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Motivational talks about fashion, diversity, inclusion and women in business

Barjis Chohan

travels from UK

Social entrepreneur, multicultural fashion designer and a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in business

Request fees and availability

5 out of 5 stars

"Lovely speaker, and spoke frankly about a lovely range of topics. Everyone responded really well and it was a fantastic opportunity to hear from her"

Gemma Paine - University of Surrey Students Union See all references

Why you should book Barjis Chohan for your next event

  • Barjis Chohan is a woman of many talents; a designer, social entrepreneur, and a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in business.
  • She is a great speaker on topics ranging from womens’ rights to making the arts accessible to all.
Non-binding request for Barjis Chohan

Send a simple request. You’ll get a quick reply with fees and availability

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About Barjis

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Barjis's story could have been the typical immigrant story; parents pushing for medicine as a career, cultural and traditional upbringing. There is nothing wrong with the conventional immigrant story that we know. However, what makes Barjis's story interesting is that she turned the other way.

Why you should book Barjis Chohan for your next event

  • Barjis Chohan is a woman of many talents; a designer, social entrepreneur, and a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in business.
  • She is a great speaker on topics ranging from womens’ rights to making the arts accessible to all.

Forged a career in the elitist Fashion industry; decided not to go to medical school; instead enrolled at London College of Fashion; interned at the most eclectic and adventurous Designer we know: Vivienne Westwood; dragged her family to the Middle East every few months (whilst breastfeeding) to knock on doors to secure work for her business; posted handwritten poems to oil companies at the age of 17 to invest in her business and stopped holding fashion shows at the peak of her career because it didn’t feel ‘right’ as she didn’t want young girls to be objectified.

If you want a trailblazer, game changer, rule breaker, and someone who brings passion and inspiration to the stage then Barjis is the one. Barjis is the individual that we all want to be but are not brave enough to be. She lights the stage with her stories, failures, and challenges to help us to dream big. Captivating the audience to reset their lives, take risks, dream bigger and come out motivated to conquer the world.

Barjis is relatable, authentic, and ignites that passion in you and your team to bring the best version of yourself to the table:

  • Barjis supports teams to bring their authentic self to work.
  • She helps you to maintain your ethos whilst growing your business.
  • Shows us how to use creativity and innovative strategies to remain relevant and add a competitive edge.
  • Teaches you cultural nuances to create an inclusive work culture.
See keynotes with Barjis Chohan
Keynote by Barjis Chohan

Be true to your ethos

Why do brands die over time? Why do brands lose their competitive edge? This keynote will highlight the danger of following the crowd and losing your ethos and values of the organisation.

This keynote will explore the following:

  • How to remain relevant yet maintain your core ethos
  • Re-visit your ‘whys’ and mission statement and how to apply them in your day-to-day business
  • Think like a small business yet grow exponentially
  • Stop being everything for everyone and go back to move forward
Keynote by Barjis Chohan

Use creativity as the fuel for growth

Investing in creativity and innovation is the only way to grow businesses that last. Barjis will show you how to use cost effective-tools and methods to bring results.

The keynote will focus on:

  • Strategies to stand out from the crowd
  • Aborting what does not align with your values
  • Helping teams to work interdependently with a common purpose
  • How to work against the status quo to deliver results
Keynote by Barjis Chohan

Understand Cultural Diversity to create an inclusive and productive workplace

Many times employees leave not because of the work but because of the culture. Post-Covid is an employees market and with the ‘great resignation’ we are seeing employers fighting to keep talent.

This keynote will focus on:

  • Understanding culture nuances and sensibilities to retain talent
  • How to create an inclusive culture where everyone is valued
  • Learn practical tools on creating an empathetic culture
  • Build staff morale through adding value and making everyone feel part of a bigger and purposeful goal
  • Creating a culturally diverse team to bring exponential growth
Keynote by Barjis Chohan

Gender Equity and Empowerment

We tend to think that empowering women is the only way to tackle gender inequality. What about empowering both men and women to understand each other without causing division? This keynote challenges the ‘versus’ culture promoted on social media; a culture that causes division and misunderstandings.

