Alice and Luciana talk to Mike about their new roles
Luciana Coates (L) and Alice Russell (R)
There’s something in the air at BOND. It’s in the way people are talking when they meet (usually over Zoom these days). And, for those who made it in person to the recent ‘All-Hands’ meeting in London or who beamed in from their homes and offices around the world, some big news was shared.
Alice Russell is BOND’s new CEO and Luciana Coates is now COO.
Both have been with BOND for 8 and 6 years respectively and have been stepping up to their ‘new’ roles for the past couple of years or so as EVP and SVP. And something appears to be working, with the company already reaching new levels of acclaim and financial success.
Founder Oliver Needs said of the appointments:
"These two really know their stuff. Alice is one of the few people I’ve ever seen who understands the business 360 degrees. And Luciana has reorganised us into a highly effective operation and has made onsite delivery consistently smooth and enjoyable. There comes a time when you have to pass the torch to better talent, and this is the time for me."
Executive Team - Alice, Oliver, Rob, Luciana (LtoR)
Those who know BOND will already have some measure of its reorganised executive leadership team. Under Oliver’s mentorship and that of Rob Norton in his role new role as CFO, both Alice and Luciana have been able to find and nurture their natural leadership strengths and through deeply testing times have found a real friendship and trust in one another.
I had my questions lined up, but the conversation took on a life of its own when I sat down with this dynamic duo….
Luciana Coates (L) and Alice Russell (R)
"Both of us have strong female figures in our lives"
Mike: Congratulations on your new roles! Dare I say it’s still relatively rare to have both a female CEO and COO. What does the achievement mean to you?
Alice: Both of us have strong female figures - our mothers - in our lives who have had successful careers running businesses/practices, so I think naturally we’ve tried to emulate that, but possibly took for granted all that they accomplished. So, it only really dawned on me when I started digging into the numbers as to how rare this is. Apparently, women under 40 make up just 10% of leadership roles in SMEs across the UK. I feel privileged to be in this position and hope it will empower the women within our company, and the industry. It’s been a lot of hard work from both of us, that got us here. I’m excited to see what we can do next.
Luciana: I feel very passionate about women having equal place in the workforce and I’m proud to be someone who’s helping make that change. We want to continue to foster a supportive working environment, particularly women supporting women, and we’ll absolutely be doing all we can to build up the women around us. I’m very fortunate to have had great guidance and mentorship over the years (thank you Olly and Rob) and exposure to many different experiences that have helped get me here.
Alice Russell
"working for a smaller company – you can put your voice forward and have your voice heard"
Mike: Tell me how you came into the world of events.
Alice: Well, I walked out of Bristol University with a Masters degree right after The Crash of 2008 and not being able to walk into the kind of job I thought I might be able to was a bit of a shock! I was desperate to move to London. A family contact at Marcus Evans Conferences got in touch because they were always looking for recent Grads. I started in Production – creating the conference programs - but a job in Marketing opened up and I made the switch. Marketing in that type of event company is always very revenue-driven, so you're effectively a salesperson. So I really got a good grounding in all the commercial elements of the business, from product development to sales and marketing. It was fast-paced and kind of cut-throat actually… if you didn’t hit your targets, you were out. Then I moved to a more senior marketing role at Haymarket, which are a large publishing company, who also ran forums (one-to-ones like BOND do) and digital events. It was a great eye opener to all the different formats of B2B events. I started to find in these bigger companies though, that I wasn't really feeling fulfilled. Everything was just very samey from day to day and you couldn't really contribute meaningfully, or know if you were contributing meaningfully. So I hunted out BOND. And that’s the big thing for me that I love about now, working for and running a smaller company – you can put your voice forward and have your voice heard.
