affairs and offers advice to others on topics like the Extended Project Qualification.

High School alumna Ella Cope founded Della Yellow after graduating from Imperial College London. The London based company provides a bespoke customisation service for clothes that people no longer wear.

The businesses popularity is in part thanks to it’s commitment to sustainability. In July 2022, Ella was named in international sustainable lifestyle magazine Sublime’s Top 5 Female Ecopreneurs for 2022.

At the age of 11 Emilie wrote a letter to her mum saying that she wanted to become Valentino Rossi’s Crew Chief. Nearly 20 years later, and mechanical engineer Emilie Weaving is still chasing her dream, fingers wrapped firmly around the throttle. Her journey has taken her along some unexpected roads and through some sharp life corners.  Emilie feels grateful for the teaching she went on to receive at Shrewsbury High School, where she developed strong Maths and Science skills and the ability to be analytical, curious, organised and disciplined.

Isobel Shields was employed as secretary to Lord Reith, the first man to run the BBC, back in 1923.

She was known for wearing a monocle and for being tough and forthright when required and whose “quiet advice influenced the mighty Reith on many occasions.”

Isobel was a pupil at SHS from 1909-1916 before going on to study Medieval Languages at Girton College, Cambridge in 1921. Girton was the UK’s first residential institution offering university-level education for women.

Professor Kate Hendry is a Chemical Oceanographer who explores the deep sea, from the Arctic to the Antarctic! As well as a chemical oceanographer, Kate is a Palaeoclimatologist which means she studies of past climates. Paleoclimatology is crucial in helping us to understand climate change today. Diving deep into the abyss, there are biological systems that live away from the light, which people have only just begun to explore. Dr Kate Hendry is one of those people!

Kate left Shrewsbury High School to study an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. After that, she carried out a doctorate in Antarctic biogeochemistry at Oxford University. Following that, Kate worked for 18 months at Oxford after completing her thesis as a postdoctoral research associate, before moving to the US for over two years as a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Research Institution.

Kate moved back to the UK, initially as a Research Lecturer at Cardiff University, then as a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Bristol. She has published over 40 well-cited, peer-reviewed papers, with over 700 citations. Professor Hendry works at the British Antarctic Survey and made the very successful maiden scientific voyage of the RRS Sir David Attenborough in the Southern Ocean, where she was co-chief scientific officer, heading up a team with majority female polar scientists – particularly notable when you consider how recently polar science was more or less exclusively male.

At the age of 15, Amy Williams went to do work experience at an advertising agency and was inspired by the way that the team worked together to solve complex business problems. Fast forward to today and she is the founder and CEO of the ethical marketing company Good-Loop.

Amy left Shrewsbury High School in 2010, with 11 GCSE’s and 4 As at A-level, to continue her studies at the University of Warwick where she achieved a First Class Honours Degree in Psychology.

6 years after her first work experience placement, Amy graduated and emerged into the world of marketing and advertisement. Amy worked for Oglivy as part of a graduate programme after doing an internship there. During that time, she worked for British Airways managing campaigns across the UK and Ireland, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

But she didn’t stop there! Amy noticed that the more she learnt about the industry, the more she started to feel that the brands were disconnected from the customers. She sensed that it was time for a positive solution. So, alongside her co-founder, Daniel Winterstien, she launched Good-Loop.

Good-Loop aims to connect people, brands and good causes in more meaningful and effective ways. They turn advertising money into charitable donations. The company is partnered with charities like Water Aid and Save the Children.

After only a few months, they received backing from the biggest adtech startup accelerator in London and gained investment from a whole host of specialised and connected investors. Amy hopes to continue to drive Good-Loop forward and make online advertising more effective, more rewarding and more ethical.

Amy has also been named as one of Forbes 30 under 30 as well as being one of the UN Women’s 100 Leading Global Female innovators. Amy spoke at our Speech Day in 2019 where she talked about the importance of being resilient which is a trait she had to develop whilst trying to set up Good-Loop. Amy told everyone that you shouldn’t let rejections stop you from achieving your goals because she certainly didn’t and look at where she is now!

In 2023 Amy moved to New York to grow her business in the US market.

