Meet the Team - Lydia Shepherd, Director
A question and answer session with Lydia Shepherd, Director at The Up Group. Lydia has been at Up since 2018, joining as a Senior Consultant before being promoted to Director in 2019.
What attracted you to a career in Executive Search?
After joining Citigroup on the graduate scheme and spending many a day before the sun came up with a pink FT tucked under my arm (no joke, we had to pick up the paper copy on our way in!), I realised that there were many things to love about banking; exposure to the markets, going deep on what it means to drive business value and those levers for growth, plus the opportunity to speak to a lot of interesting people and have free Starbucks on tap!
On the flip side, there were elements that were missing; not being able to go deep on the research (there were people to do that for you), the transactional ‘short term’ nature of trading as well as broader factors such as the lack of female role models and a genuine support network (it was 2008!) – all the things I needed starting out as a kid in the city.
I explored Executive Search because for me, it combined all the aspects I enjoyed about banking, but with the added bonus of driving my own research and analysis, and critically, enabling long term value for some of the most exciting Investors and companies emerging across Europe.
Why did you join The Up Group?
Having spent nearly 10 years in Executive Search and having followed The Up Group closely for the past six of those (enviously from the sidelines!), I joined to work with a Founder and CEO who is, for me personally, an incredible female entrepreneur and role model. I wanted unparalleled access to the most disruptive companies emerging from the digital ecosystem and to have an opportunity to constantly learn about the new and the innovative, as wave after wave of Founders across Europe explode onto the scene, building things that change the way we view the world.
What has been your career highlight to-date?
There is nothing better than advising Investors, Boards and Founders; helping them shape an idea, build out their team around it and to then watch as it grows. I love seeing products in the market that have been built by leaders that we have placed – products that you and I use daily, whether it is an IoT device, or a meal-kit delivered – that is really cool to me.
Equally important though has been seeing my team, and the amazing people around me grow and develop to the point where they become deep subject matter experts themselves. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it sure takes an entire Up community to drive a successful business.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Usually a small child climbing on my face!
In all seriousness though, it is simple: being able to constantly learn, to have access to incredible people, to crunch down problems, to deliver great work and to have a lot of fun with the people I work with.
What has been your biggest learning curve?
That I’ll never be the smartest person in the room. So listen, and don’t even try to be!
If Executive Search was not an option, what do you think you would be doing?
I’d be a surgeon. Probably something technical and complex with high stakes.
When you are not building the leadership teams of Europe’s current and future Unicorns, what do you get up to?
I hang with the family. It’s the little things for me; playing football with the kids and tackling them to the ground (evil mum!), running along the river, lots of pizza and always planning the next crazy adventure somewhere off the beaten track.
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Be authentic. Have the courage to be unapologetically your whole self. And from my parents, always think big, and never settle for less.
The Up Group is hiring. We want to hear from you if you are excited by what you hear from our Team. You may be at the start of your career and looking for early exposure and rapid progression, or looking for a move to access the unparalleled network that The Up Group is part of. Come and talk to us by connecting today - [email protected].