Laura-Jane Baxter Email & Phone Number

Sheffield, Gb

Sheffield, England, United Kingdom

Property Developer:I run a real estate investment vehicle coordinating acquisition and refurbishment of properties in Sheffield, orchestrating conversions from single-let residential houses into licensed and fully-equipped HMOs.HMO Property Manager:Lettings and management agency that manages HMO house shares in Sheffield for students and young professionals.Serviced Accommodation Operator: I run high-quality short-stay accommodation in Sheffield which offers alternatives to hotels. Our accommodation is private and comes fully equipped with kitchen facilities and private lounge space.www.morethanbricks.co.uk

www.laurajanebaxter.com

In this job, I learned how dangerous it can be to dismiss the ideas of the only woman in the room.Our team was in charge of publishing three editions of an undergraduate philosophy journal: PhilonoUS. 11 months passed by, and still, nothing had been published.After studying business development and building my own affiliating marketing website in my free time, I recognised that the journal had a lot of potential to grow. I pitched this to the team, and all of my ideas were dismissed: as too ambitious, and that I cared too much about my job. Our jobs aren't that important or meaningful anyway, I was told. It's not about being of high quality, I was told. It's quite astonishing the lengths we go to when the only woman in the room is told that she can't, without offering her a good reason why not. So I did it anyway. I took the initiative to translate my new entrepreneurial skillset to PhilonoUS, and orchestrated a complete structural reform. My aim was to convert PhilonoUS from what was effectively an academic reading club with a journal, into a sustainable non-profit business which is a better reflection of the university. To achieve this, I designed and built new roles in customer services, marketing, web development, business management, recruitment, affiliate blogging and business strategy analysis, and a training programme to seamlessly integrate each role without the appearance of a hierarchy. I advertised, interviewed, recruited for and trained these new roles. I also rewrote the PhilonoUS user manual, and restructured the system so that it would be self-sustaining and would never again see an 100% turn-over in team members at once. From this experience, I learned how to design a business model, recruit, and scale a business, and realised how much of that success could be achieved through coupling initiative and creative problem solving with authentic and compassionate communication. Women who behave rarely make history.

This job taught me a surprising amount about moral conduct and resolve of character.When I asked the manager for a raise, I managed to negotiate a raise for every employee under 18 from then on, too. This taught me that you should feel the fear, then do what you fear anyway, because you have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain, and you stepping out of your comfort zone can pave the way for others.After 15 months of faithful employment, I quit this job when I was instructed to act in a way that discriminated on the basis of gender, in the name of chivalry and tradition. I met some extremely hard-working and fun people on this job who taught me not to take myself so seriously, and to stand up for my values. More than anything, I learned that I never again want to have to work an unfulfilling role where I trade my time for money, rather than the fruits of that time.

Carlton Hill, Nottingham

Maths and English Tutoring; Administration

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Philosophy, I No Longer Share My Grades Unless Necessary.

We all-too-often judge our intelligence and worth by our grades or perceptions of performance at work. To sever the connection between.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Continental Philosophy, I No Longer Shares Grades Unless Necessary.

Is it more important to think critically, or be open to possibility? Studying continental philosophy taught me a different way to approach.

Gcse And A-Level

Activities and Societies: Debate Society Co-founder and leader of Christian Union Commerical Dance Barbershop Small Chorus Manager.

Education record

🥇 Gold Award: UK Maths Challenge 🥈 Silver Award: UK Maths Challenge 🏆 100m Sprint Nottingham City Champion 2013

Education record

Physics, Psychology

Activities and Societies: The Great ORA Debate https://blogs.oxford-royale.com/st-catherines-college/08/09/laura-jane-baxter-brings-it-home.