Social media guru to return to Shropshire school to launch series of events celebrating women

One of the UK’s most respected voices on the power of celebrity influencers is returning to her Shropshire school to launch an ambitious series of events celebrating women.

Sedge Beswick (@sedgebeswick ), who launched a £20million business working with the likes of Mylene Klass, Lewis Capaldi and Tom Daley, will be the guest speaker as Wrekin College stages a special evening next month.

The must-attend event will launch a year of celebrations leading up to the 50th anniversary of girls joining the Wellington school in 2025.

The 35-year-old said she did not fit the traditional mould for education but that she had found a way to make the most of an entrepreneurial and high energy approach to life and now relished any opportunity to inspire others.

“I very much look forward to returning to my old school and talking at an event which is all about celebrating and empowering women,” said Sedge who has previously spoken of challenges and discrimination she has faced as a successful business woman and working mother.

Sedge first used her ability to spot the huge potential in the influencer model of marketing back in 2012 while working at leading fashion brand ASOS.

She led the launch of an influencer programme which helped kickstart the careers of some of social media’s most successful online stars.

From there she went on to establish her own successful global agency SEEN Connects, now one of the most powerful players in the UK tech industry.

She added:

“I didn’t really fit the traditional mould for education but Wrekin was a place where I could do things differently and certainly where I developed certain life skills which have proved really valuable when you are breaking ground in a new industry,”

During the talk Sedge will be taking the audience through where her career has taken her since leaving the school.

It will include her time working for Red Bull and ASOS, her experiences as one of the first to work in social media in the UK, setting up the business, exiting the business, balancing work and motherhood and careers now on her radar together with some of her experiences working with celebrities.

“Education is catching up with a world where careers evolve rapidly but we can do more to really understand that the one size fits all approach doesn’t help young people prepare for what comes next. There is also much more women can share with each other to help promote success in business and confidence to forge your own path.”

Head of the Wrekin Foundation Andy Nicoll said they were very excited to welcome back Old Wrekinian Sedge to the school and said her experience in one of the most fast-paced global industries was invaluable, making her a highly popular speaker.

“We are very fortunate to be welcoming a speaker like Sedge, a pioneer in business and someone who has broken down barriers to what can be achieved and the routes we follow to achieve it.” 

Tickets for the event to be held on March 7 are available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-of-wrekin-tickets-794119913037 priced at £22. The evening will include a two-course dinner and time for networking and will also see the school celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 as it starts a year-long series of events aimed at celebrating and empowering women.