Team-Driven Leadership and the Impact of Their Support

Image: Winners of Venus Award, Nikki Ball and Anna Sampson

Winning the Venus Award’s Inspirational Woman of the Year for the Thames Valley region, was a real moment of reflection for me.

I’m not someone who typically steps into the spotlight, but this recognition made me look back on what that journey had meant for me, my team, and the business I had the privilege to lead.

When I joined Boomerang Creative as General Manager and Creative Director, I knew I wanted to do more than just help the business grow. I wanted to create a culture where people could do their best work without sacrificing the other parts of life that matter. In the months that followed, we doubled the size of the team, won major new clients, and launched our first ever apprenticeship role. And we did it while embracing flexible working for every single member of staff.

For me, success isn’t just about the numbers, though I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved commercially. It’s about how people feel at work. It’s about building trust, supporting individual circumstances, and removing barriers so people can thrive in their own way. I’ve seen firsthand how flexibility breeds loyalty, creativity, and results.

Working in a male-dominated industry, I’ve learned that it’s not enough to talk about inclusion, we have to design it into our everyday operations. I was lucky enough to work with a team who embraced that wholeheartedly and brought energy, talent, and ideas to everything they did.

What made this recognition even more special was that my team nominated me for the award. Their belief and their support meant the world to me. Being nominated by those you work with is the highest compliment, it’s a testament to the collaboration, trust, and shared vision we built together. It truly made the award even more meaningful.

Hearing Professor Ellie Highwood describe my work, really stuck with me:

Anna knows that acting locally is sometimes the best way to make a massive difference. As a senior manager in the male-dominated design industry, she works tirelessly to drive positive change in her company and the industry, and uses creative solutions to inspire those around her to achieve their full potential.

Because that’s what leadership is to me, making meaningful change in the space you occupy, however big or small. It’s about leaving things better than you found them, lifting others as you go, and making space for new voices at the table.

It was an incredibly inspiring competition, and I was honoured to be recognised among such wonderful women. That shared sense of drive and purpose, to lead with integrity and make an impact, is what makes awards like this so meaningful. Thank you to the University of Reading for sponsoring the award, and to the Venus Awards for shining a light on women in business who are shaping our industries, teams, and communities for the better.

If you’re building something: a business, a team, a new way of working, and you want to talk about what inclusive leadership looks like in practice, I’d love to connect.