Luciana Coates
"I fell into events by accident but quickly realised that I loved making people have those fantastic experiences"
Luciana: Well, I graduated in 2009 as a fully-fledged performing artist but I didn't want to be in acting - maybe directing but Director jobs were almost impossible to find. In fact, any job with a decent salary was hard. So, I think it was a toss-up between going to work for IDM or becoming the PA to a PA! I went with IDM and was the event coordinator there. Then I moved to a company called CWC and after that Gas Strategies, running training events in the oil and gas industry. I travelled the world, going to places like South Korea and Nigeria and it really opened my eyes. I loved climbing the ladder and finding the autonomy to do things differently with great guidance from the CEO. Then I moved to Gartner to be Head of Operations for a new style of event that Gartner wanted to launch. We had the flexibility of a startup but the security of a multi billion dollar corporation. Once we successfully launched the portfolio and became part of the larger machine I soon realised that I wanted to be far more than just a cog within that machine. So I left and did some freelancing work in the events space, and in that time I found BOND and was made head of operations, then SVP. So, I fell into events by accident but quickly realised that I loved making people have those fantastic experiences. So that's what did it for me. It’s a fantastic industry, we work exceptionally hard but every event team knows how to let their hair down.
"...the big, big thing that we all, I think, now conveniently forget about was The Pandemic"
Mike: What experiences stand out from your time at BOND?
Alice: The big, big thing that we all, I think, now conveniently forget about was the pandemic. But I often think how formative and transformative the pandemic was for the company and for me personally. I get emotional thinking about it because it was such a hard time, and Luciana and I were reflecting on this recently, looking back at emails that we were sending each other. And I don't sound like me. You can hear the fear in our words. I remember feeling the weight of the world literally was on my shoulders to come up with this digital platform and save the company. Everyone was furloughed for a time. So, there was Luciana, myself, Rob and Olly. The four of us trying to figure out what the heck we were going to do. So that was a big, big thing, I think, in terms of where I am. Compared to that, I feel like anything feels like less of a challenge.
Luciana: From my perspective, it was an extreme test. We actually already had a friendship that Covid tested at a time that was scary for everyone. It taught us a lot on how to communicate with each other. How to read between our own lines when possibly we weren't saying the things that we wanted to say. She's a great friend. So, yeah, that made us stronger and looking back on it, it was worth the pain to make us who we are today, we are better for it. I mean, I honestly don't think many friends would go through that. It was testing. I think there were times we probably wanted to kill each other. And do you know what? I think there will probably be times that we will still feel that way. But, for me, that's what I love, we have completely different ways of thinking and so in that process we challenge each others opinions and that’s what allows us to aim for “perfection”.
"We have a strange telepathy"
Mike: Tell me more about your relationship.
Alice: Luciana has become one of my best friends. I'm usually very conscious though of not broadcasting it in work situations for fear of us looking really ‘cliquey’… that every decision we make is because we're friends and we think the same and we do the same. Although, we do have a habit of turning up to places wearing the same outfits! We have a strange telepathy. So, we're similar, but we're absolutely not at the same time. And that's why I think we work so well together, because there's the same values and the same core principles, but we approach things in a different way. We value the same stuff, and we both care about BOND because this wouldn't work if we didn't.
"People are understanding more than ever the power of face-to-face. And they want this one-on-one time more than ever"
Mike: BOND is going from strength to strength under your leadership. What do your attribute success to?
Luciana: So far it’s been about giving a free-spirited, entrepreneurial organisation a bit more structure. The freedom and autonomy is great, but if we want to scale and take BOND to the next level, that boundary-less model no longer works. When it’s small everyone just mucks in and rolls up their sleeves and we still have that kind of entrepreneurial attitude. But we’re balancing it with accountability, with more focus and I think we’ve found our sweet spot. Everyone has a very clear short-term goal that gets us to the long-term goal.
Alice: And changing those things is a big deal, but we’ve done it slowly so that we can take people on that journey with us. Rather than previously where change has been forced but people didn’t wanna go along with it because it wasn’t handled in the right way. We spent a huge amount of time thinking about what the vision is and where we want to go and really clearly communicating that to people.
Luciana: I think that’s the storytelling to your point, getting people on that journey. I remember 'baby steps' is what we kept saying, that people wouldn’t see immediate change but when they start to feel the change and they start to see the change with everything else, it feels like everyone is behind us and the mission now that they can see the changes working.