This Keynote by Barjis will bring:

  • A better understanding of the challenges faced by BOTH women and men at the workplace
  • How we can create a culture where everyone is valued and we work together to build each other instead of breaking each other
  • Learn tools and better listening skills to create empathy
  • Cater to the needs of every employee with their individual goal plan that works around their personal lifestyles and commitments
  • Using mentors as a way to create leaders within leaders
  • Bridging the gap of gender inequity by working with men as allies
Keynote by Barjis Chohan

Fashion & Sustainability

How can businesses become ethical and sustainable? Is it possible to be 100% Sustainable? Why is sustainability easier to talk about and harder to implement? Barjis has spent 7 years understanding and testing sustainability and has successfully introduced sustainable products to the market.

The keynote will examine:

  • What damage the fashion industry has done to the climate
  • How to create a sustainable plan for your company
  • What are the barriers to success?
  • Why it’s important to re-set and re-evaluate your current sustainability goals?
  • How to take accountability and build a network that will support you in achieving your goals
  • What cost-effective tools can we use immediately to make positive change

     

Watch Barjis Chohan in action

Barjis chohan speaker showreel

Watch Barjis Chohan in action

Barjis Chohan fashion designer talks empowerment

See keynotes with Barjis Chohan

References

Lovely speaker, and spoke frankly about a lovely range of topics. Everyone responded really well and it was a fantastic opportunity to hear from her.

Gemma Paine

University of Surrey Students Union

Barjis is a great character and a brilliant mind, but above all a very generous and special human beign, with a story that deserves to be shared with audiences of many types and all over the world. It was a great fit for the segment of the forum we we're looking her to fit in, and she did amazingly good. A very encouraging quality content to look forward to.

Eugenio Chahin De Gamboa

Ministry of Culture of Colombia

"She was amazing"

Lori Almeida

Siegel+Gale
02.08.2018

Interview with Barjis Chohan

What is your favourite thing about being so multicultural?

The fact that I can subconsciously choose the best of both cultures without thinking about it. I love the colour and richness of my Pakistani roots but I also like the modesty in my lifestyle and being true to myself – which I have adopted from my British influence.

What are your biggest goals in your life/career currently?

To make a positive difference in someone’s life. Public speaking gives me the platform for my voice to be heard. If I can change even five people’s lives in my lifetime then I think I have achieved something. My current career goals are to SERVE whether this is through my design projects, public speaking or my collaborations. I want to make sure that whatever I put out there has a positive impact on someone’s life. I truly believe that we are interdependent and life is about US and not ME.

I run a multi disciplinary design studio – I am always exploring new design projects and not afraid to come out of my comfort zone and explore new ideas and projects. We are working on a collaborative Fashion project with Ukraine Arts Culture and my work will be shown at The Fine Art Museum in San Francisco in September. Finally developing a sunglasses range – which I have been longing to do for quite sometime!

During your travels, which places inspired you most?

I love Istanbul – at times, it feels surreal to be around so much history. I also love Venice and Florence. Karachi – my love – the smell of the earth when you tread foot on that land is so familiar and accepting- brings me back to my fond memories of visiting my extended family as a kid. Finally my hometown- London brings me to life – it is the best place for creatives and businesses – all my memories are embedded in this amazing city!

I love culture, architecture and history – anywhere that has these combinations will inspire me. I hate high rise modern buildings – so places like Dubai, Singapore and New York don’t appeal to me.

What are your three habits for success?

  • Setting realistic goals.
  • Embracing failure
  • Always working on things that are outside my comfort zone

How are your keynote presentations unique?

I tend to speak about my failures more than my success. People think that talking about your failures is sign of weakness but I think it is a sign of strength and resilience. The youth need to told the importance of failure and how it is the catalyst to success. These days’ people think that they can cut corners by going on social media but my presentations I share the importance of not cutting corners and that every experience makes you grow into the person you will become.

What kinds of clients have you worked with in the past?

  • Aston University
  • Cass Business School
  • The capital Exchange
  • Burnley College
  • World Biz Summit – Malaysia
  • AIFW – Malaysia
  • London College of Fashion
  • The Design Museum
  • Global Pioneers Conference
  • Streatham and Clapham High School
  • Wandsworth Enterprise Week
  • Fashion Capital
See keynotes with Barjis Chohan
Non-binding request for Barjis Chohan

Send a simple request. You’ll get a quick reply with fees and availability

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Barjis Chohan
Barjis Chohan

5 out of 5 stars

"Lovely speaker, and spoke frankly about a lovely range of topics. Everyone responded really well and it was a fantastic opportunity to hear from her"

Gemma Paine - University of Surrey Students Union See all references

Keynote topics with Barjis Chohan