Glasgow’s most inspiring leaders: Meet the finalists for 2017
They’re the Moses to your flock
Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some go out of their way to have greatness thrust upon them.
We’ve scoured Glasgow to find the people who, not fulfilled by mere lectures and Thursday nights at Hive, have pushed themselves further to become something more.
They’ve invented genius apps, put on spectacular shows and campaigned to support life-changing research.
You’ve probably already heard of them, or maybe they’ve influenced your life without you knowing it. Either way, you’re going to want to see who’s made the list.
Here are your most inspiring leaders of 2017.
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Morgan McTiernan, Founded the Fashion Show Committee
Graduated, History of Art
What made you interested in working for the Fashion Show Committee?
I’m a freelance journalist and I went to fashion shows at other unis to review them, so when I found out Glasgow was having its own I though it was the perfect opportunity for Glasgow to make its mark.
I was one of the founding members of the committee and my main role during the first year was press and publicity and I was involved in the art direction. I’d built a lot of contacts such as designers, photographers and make-up artistes through modelling and I used them to create fun shoots to market the up and coming show.
For the 2016 show I was in charge of sourcing womenswear designers, which was a much more creative role. I helped out with the creative direction of the shoots and organising how the show would look overall.
It was amazing to see the difference between the first and second year. The show was executed more professionally and felt like it was the prime event for loads of students, so it was great to be part of the committee organising that.
What kind of leader are you?
To be a good leader you have to have a good balance. You have to be able to see where everyone’s strengths lie and entrust responsibility to other people.
It’s hard to delegate if you’re the one with the creative vision as you have to be sure everyone’s on the same wavelength, but once you see everyone’s got skills and expertise to contribute to the end goal it’s a lot easier to use their skills.
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What does being a leader mean to you?
I aim to inspire other people. I work as a curve model and in November I launched a project promoting body positivity where I wrote an article calling for the industry to embrace more body types.
If you’re a leader people will look up to you and admire you, so my main goal with my body positivity project is to inspire people so they can reach their dreams or get to the same point as me.
What drives you?
I’m really passionate about changing people’s perceptions in a positive way. Society is so concentrated on materialistic things and looking a certain way, and people should not be so focused on looking their absolute best all the time.
Be the best you can be but don’t compare yourself to others or put too much pressure on yourself.
Are you driven, ambitious and resilient like Morgan?
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Tia Manavis, President of Glasgow Feminist Society
Fourth Year, Social and Public Policy
What made you interested in becoming the President of Glasgow Feminist Society?
I’ve always been interested in feminism and in second year two girls I knew started a second feminist society in Glasgow, so I got involved through them and became events co-ordinator. I ran for President last year and am now on the board as a past President. Feminism is something that should resonate with everyone but especially as a woman.
What does being a leader mean to you?
As a leader you’re the face of that society so you need to act as a brand ambassador. You’re also responsible for creating a really welcome environment so people feel welcome and comfortable to talk. As long as you’re respectful you can ask whatever questions you want and have a debate about it.
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What kind of leader are you?
It’s hard to give up some control when you’ve worked on something for a long time, but team work is so important. Everyone would collapse under pressure if they didn’t have a team behind them.
What are you passionate about?
I just really enjoy feminism. It started out as a hobby that added an interesting filter to the way you think about things, but I got more involved when I realised how horribly it affects so many people. I see this especially with the anti-sexual assault campaign I’m part of, so I want to help as many people as you can.
The campaign was a collaboration between feminist and mental health societies in Glasgow that started last year called “Let’s Talk”. Since then we’ve gotten things put into the Code of Conduct that weren’t there before and made sure there were new disclosure mechanisms put in place.
Have you had anything go wrong and how did you deal with it?
Resources for activist societies are really limited so there have been times when campaigns have seemed like they’d fall apart.
We were trying to get sexual assault prevention measures put in place in a short time period through the Student Union. We knew there was a lot of bureaucracy in place that would slow things down, but we were still surprised when the President of the SU said it would take five years and there was nothing we could do.
We didn’t let that stop us though. We went round them and did it anyway and it’s helped a lot of people already.
Are you good at thinking on your feet like Tia?
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Fiona Macfie, President of Glasgow Marrow
5th year, Dentistry
What made you interested in becoming President of Glasgow Marrow?
I started volunteering with Marrow in second year because I lived at home in first year and didn’t meet that many people at uni so I knew I wanted to join a society. I signed up to donate my own stem cells, blood and organs as soon as I could because I’d seen the families of close friends who’d been affected by senseless horrible diseases and I wanted to be able to give if I could. Marrow seemed like a perfect step for me.
I joined Marrow in second year as a general volunteer to council and talk people through the process of donation and checking they’re eligible to join. The following year I ran as an outreach co-ordinator, tackling inequalities on the register such as young men and minorities being under represented.
I wanted to take on the role of President because I’m passionate about helping new volunteers gain as much from their time as I have.
What does been a leader mean to you?
Being a leader means taking responsibility but not taking over. I look at leadership as a role to provide support and opportunities for other people to really take on their own projects and shine within that.
For me communication is the most important thing as a leader. I like to be kept in the loop so I can manage major problems before they become an issue but I avoid micromanagement.
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What drives you?
Things like donations can have such a massive impact but Marrow isn’t well known enough. I’m really passionate about increasing the awareness people have about other people and trying to tackle inequality on all levels.
I look at my role in life as trying to help other people and society as a whole.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I’m fascinated by how social factors and public policy can influence the health of normal people and I’ve got really interested in charity management since working for Marrow, so I’d like to carry both interests forward.
My ultimate goal would be to work for the World Health Organisation.
Do you have big plans for the future?
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Alasdair Ireland, created Your Book List
3rd Year, Economics and Business Management
What made you want to create this app?
I came to university and experienced first hand how much text books were costing. As an innocent and naive first year I got all the books first hand and then the year finished and there was no fair marketplace to sell the books I no longer needed for a good price.
I know how stressful it is to be a student balancing money and trying to save that extra £100, so I thought why not create a platform for students to buy and sell unwanted books.
We put it out in 2015 and within a year we’d saved students £10,000 on books. Over the two years we’ve been in existence we’ve saved students £40,000.
What advice would you give to potential leaders?
Being a leader means putting yourself on the same level as everyone you work with. That way you can all contribute ideas and this produces the best results.
We have weekly meeting where we get everyone together and talk about ideas – it’s like a small focus group with our brand ambassadors.
It’s also important to be honest and self-aware so you know what your own weaknesses.
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What drives you?
It’s just saving people money at the end of the day. We’ve had a lot of nice messages about how much people have saved or made and what it’s allowed them to do. It’s that feel good feeling at the end of the day when you know you’ve helped someone on something that’s a necessary cost.