Josephine Fairley
Co-founder of Green and Blacks chocolate
Co- founder of Green and Blacks chocolate and The Perfume Society, leading brand consultant, Journalist and Inspirational speaker Jo Fairley is one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs.
A serial entrepreneur and business woman, Jo has an exceptional understanding of brand creation and development and a talent for sharing that experience and insightful knowledge with audiences around the world. As a consultant Jo works for clients at a hands-on level, helping with product development, branding, media and more. She is also co-author with Craig Sams of “Sweet dreams: The Story of Green and Blacks”.
BIOGRAPHY
Since founding Green & Black’s chocolate in 1991 with her husband Craig Sams, Jo Fairly has built the brand into the world’s leading organic chocolate, continuing to champion its worldwide success in co-operation with its new owners. Jo Fairley used £20,000 of her savings to launch Green & Black’s whilst continuing her work as a writer. Jo was responsible for all Green & Black’s marketing, PR and brand work, turning her unique skills to good effect to make this delicious chocolate a must for everyone from celebrity chefs to the discerning chocoholic. In 2005, Green & Black’s was successfully sold to Cadbury’s in 2005. Jo remains an ambassador for Green & Blacks.
A former magazine editor and journalist for a wide range of publications Jo Fairley is a serial entrepreneur, highly successful business woman and a freelance journalist, contributing beauty and feature articles to a range of international publications including Elle, Red, Marie Claire, Here’s Health, and The Times of London. Now she is a perfumier, having launched the Perfume Society, a subscription service for people who love scent. A long-term supporter of the organic movement, she presented a 30-week television series on green issues, Go For Green.
In her presentations Jo talks about the many lessons learned along the path to business success, including the emotional aspect of building a brand and then ‘letting go’, when it’s sold on, as well as the importance of design, branding, PR and marketing. She can address how ethical issues are becoming more important to consumers and how working for a company with a strong CSR programme can boost team spirit and dedication.
TESTIMONIAL
‘Jo chaired the Epson round table discussion with a skilful, light touch. Her relaxed style and anecdotal-filled introduction put participants at ease and encouraged them to contribute. Her perceptive questioning ensured that the debate flowed smoothly and her concluding remarks ensured the key points were reiterated and participants left with them front-of-mind.’
Epson Business Council
‘We really appreciated Jo’s efforts to integrate additional elements into her story to help emphasise our key message. We had someone come up afterwards saying they “could’ve listened to Jo all day!” As a result of Jo’s speech, our Head of Marketing emphasised “intrepreneurial spirit” as one of his five key points that he felt summarised the day.’
Visa Europe
‘We received excellent feedback on Jo’s session, with a vast number of delegates citing it as their conference highlight.’
NHS North West
‘Jo’s speech was everything we hoped for. She was entertaining and informative, thoroughly engaging and I would recommend her wholeheartedly to any other organisation. Here’s a comment from one attendee: “Where on earth did you find her? She had our entire group mesmerised from start to finish. She had the guts to do what many of us have always dreamed of – starting our own thing. It’s convinced me it’s time to dive into the unknown and take that risk!”’
The American Women’s Club
‘Jo’s experiences and achievements were shared so well with several different audiences during a whole day, from a lunch with local businesses to sessions with students and finally an Awards ceremony in the evening. Everyone enjoyed their time with her; her talks were from real experiences, sharing real problems and real solutions. Her friendly nature and positive attitude were a great example to all who attended, and her easygoing personality made managing all three events an easy task.’
City College Plymouth
‘Everyone thought that Jo’s talk was very inspirational. I looked around the room where she was speaking and all attendees were transfixed. She has a lovely personality, was witty and her talk really resonated with everyone.’
Bedfordshire BusinessWomen
‘Jo provided an insightful and enlightening session about her experiences of building a fast-growing organisation – highlighting the professional and personal challenges she faced, and how she tackled them to get the desired outcome. The audience was fully engaged and definitely left the event with some “food for thought”. The session completely met our criteria and got the results that we wanted.’
Sellick Partnership
‘Speaking to a group of already successful entrepreneurs is no easy gig but Jo won us all over’
Jacqui Main, EO-UK Entrepreneurs Organisation
‘We had fantastic feedback from our conference delegates. Not only did they enjoy Jo’s talk but they took away valuable insight into entrepreneurialism. Inspiring!’
Teesside University
‘Jo spoke honestly at one of our Leadership Community Round Table events about the Green & Black’s story and brought it to life with some wonderful personal anecdotes. Jo was happy to take questions from the floor and freely shared her thoughts and experiences in a very honest and engaging way. We have already received positive feedback about the evening from our members and I know that the speaker at our next event will now have a tough act to follow!’
Sharon Collier, The Leadership School, Bristol
‘From Green & Black’s to The Beauty Bible, Jo brought her vast knowledge and experience in business and delivered an excellent keynote speech. She has a natural charm and energy, as well as genuine enthusiasm for the ethics of her business practices. It was very refreshing to hear a talk which had such honesty, integrity and humour all combined in one. It was a speech to remember!’
Hannah O’Donaghue, Fuller Research Group
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