Ed Talks

Robert Whalley left school in 1965 and went on to study History at the University of Cambridge. He didn't necessarily know what he wanted to do as a career during his time in education, but upon leaving university he applied to be in the Civil Service and was posted to the Home Office, where he enjoyed an incredibly long and successful career.

Robert started his career in Northern Ireland, and in this conversation he talks about what it felt like to be in the middle of such devastation at such a young age - he'd be on the phone to Number 10 and they would be able to hear bombs going off in the background of the call, they were that close to where he was sitting.

He also talks about his time as the Home Office's Director for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence, a role that he was in for 9/11 and for the London bombings of 2005. He chaired the Government's COBRA meetings for these two events (as well as many others during his time in this job) and talks about what it's like to be in the room when such huge decisions are made.

Finally, Robert talks about his time as the Director of Immigration Policy for the UK. He demonstrates that those working for the Civil Service need to be strong administrators by nature, but also how they need to have an empathy for those who are affected by their decisions - understanding a situation in as much detail as possible, and from as many opposing viewpoints, is vital to success.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

Lexi Willetts left KEHS in 1999, starting her career as an intellectual property lawyer. Working as Head of IP for Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), during her tenure FIFA revolutionised their commercial programme by announcing two World Cup host countries at the same time. Some five years later and after completing a masters, she transitioned to consumer tech and is now the Founder and CEO of fashion-tech venture, Little Black Door.
“LBD”, the social wardrobe app, encourages women to wear and share their wardrobes with friends, followers and resale platforms.  The app creates conscious fashion consumers by allowing women to discover what’s in their wardrobe , allows borrowing between users to increase use of existing fashion, clothing use, whilst championing investment in quality slow fashion. As our awareness of the negative impact of fast cheap fashion on female working conditions and the environment intensifies, LBD is out to create more sustainable future wardrobes and improve our relationship  with and use of fashion.
In this discussion, Lexi also overviews the realities of choosing start-up life vs. well funded corporate life and the challenges that come with entrepreneurial life. She also talks about being a woman within a traditionally male dominated space, and how Little Black Door’s digital work experience programme is allowing her to unlock more opportunities for women to consider careers in tech. 

See More from Lexi Willetts.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to four sisters who all went to KEHS - Gayatri Sehdev (2001), Sara Sehdev (2005), Jyoti Sehdev (2011) and Aarti Sehdev (2011).

Gayatri has an endless joy for learning and a desire to improve herself and the world around her. After studying Law at Cambridge, she went on to live in London, Hong Kong, Paris, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and in the latter which she completed her MBA at Wharton, where she graduated as a Palmer Scholar. Having returned to London, Gayatri is now fulfilling her ambitions of building a bridge between the fields of business and law within the legal team at London Stock Exchange Group.

Sara runs her own talent agency, Core MGMT, where she has Colin Firth on speed dial and spends her time on the red carpet. She has recently been accepted as a member of BAFTA, and has just produced her first feature film, Villain, which will be released later this year, alongside an 18-minute single-take short starring Stephen Graham, Boiling Point. 

Jyoti studied at UCL and has quickly risen through the ranks of a male dominated industry. She is constantly being selected to inspire women to become engineers, to advise on how to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, and (following her particular passion of bio-mimicry) to think about where we can be inspired by nature in our structures and how we build them. Jyoti is also a vocal and brilliant advocate for LGBT+ & Allies, and also speaks openly to the mostly-male workforce about mental health issues within the industry.

Aarti has a doctorate in insect olfaction, having completed a Masters in Biological Sciences at UCL and her PhD at the University of Konstanz in Germany. She continues her breakthrough research on insect neurobiology at Yale University, USA, where she is currently undertaking her post-doctorate. Aarti’s enjoyment of learning about life on this planet is drawn from her devotion to protecting the environment, through which she has committed to achieving a no-waste lifestyle, minimising her plastic and carbon footprint. She joins her sisters on this podcast from Connecticut, USA.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to Grace Gwynne (2013), Third Six Pupil at No5 Barristers' Chambers in Birmingham. 

