The Mount Welcomes Four Ex-Pupils to Speak at Careers Week 2026
The four speakers, all Mount Old Scholars, gave insightful and inspirational talks to attentive pupils, across the whole school, as they discussed their career journeys and shared useful advice.
The speakers were invited as part of The Mount’s annual Careers Week. Though each worked in different sectors, and had different career journeys, they all had one thing in common – they started at The Mount. This allowed our pupils to see firsthand what is possible for them for their next steps after school.
On Monday, the guest speaker was Victoria Brown, who left The Mount in 2016. In only a decade Victoria has worked her way up to the position of Associate Quality Director at AstraZeneca, the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical company. She currently leads a team of ten people across five different countries. After leaving The Mount, Victoria studied Chemistry at The University of Liverpool, with a year in industry – something she highly recommended to the girls during her lecture.
Victoria was a part of the team that developed AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. She said: “Usually development of a drug, establishment of a supply chain and getting into commercial manufacture takes 10 to 15 years, we did it in 6 months.”
Olivia Brabbs was the second speaker of the week. Having left The Mount back in 1993, she has since embarked on an “epic career journey” that has seen her succeed in two quite different fields. During her time at school, Olivia went on a trip to Romania where she did humanitarian work with disabled and orphaned children. This is where she discovered her passion for working with people. Olivia’s first major career was as an Occupational Therapist. Though passionate about her work, Olivia opted for a career change in 2006, becoming a photographer. Twenty years later, she is now a successful freelance photographer, specialising in food photography. She has worked with Michelin Star chefs around the world as well as TV chefs such as Prue Leith.
Olivia told pupils how career changes, though daunting, can be the right choice, emphasising that all skills are transferrable: “It’s okay to change your mind…nothing is wasted, everything I’ve ever done has fed into the next thing.”
Thursday’s speaker was Dr Arati Wimalasingham Obeyesekere, who left The Mount in 2000. Arati spoke to pupils about her impressive career in Medicine, a career path that many of our current pupils are interested in. After six years at Medical School, she spent two years as a Junior Doctor, a time she remembers fondly. Arati then went on to specialise as a psychiatrist, a role she still holds today. Arati’s lecture was very interactive, asking questions of pupils, before educating them on the multi-faceted role of a doctor.
Arati’s speech was as motivational as it was interesting: “There is no time to dwell on any type of failure…you need to pick yourself up and keep going, there are always opportunities and support in Medicine that allow you do to so.”
The final speaker was Dr Ganeshi Wimalasingham, a Consultant Medical Oncologist at University College London who left The Mount in 2001. Ganeshi spoke t during our evening event ‘The Mount Celebrates Dr Audrey Evans The Mother of Neuroblastoma‘. Dr Audrey Evans was also a Mount pupil and revolutionary Oncologist – Ganeshi credited her as a major inspiration in her own career. Ganeshi specialises in Oncology, the branch of medicine dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer; an expert in her field.
She talked openly about how delivering news, can be either the best or worst aspect of her role: “When someone wants to keep fighting, but they are at the end of their treatment, balancing reality with hope is an aspect of my job that I still struggle with emotionally, however, when you get to see patients doing well, and their treatment is working, it is truly incredible.”
Thank you to all our talented guest speakers – your journeys are an inspiration to our pupils as they plan their own future careers.
James Waddington, Head of College, said:
“Thank you so much to all our speakers. There is nothing more valuable for our pupils than hearing firsthand from women who have been in their position, once pupils at The Mount, and now leading figures in various key industries. The talks were fascinating, and we are now organising work experience placements with some of our esteemed visitors for which we thank them.”
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