Our committee
zita west | fertility expert
Zita West is a global authority in fertility and integrated medicine. She trained in five element acupuncture and founded London’s first IVF clinic that incorporates holistic care, achieving remarkable success rates through a comprehensive approach that includes acupuncture, nutrition, hypnotherapy, and IVF treatments. With thousands of successful conceptions to her credit, nine published books, and a range of fertility supplements and baby products, Zita emphasises the crucial role of preconception preparation and holistic wellness.
-
What does wealth mean to you?
Health is my wealth; to be able to feel good. Getting sufficient, quality sleep is important wealth on every level. Being able to travel to meet interesting people, to learn, and to enjoy life with family and friends.
One of the biggest challenges in your industry?
The fertility industry, is for so many women facing fertility issues and struggling to conceive. Education around fertility awareness, providing support, building community, and offering holistic consulting are crucial. It's not just about medicalising fertility; it's about taking a holistic approach, which I incorporate into my consultations.
Which element of The Society are you most excited about?
I have found The Dura Society events to be particularly enriching. I've enjoyed exploring topics and themes outside of my fertility world and meeting diverse women and communities.
How do you spend your Sundays?
I find Sundays to be a peculiar day, especially if I have nothing planned. How I spend my Sunday depends on whether I'm in London or in the countryside. In London, it's about seeing friends and family, visiting exhibitions, and exploring galleries. In the countryside, it's about leisurely walks and enjoying Sunday roasts
Nika Diamond-Krendel | founder, paradise row
Paradise Row is a British contemporary leather goods brand which grew out of London's rich heritage of leather manufacturing and design. Paradise Row's handbag collections draw inspiration from and celebrate different aspects of society, psychology, culture and the arts.
-
What does Wealth mean to you?
Wealth to me ultimately means the freedom to do what you want when you want. I believe that wealth is the unlock to freedom of time, freedom of desires and freedom of helping others. If managed well, wealth can empowers us to be our best selves.
What’s one of the biggest challenges in your industry?
As a luxury brand, a big challenge is the upfront cash needed to put a team together to market the brand. An even bigger challenge is to provide that upfront cash without any start-up investment. Essentially within the luxury industry, it is all about the product being put into the right hands and it costs a lot to get there.
Which element of The Society are you most excited about?
I am incredibly excited to meet like-minded women, network with them and and share knowledge on wealth, wellness and specific issues that affect women. Additionally, I am excited for a space where I feel part of a community bound by the same interests, goals and values. I feel the concept of community is underrated and is truly is a significant pillar for happiness.
How do you like to spend your Sundays?
My ideal Sunday would be a pamper session in the morning mixed with a spot of shopping and a lunch with friends, an afternoon exploring with my son around 'busy London town' as he calls it and an evening film with my husband. However, for now, as my son is still so little and running a business is so high octane, my husband and I take it in turns to have the full day off, so we can switch off from both work and childcare one day a week.
jESS MILLER | FOUNDER, STRELA ADVISORY
Jessica is the founder and director of Strela Advisory, a boutique investigations firm providing goal-orientated, bespoke investigations and intelligence to resolve clients’ complex commercial and personal legal, reputational, and sometimes familial, problems.
-
What’s one of the biggest challenges in your industry?
The lack of women at a senior and founder level. Corporate Investigations at the top end is heavily male dominated. This has changed little in the nearly 15 years I’ve been in the industry – particularly in comparison to the other professional services alongside which we work frequently, like the law or finance. While undeniably one can draw advantages from being an outlier (thank you, Malcolm Gladwell), fundamentally the dynamic is disadvantageous: it creates a stereotype of what or who an investigator is (which those who don’t fit are required to dismantle/challenge) and the notion that only a certain kind of person can succeed (which you have to talk yourself out of). Lastly, I find it professionally embarrassing to appear almost retrograde in comparison to our peers. I am heartened however to see this shifting in the generations coming up in the industry, and excited to see what these female investigators achieve and how they change the game.
Which element of The Society are you most excited about?
I’m really excited for the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with fellow founders and entrepreneurs. I’ve already found our committee meetings to be hugely inspirational so having this on a bigger scale will be great. In terms of membership offerings: education and increasing my financial literacy. Knowledge really is power. Having the support to be the best we can be at work or in our businesses is only half the battle won if we don’t know how best to use our earnings to create a solid foundation for the future.
