Sonya  Barlow Profile Picture

Keynote SpeakerSonya Barlow

Tech Entrepreneur, BBC Presenter, Keynote Speaker, Author, Event MC, Founder of LMF Network, TEDxSpeaker, Content Creator & Podcast Host

Sonya Barlow is an award-winning BBC Presenter, Author, Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, TEDxSpeaker, Content Creator and Writer. She hosts her talk show The Sonya Barlow Show where she interviews world leaders on the stories behind their success, with high-profile names such as Princess Lamia of Saudi Arabia and Footballer Gilberto Silva.... Read more

Biography

Sonya Barlow is an award-winning BBC Presenter, Author, Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, TEDxSpeaker, Content Creator and Writer. She hosts her talk show The Sonya Barlow Show where she interviews world leaders on the stories behind their success, with high-profile names such as Princess Lamia of Saudi Arabia and Footballer Gilberto Silva. In 2022, Sonya was named a LinkedIn Top Voice for Gender Diversity and her BBC show The Everyday Hustle, was The Best Radio Show in the UK.

Sonya is the CEO of the Like Minded Females (LMF) Network, an inclusion consultancy and social networking platform redesigning workplace policies and professional careers to encourage diversity and inclusion. Sonya has also written the popular book “Unprepared to Entrepreneur” and won multiple awards, including Europe’s Top 50 Women in Tech, Marie Claire’s Future Shaper, UK Entrepreneur of the Year and Asian Women of Achievement. She is one of the youngest South Asian females to have two TEDx talks, titled “Please Come Online” and “Failure Comes Before Resilience”.

Sonya’s energetic and captivating personality has seen her invited to Keynote at The House of Commons on gender diversity and delivering global keynotes on business, technology and inclusion in Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Kenya, Pakistan, Amsterdam, France, the UK, Portugal and Mauritius, to name a few.

Sonya’s background in technology, business and travel provides her with the unique ability to understand technical terms, share innovative solutions and advocate allyship. She has a great sense of cultural communication and is often told that her power is summarising large bits of information into notable smaller action steps that the audience can easily takeaway.

She has worked with household brands such as Lloyds banking group and Capital One on their technology podcast, led campaigns for Loreal, HP, Rolls Royce, Fiverr, Logitech and Linkedin and delivered talks to high-profile stakeholders across industries such as Fintech, Technology, Finance, Hospitality, Public Sector, Higher Education, Government, Fashion, Retail and Corporate.

Sonya Barlow is a neurodivergent British Pakistani woman with chronic migraines, ADHD and mental health conditions. Diversity, resilience, and neurodiversity are topics close to her heart when delivering keynotes. She is able to deliver workshops and keynotes about her own experiences of ADHD, with advice on coping mechanisms and how your neurodiversity can be an asset if channeled in the right way.

Sonya has worked in the technology sector since 2015 and is currently building an app to encourage professional working women to build their networks and knowledge, whilst supporting workplaces to retain diverse talent.

Outside of her day-to-day, Sonya is a highly accomplished Moderator and Event MC, with official hosting duties for London Tech Week, WebSummit, Cogx Festival and Amsterdam Fintech Week. She is also a writer for Metro UK, Telegraph, HelloMag, Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor and is often asked to lecture for Coventry University, Bayes Business School, Oxford Brookes, University of the Arts London and Kings College.

Ensuring that the relevant information is shared, Sonya uses her social media platforms positively to storytell her experiences of travelling, business and technology as a role model. She has over 100,000 followers and is seen as an influential voice striving to make a difference.

“I have supported many employers to deliver presentation evenings and panel events and without a doubt the way in which Sonya Barlow hosted the conversation is by far the best I have seen. She was engaging, understood her audience and involved the students throughout the discussion.” Cardiff University
“Sonya is a great keynote speaker. We've had a lot of positive feedback and want to extend a big thank you to Sonya. She set the scene for the event really well. It was a perfect balance of delivering a quite challenging topic to make people think and at the same time allow people to be vulnerable enough to express themselves, be thoughtful and engage in discussions.” Manchester & Trafford Local Care

Popular Talks by Sonya Barlow

  • Diversity
    We know that inclusive practises can generate 33% more profit for businesses, but in practice what does this mean? Sonya is a thought leader on all things diversity and inclusion, covering topics from introduction to diversity to inclusive allyship, leaderships styles, to hiring best practices and retention of staff. She...
  • Resilience
    Failure is a common trait which very few of us want to touch on, given that everything online looks pretty and perfect. Sonya is honest about her failure journey, from being fired in the workplace to facing rejections along the way. All these experiences have given her the resilience to...
  • Future of Work
    According to recent stats, the future of work and shortage of soft skills is costing £22bn. The topics Sonya can cover on the future of work include AI and digital transformation, soft and professional skills, mentorship, remote working, ed tech and alternative education, as well as gender equality, accessibility and...
  • Neurodiversity
    Sonya is a rare Pakistani woman open about her struggles with mental health, ADHD and chronic migraines which has brought on levels of loneliness and determination. Recgonising that few brown woman represent the neurodiversity space, Sonya is keen to contribute to this ongoing discussion with her lived and learnt experiences,...
  • Confidence
  • Imposter syndrome
  • Failure
  • Personal Brand
  • Travel
  • Gender Equality
  • Social Media
  • Professional Development
  • Entrepreneurship