Liz Rhodes

"Under Liz's stewardship, Art of Cloud has earned as a reputation as a company that always 'does business well'"

Part of the Tech Women Celebration 50, a curated list of some of the most inspirational women working at all levels of tech

Liz Rhodes is the CEO of Art of Cloud - one of the UK's leading Salesforce consultancies. Over the last eight years she has helped oversee the company's evolution from a West Yorkshire-based start-up to Salesforce Summit Partner, serving a wide-ranging roster of global clients.

As a business leader she has also worked hard to develop a positive and inclusive work culture, where team members are encouraged and supported to expand their skills and learning.

As a senior woman in tech Liz uses her position to advocate for greater gender equality in the sector - working with education providers, mentees and the media to raise awareness, remove practical barriers to achievement and help colleagues and young people realise their potential.

Tell us about the nominee's biggest achievement to date

Liz prides herself on leading by example and more importantly, being committed to helping others fulfil their personal and professional potential. Under Liz's stewardship, Art of Cloud has earned as a reputation as a company that always 'does business well' - acting with integrity, efficiency and complete transparency - but also treats its people well.

Nurturing talent is built-in to the company's structure and Liz has created a system of paid for professional learning that has helped teams push themselves forward and upskill as well as investing in their self-development too.

The proof is in the pudding - with team members choosing to stay with the company to process their careers rather than look elsewhere. As the business continues to grow, Liz has worked hard to ensure that this people-centred has not been lost.

What is the most significant challenge the nominee has overcome?

Like so many businesses, working through the Covid19 pandemic brought major challenges.

On a commercial level many of our clients were severely impacted. One of our specialisms is sports - we work with brands and organisations to help them use tech to achieve their business goals. With live events cancelled and/or postponed they faced some stark choices about revenue and so did we. I was very proud of the way our teams used their expertise to help support these clients and pioneer new ways of working for us too.

On a pastoral level the pandemic posed challenges for us in terms of staff welfare too. Several of the senior leadership team were juggling complex caring commitments alongside work, while we were conscious that several of our teams included people with health needs and/or who were living alone. We took a pro-active approach to staff welfare, making socially distanced home visits, organising team socials (virtual) and scheduling check-ins to make sure we understood how people were feeling.

Tell us something about the nominee people would find surprising

Liz is rightly proud of the fact that she appeared on The Dragon's Den shortly after having her first child - and won the investment she needed for her then extremely new, start-up.

Liz had been working in the tech sector but decided to launch her own business when her eldest child was born. The company - a baby accessories business providing changing mats and bags in brightly-coloured designs - attracted a rapid amount of media and consumer interest. When the opportunity to feature on the BBC show came up, she and her then business partner accepted, winning 100% of the investment they were looking for.