Off The Record #1
OFF THE RECORD
Hosted by Marlene Leiss and Adishree Bansal
An intimate, application-only evening for ambitious women in London. Share your wins and dreams. Then Pitch, plot, move, all off the record, and leave the evening with meaning connections.
Who this is for:
How many events have you been to where you left feeling like nothing actually happened? You made some small talk, you swapped a LinkedIn, you went home.
Off The Record is the opposite of that. Every seat at the table is intentional and every person in the room has been chosen because of what they're working on and what they bring.
If you are a female founder or operator with big ambitions but you feel a little stuck, then this evening is for you!
What you need to prep:
Prepare a short slide about yourself. Include anything you'd like to share, including a recent win and - most importantly - your ask. Think: What do I want (right now) that can help me get ahead?
How the evening works:
The brag round: you share a win. Big or small. We are normalising women celebrating themselves in public, starting here.
The pitch round: you say "I want..." and finish the sentence. A co-founder. A book deal. A brand partnership. A raise. Five minutes of bravery, surrounded by people rooting for you.
The plot round: the table mobilises. Who knows someone? Who's done this? Who wants in? This is where things actually move.
The move round: everyone commits to one concrete action before we meet again. This is not a dreaming-only space.
The unscripted bit: Don't worry, we've set some time aside for you to chat further...
About us:
Marlene is the Co-founder & COO at Calibr, part of the Apprentify Group, named the UK's 30th fastest-growing company. She exited her first startup, The Graduate Guide, a community of 30k+ people looking to break into startup careers, in December 2025. Marlene has hosted several events (big and small) with partners like Google Cloud, LinkedIn and NatWest. Her biggest dream is to have a VC fund for (only) women-led companies one day.
Adishree is an engineer and founder. She runs NexusKCG, an innovation consultancy with clients ranging from preMVP-stage startups to FTSE 100 companies, and built RITON, an HR SaaS platform for employee intelligence, as its first product. She also founded Pleasantri, a female health social enterprise, which recently closed Women@Adobe and World Vision as strategic partners. Her biggest dream is closing the gap between the 130 million girls currently out of school and the rooms they should be sitting in.
🏃♀️ Spots are capped at 15 and allocated first come first served (assuming eligibility).
🥤 There'll be food & drinks (no alcohol) served at event.