How do you like to spend your Sundays?
My Sundays are definitely a game of two halves! Strong start with some kind of exercise class in the morning, then a cappuccino and a walk. The afternoon a little less ambitious/regimented – catch up with friends, cook, maybe a little bit of company admin. In sum, I’m probably not changing the world on Sunday evenings!
SABAH KHAN | HEAD OF GLOBAL PR, BICESTER COLLECTION
Sabah Khan is the Head of Global PR for The Bicester Collection and has worked in PR & Communications across the luxury fashion, lifestyle, art and retail sectors for the last 15 years. Outside her job, Sabah is an avid traveller and loves exploring new cities, cultures and is fascinated by people from all walks of life. Sabah is passionate about women’s equality, in particular in the developing world and the media’s role in supporting female empowerment.
-
What does Wealth mean to you?
Wealth to me is truly the ability to make choices. From the small things of “what should I have for breakfast” to “where should I go on holiday” or “where should I be investing in for my future”- I have never been as grateful and appreciative of my ability to make choices for myself as I am today, especially given the complexities and instability of the world we are in. I can say to fullest extent of my being that I do not take the ability to make choices for granted- however big or small. And that, in a nutshell, makes me feel like I have won the “wealth lottery”.
What’s one of the biggest challenges in your industry?
The last 15 years has seen a huge shift in the industry- I started in PR when there was no social media- we all had blackberries! We weren’t quite in the digital age as we are now, so things took time- you would have to wait 3 months maybe to see if your story you pitched to the editor made it into the magazine. Now everything is see now, buy now- digital first. There is a lot more noise, the market is saturated with new brands and new influencers on a daily basis. It can get overwhelming to try and keep up with newest media channels, the influencing world and social media- however if you have a strategic mind, common sense, forward planning and bit of charm then there’s nothing you can’t do.
Which element of the Society are you most excited about?
I am so excited about meeting and being in a room with incredibly talented and entrepreneurial driven women. One of Lottie’s many strengths is bringing interesting women together and building communities of cheerleaders- this is why I am thrilled to be a part of Dura Society. One of my favourite sayings is “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room”- and I can happily say that that has never been the case when I have attended a Dura event! I am constantly inspired and learn so much from everyone I meet and I just know this is the reason why Dura Society is such needed platform today.
How do you like to spend your Sundays?
Sundays for me are a reset. My job requires me to be “on” almost 7 days a week 24/7 but Sundays I try and give myself a little rest; maybe a deep tissue massage, late brunch, reformer pilates and seeing girlfriends. IF there is an interesting exhibition on then I’ll definitely make my way to that as taking a breather for art, culture and music are definitely food for my soul.
NICOLE SCHOENI - TOYE | PATRON AND FOUNDER, SCHOENI PROJECTS
Contemporary art collector, dealer and patron of the arts, Nicole is the founder of Schoeni Projects, a contemporary art platform built upon three pillars - heritage, dialogue and collaboration. Previously, Nicole was the director of Schoeni Art Gallery, one of Asia’s most influential art venues, pivotal in the development of a generation of Chinese contemporary artists and a prestigious hub for the Hong Kong art world. She is an active patron of Sovereign Art Foundation (HK), Asia Art Archive (HK), Para Site (HK), Victoria and Albert (UK) and a director of Asian Art in London. She also sits on the committee for The 14th Factory, and on the advisory team for Arts for Good Foundation (HK).
LOTTIE LEEFE DIPPFS | FOUNDER, THE DURA SOCIETY
Our founder, Lottie Leefe, brings over a decade of private client wealth management experience with her. Finding herself hospitalised with a broken dura after recently qualifying as a financial planner, Lottie realised that the anxiety around uncertainty materialises in so many areas in our lives. be it health and well-being, financial or family. Lottie uses her energy to bring awareness and advocacy to those who need it.
Lottie founded The Dura Society in 2016 following an accident. Identifying the importance and impact of wealth on one’s well-being and the notion that finance could be viewed as self-care was a task that she happily took on...amidst many (male) hurdles.