Alice: And one of the biggest changes I’ve made is shifting us away from a traditional outbound sales model to being more marketing-led. We passionately believe that our style of event is the best way to do business. So we’re investing in our brand and messaging, and how we tell our story, and reaching more people with that message. Where we’ve flown under the radar in the past, or relied on word of mouth, it’s time for us to really get out there. There are changes happening in the events and exhibition world, and it feels like the right time to capitalise on that. People are understanding more than ever the power of face-to-face. And they want this one-on-one time more than ever.
Executive Team - Luciana, Alice, Rob (LtoR) & staff
"The events are growing and we will have our best year ever this year"
Mike: BOND has always been known as an innovator. What's next?
Alice: We’ve spent a lot of time really trying to focus on what it is that drives BOND’s success, being honest with ourselves about what we do well (and what we don’t). Currently, our strategy is to be laser-focused on our live events - our face-to-face, one-to-one meetings in the Architecture and Design industry. It's what we know we can deliver amazingly well, better than anyone else, every time. And we just want to make every element of that the best it can be. We're purposefully not getting side-tracked, launching new products when we were’t ready like we have in the past. And it's working, you know, it's working. The events are growing and we will have our best year ever this year, in revenue terms.
Luciana: I think, sometimes, to echo Alice's point, innovation doesn't always have to mean something brand new and shiny. Especially when we believe that we can do what we're currently doing better. Alice and I love to drill right into it. Dig down deep. Could we be better? What are we not doing that we should be doing? We don’t just accept the status quo. We like to challenge things, we like to learn. We’re extremely curious about understanding things. We constantly want to make things better, both in our product and in peoples experiences and I think we naturally innovate because of that.
"People don’t have time for bad service or bad promises anymore. The expectations have changed "
Mike: One thing that came out in Olly's recent Origins interview was how important integrity is to him, personally and professionally. How important is integrity to you?
Alice: I think it's everything. All we have is our promise, as Olly says. Going back to the pandemic, since then I think you can really see shifts in what customers expect. People don’t have time for bad service or bad promises anymore. The expectations have changed and that's great for us, because I think high-level service and delivery are where we excel and where we set ourselves apart. There are other companies that do what we do. But they don't do it the way that we do it. We're never going to let people down - really putting the extra effort into the experience to set ourselves apart. Yes, that means the event itself. But, also, every aspect, every person in this company touches the customer in some way, shape or form. Elevating every single touch point that the customer has with us and making that journey as smooth and easy as possible is one of the biggest things that we're trying to do.
Luciana: What Olly has always said, and what has stuck with me ever since I joined BOND, is that we deliver what we promise. That is the number one reality - that we do not promise anything that we're not going to deliver. And, look, that doesn’t mean we say yes to everything a client asks for, some things are not feasible, but if we say we’re going to do something we’re going to do it. It’s our integrity and our sincerity that sets us apart in many aspects at BOND and it runs through the company.
"...just nice people who understand that having a conversation - putting the relationship first before the sale actually works"
Mike: Every company has its own unique culture, from the top down. How would you describe the culture at BOND?
Alice: I think what says a lot for who BOND is as a company is the people who come to our events. The feel and the style and nature of our events attracts the right people. You know, just nice people who understand that having a conversation - putting the relationship first before the sale actually works. It just attracts like-minded people from every side. And that goes for our people too. Our principles (no pun intended) run deep. Fit comes first whenever we bring someone new into the team. Show us integrity, passion, grit, honesty. That’s all we need. We can teach you the rest. It's like an inside-out approach. If you get the engine working right, which for us is the people first, if you create the right environment and culture then it all falls into place. We have a bond as a team that I’ve not experienced anywhere.
Luciana: For me, the thing that always stuck out with BOND was, and the only way I can describe it, is when we hire new people, it feels like family on site and it's really bizarre! And I've never worked for an events, company where clients are so receptive and so excited to see event staff and to know how they are and care on a deeper level. It's just something that's within BOND. One of those intangible things that I don't know how it’s happened and I don't know how we do it. It's just ingrained.
