Heading to a conference, whether a domestic or international speaking engagement, that requires thinking about looking professional in front of a group of your peers and senior executives in your industry can be tricky. Not to mention the additional consideration of what will pack well and not require frantic preparation in the hotel room to make sure you look presentable.
The Oil & Gas Council’s Africa Assembly is recognised as the region’s most influential Energy finance and investment gathering with an audience of over 400 senior executives. The energy conference aims to bring together the energy bosses of tomorrow and the oil and gas leaders of today to discuss varying issues across all sectors. So basically, it’s a pretty big deal.
When you’re Head of Commercial and Business Development at Sahara Energy‘s upstream arm, speaking in front of a group of badass executives—including entrepreneurs, industry insiders, and aspiring CEOs—in Paris, France on a topic as important as gender parity and finding solutions to thorny issues like how to create more opportunities for C-Suite level female involvement in the energy industry is no piece of cake, but when you are Mariah Arierhi Lucciano-Gabriel, it’s pretty much a walk in the park.
And even more amazing (to us anyway), her fashion forward looks on both days of the conference are certainly panel worthy. Lucciano-Gabriel arrived at the panel wearing polished pieces every working girl BellaStylista will covet.
Mariah was lucky enough to get her hands on upcoming pieces from the Smart Money Woman TV Show fashion edit (yup! You will be able to shop a few of the standout looks from the upcoming TV show. More on that later) this particular piece is by Adey Soile, which you will soon be able to preorder ahead of the show’s September release date.
She rounded out the outfit with a mix of accessories: Christian Dior shoes and a Saint Laurent bag. On day two she opted for a chic print fit from high street retailer Zara, a pale pink Chanel bag and burgundy Aquazurra shoes. Could she possibly look any chicer?
On her Instagram she shared her experience saying:
… my panel discussion with these lovely ladies at Africa Assembly conference in Paris.
Someone in the audience from NNPC actually sent my boss a message on how impressed he was by my session but what floored me completely was when Pam Darwin, VP Africa ExxonMobil Exploration came up to me and said “I’ve witnessed my fair share of these gender equality discussions and I must say this was hands down the best panel I’ve heard. I particularly enjoyed the way you broke down the issues into what the various sectors can do to combat the crisis and how real you kept it with your experiences” as If that wasn’t enough, when she saw me the next day, she congratulated me again! Like who am I right now? Pam Darwin!! *shrieks in excitement*
I was very happy with how much male participation there was in the conversation and the commitment some of them made on the spot for more female inclusion in the industry. It was a very interesting session and the wealth of knowledge shared from all the panelists was impressive. Here’s to shattering ceilings, smashing windows and taking our rightful seat at the table.
My follow up interview with @vanguardnews (link in my bio) highlights my views on some of the issues discussed
Special “sharout” to my coach extraordinaire @smartmoneyarese for tolerating the countless midnight calls and the hookup on my fierce @adeysoile fit
Here’s to stylish, career-minded women everywhere! Keep scrolling to take a peek at some of her favourite moments from the conference and her Paris trip.
