Spotlight on…Michele Tiley-Hill, Chief Financial Officer

What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

I’m not sure whether it was courageous or slightly foolish but I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie in my youth.  I have bungee jumped 1,000 feet from a helicopter and sky dived etc. but the scariest of my experiences was when parascending in Cuzco, Peru.  I ran off the edge of a cliff and my parachute did not open.  The instructor was shouting for me to stop but I was past the point of no return.  Fortunately, as I jumped my parachute opened and caught a thermal.  As a result, I didn’t really enjoy the 20-minute parascend back to the fields below.

What TV show/movie do you never tire of watching, and why do you love it?

As a family we loved Shitt’s Creek.  Arguably the most warm, inclusive, and tolerant sitcoms of recent times with a very impressive cast and team of writers.  I also find myself watching many repeat episodes of Friends with my kids.  Timeless.

What country would you travel to if you could go anywhere?

I’ve been fortunate to travel to many wonderful places around the world.  But I’d really love to go and see the Northern Lights.  I had booked to visit northern Finland in December 2018 however our flights were cancelled due to drone activity over Gatwick Airport so the trip never happened.  The Northern Lights are still on my bucket list (spending another long day at Gatwick Airport is not).

What is the biggest work challenge you face right now?

Global events that are causing unprecedented disruption to our ability to organise our trade and consumers shows, and to our customer supply chains. 

What advice would you give to someone looking to work in events?

I have always worked in people focussed industries whether this be live entertainment, media or trade shows.  Whilst the pandemic has had a considerable impact on our sector, the trade show business model remains robust.  Our ability to strengthen bonds between customers, to learn about new developments across differing sectors, and to help our customers to build their businesses remains.  Global events, be they economic recessions or otherwise, pass.

What makes you proud to work at RX?

I am extremely proud of the resilience of all our employees, especially given the impact Covid-19 has had on RX’s business.  I’m also proud of the progress we are making in terms of inclusion and diversity but equally I recognise we have a long way to go to eradicate unconscious bias from society, including within all businesses.  When on an improvement journey; start now and make things better step by step.