"I think a gift of leadership is when you can help people to find that confidence in themselves"
Mike: I'm picking up on a real empowerment focus from both of you. Want to talk about that?
Luciana: I think a gift of leadership is helping people to find that confidence in themselves. Alice and I both strongly believe in everyone being empowered. Otherwise, the company doesn't work. Everyone has their strengths, and everyone brings a quality to the company that we need. When we wrote the business plan, coming on for 3 years ago, it felt quite daunting. ‘Can I do it? Will I be good enough?’ Whereas now, we're going to be sitting down to write the next chapter. And I just feel excited at ‘how are we going to test ourselves?’ And ‘how are we going to push ourselves?’ And, I think that all our power has come from Olly, stepping back slowly. And I found a second strength with Alice coming into her role. And I think with the new dynamic, it allows everyone else to feel empowered. We're in a position now, where things are becoming more structured and there are processes to allow people to enjoy the freedom that we give them and then have the confidence to do their roles and be empowered to do them autonomously. It's difficult for people to feel empowered when there's too much grey and not enough structure. Everyone likes the idea of freedom but too much freedom actually creates insecurity and uncertainty.
"The output is the most important thing, and if people are delivering what’s required, then everybody's happy"
Mike: Do you want to talk about how remote, flexible, and amazing the company is?
Alice: Yeah! It's really remote, flexible, and amazing!
Luciana: I think it works because we hire people who know what's expected and want to do the job. And for that they have the benefit of being able to do what they need to do, whenever they like. Being a remote company has allowed us to hire the right people that align with our values. We are currently split over three continents, and don’t get me wrong - it certainly challenged us in the beginning. We needed to find our best approach for managing and running the company over so many time zones! No surprise on us being heavily Zoom dependant, and we are still working on ways to be able to better collaborate remotely. I think this will be an on-going thing, as technology gets better, we will get better.
Alice: The output is the most important thing, and if people are delivering what’s required, then everybody's happy. And I personally feel like everybody is just as productive or even more productive as when we were in the office. We are meeting up more. And we're being more structured with forward plans so that we at least get together once a month. But I think, in a weird way, it's forced people to collaborate more too because you've got to reach out to people to understand what's going on.
Luciana: And also, let's be fair. The average adult spends most of their waking hours at work, at least for the majority of us that don't have the luxury of not having to work. So why would we want to make it difficult? Life can already be challenging in many ways, we don’t need to add to that. We want our BONDies to love where they work, and so many of mine and Alice’s conversations focus on employee happiness and well-being. However, as Alice was saying, it's a 2-way street, neither of us have the time or desire to micromanage anyone. We give trust and expect open and honest communication in return and right now it’s working for us.
"Olly's been an amazing mentor... we're supported at the highest level. So I feel excited just to help us achieve everything that I know we can"
Mike: Now that you've announced your new roles, how do you feel about the future?
Alice: I suppose I should feel apprehensive, or something along those lines but, for whatever reason, I don't. I think just because it feels like things are finally coming together. And I say finally, because it has been a long road since 2020, or whenever that horrible pandemic shut business down for a little while. And we've just been working very hard since then. And realistically, Luciana and I have been running the company for a year or more. Olly's been an amazing mentor and i've learned so much from him. The company sponsored us to join Vistage so we're supported at the highest level and expanding our skills every day. So I feel ready and excited just to help us achieve everything that I know we can, and excited to have Luciana there to help all the dreams and things I have in my head come true. That's kind of how I feel our dynamic works best. I live in here (points to head) and I have all the thoughts, all the ideas, all the things that I know that we can do and Luciana helps me take them out of my brain and we figure out how we can actually do them and make them happen.
"Stay tuned"
Mike: Aspirations for the future?
Alice: Hmmm, thinking about what's next. Not necessarily the events, but what could we do that's meaningful to the world? I don't know what it is but thinking about it gets me very excited.
Luciana: I agree. Something where we give back.
Alice: You’ll have to stay tuned I suppose!