Emma Jones CBE is a business expert and best-selling author of business books such as Working 5 to 9 and The StartUp Kit. Emma is the founder of Enterprise Nation. She launched the company back in 2005 and, since then, it has grown to be a community of over 75,000 people, all of whom have been able to start and grow their businesses.

Following a degree in Law and Japanese, Emma joined international accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where she worked in their London, Leeds and Manchester offices and set up the firm’s Inward Investment practice that attracted overseas companies to locate in the UK.

She hosts the popular one-day business class StartUp Saturday in London, and speaks at several other business events. Emma regularly appears in the media commenting on small business issues.

In June 2012, Emma was awarded an MBE for Services to Enterprise. In November 2015, Emma was appointed as a Business Ambassador with a focus on increasing international trade. In February 2019 Theresa May appointed Emma to co-chair the Prime Minister’s Small Business, Scale-up and Entrepreneurs Business Council.  Emma was awarded the rank Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2021.

After finishing at Shrewsbury High School, Carol studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia and did a doctor of the arts in Contemporary British Drama.

After graduating, Carol was the director of Marketing and Development at the University of Westminster.

Carol was the Director of Marketing and Public Affairs at The British Museum between 1999 and 2003 where she was responsible for all public-facing for one of the leading visitor attractions in the world. After that, Carol was the Commercial Director at The Prince’s Trust for 4 years.

Now, Carol is the Chief Executive at Coram. Coram was established in 1739 as the first dedicated children’s charity, Coram is today a group of specialist charities providing social care, legal, education and advocacy support across the UK and beyond. The role of group Chief Executive is characterised by national policy, research and development.

Carol is also chair of the National Autistic Society. Carol was awarded CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2013 for all of her amazing work for children and families.

Susannah Gill is a world record holding marathon runner. She won the World Marathon Challenge after completing seven marathons across seven continents in seven days. She does this alongside being the Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at the UK Tote Group.

She set out to complete the London Marathon. Now, marathon running has literally taken her around the world.

Over the past decade, she has completed 45 marathons, including 10 London Marathons, with a fastest time of 2 hours 58 minutes. Gill ran the gruelling 295km (183 miles) of the World Marathon Challenge in a world record time of 24 hours 19 minutes 9 seconds. She ran the final race in Miami on Wednesday night in 3:26:24. Gill finished second in the first marathon in Antarctica but won each of the remaining six marathons – all run over the standard 26 miles 385 yards (42.2km) – on her way to overall victory. Competitors landed in Cape Town, South Africa on 29 January before travelling to Antarctica for the first marathon, where temperatures dropped as low as -35C. Just two days later in Perth, Western Australia – and having run a marathon in Cape Town the day before – Gill battled soaring temperatures of 35C.

She began running at University to keep fit but she didn’t do any competitions. She lived in London for two years and wanted to attempt the London Marathon. She completed it and has done every year since.

Beginning in the snow and freezing conditions of Nova in Antarctica, Gill then flew to South Africa for the second leg in 30C heat. The final five marathons were run at night and, with time zones blurring, the runners had to adapt to a strange routine.

Gill hopes that her achievements will help inspire other women to take up running. “I had no greater ambition than to run one marathon. I fell in love with running and if I can do this then lots of other people can too”.

Kate Phillips is responsible for the overall commissioning strategy for the full range of unscripted content at the BBC, encompassing Entertainment, Documentaries, Specialist Factual, Arts & Classical Music, Factual Entertainment & Events and Daytime & Early-Peak.

Previously, Kate was Controller, Entertainment where she oversaw the entertainment strategy across BBC television and iPlayer. She commissioned more than 500 hours of original programmes a year, including shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof, The Apprentice, Top Gear, The Graham Norton Show, Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, Eurovision, The Weakest Link, I Can See Your Voice, The Hit List, The Wall, Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You, MasterChef, Eating with my Ex, Dragons’ Den, Comic Relief and the Bafta Film Awards.

We were delighted to welcome Kate back as our guest speaker for a recent Speech Day. She gave wonderful advice to the students about both school life and entering the world of work – telling them to work hard and take opportunities that come your way because you never know how far they may take you!