Grace talks about her route to becoming a barrister, and how it wasn't always an easy journey - she faced a number of setbacks in her career journey and talks about how important persistence is when it comes to achieving your goals. 

She also discusses how the courts are operating in regards to COVID and the backlog of cases that need to be heard as a result of shutting down in the UK's first lockdown. She also reflects on the differences between the UK and US justice systems following her time spent working in Connecticut. 

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to Professor Emma Rees (1987), Director of the Institute of Gender Studies at Chester University.

Emma discusses a number of topics, from the work she does at the university around gender and identity to her published work. She talks about what it's been like to lecture through COVID and how her students have been faring, and also why she has her pronouns (she / her) on her email signature.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to Sumit Dheir (2006), who since leaving university has worked in finance, first for an investment bank and now for a private equity firm.

Sumit talks about how his A Level Economics classes with Mr Mason inspired him to want to work within the field of finance, and how working within private equity allows him to use the principles he learned about with active businesses.

Sumit discusses how his role works but also about the wider economy, and whether it's a good or bad time to be in the business of investing in businesses. 

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to Richard Wolffe (1987), the US columnist for The Guardian.

Richard lives in New York and has been reporting on US politics for decades, including being one of only three journalists who followed Barack Obama's entire presidential campaign from start to finish as a writer for Newsweek. 
In this podcast he talks about the Black Lives Matter movement and reflects on his experiences of racism when growing up in Birmingham in the 1980s. He discusses how Black Lives Matter affected the result of the US election, and what Joe Biden's victory could mean for campaigners. Finally, he talks about Donald Trump and what could lie ahead for him personally, whilst talking more widely about what he represents.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to the authors Lee Child (1973) and Andrew Child. Jim Grant (who writes under the Lee Child name) has achieved worldwide fame through his Jack Reacher series of novels, and is now handing the franchise over to his younger brother Andrew. 

The Sentinel was published at the end of last month, and Ben talks to the brothers about how the handover in the writing process worked - but of course, also about their upbringing and Jim's days as a student at KES. They also touch on the subject of redundancy (Jim was made redundant by Granada Television after a hugely successful career there) - and he gives his advice to anyone who may be facing redundancy, or who fear that it may be on the horizon once the UK's furlough scheme comes to an end in March.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Ben Anderson (2006) chairs a panel discussion with three Old Edwardians - Alexa Joyce (Education & Skills Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Microsoft Corporation), Malcolm Warr OBE (Chair of CNI Scotland) and Dr. Hermine Graham (Clinical Psychologist and Board Member of the UK Advisory Board for Safer Gambling).

The subject of this discussion is "Responses to COVID" - the panel talk about the impacts that COVID-19 has had on our society as a whole outside of the physical health implications, discussing digital transformations and other positive changes that we are able to take from the pandemic with lockdowns allowing us to hit the reset button in many aspects of our lives.

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected]

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.

In this episode of Ed Talks, Old Edwardian Ben Anderson (2006) talks to Hannah Proops (1997), an Old Ed who is now the Director of Drama at KEHS.

Hannah talks about the reasons why she campaigned to get drama taught in every year group when she took over the role of Director of Drama, and how the subject has now grown to over 70 students studying GCSE Drama and 20 students studying Theatre Studies at A Level.

She also talks about TuneUp, an initiative that was created by Hannah and Kirsty von Malaisé (the Principal at KEHS) which gives schools the opportunity to celebrate the impact of the arts in the development and mental health of young people in the UK. 

The first part of TuneUp - Uplift - is taking place tomorrow (Tuesday 24th November) and incredibly, over 200 schools and 70,000 students will be involved. The resources that have been collated for this project will continue to be built and available at www.tuneup.life

This podcast is produced by Ben Anderson for Sound Rebel. Talk to us about producing a podcast for your business - please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our schools, their employees or constituents.