Josephine Fairley is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Green & Black’s luxury chocolate brand. After finishing school at 16 with six O Levels, Jo became the UK's youngest-ever magazine editor. Today, she continues to make influential contributions to the industry. With her ventures spanning industries but collectively themed around the senses, Jo’s experience is vast yet comprehensive. Beneficial to a range of clients, as a speaker, Jo is highly in demand due to her invaluable expertise and accomplished career.
Driven by her commitment to organic food production and greener business practices, Jo co-founded Green & Blacks in 1991 alongside her husband. Three decades later, the organic food range is worth over £100 million and has been named the UK’s Coolest Food Brand for eleven consecutive years by Coolbrands Survey. Using only ethically sourced cocoa and creating products from every element of the produce ensures that the brand, owned by Cadbury since 2005, remains a leader in sustainable business. Jo received the World Aware Award for her influential entrepreneurship, a testament to her dedication to environmentally friendly principles.
An undeniably prominent woman in business, Jo hasn’t stopped at one market-dominating venture. Formerly the youngest ever magazine editor in Britain, when she joined Look Now in 1979, evident from the outset was Jo’s drive, resilience and determination to forge herself a history-defining career. Over 40 years later, she is now the award-winning Co-Founder of Judges Bakery, The Perfume Society and The Wellington Centre. Offering an insider perspective, Jo’s publication The Story of Green & Black’s with Craig Sams was an instant Best Seller. In 2020, Jo was named as one of the 100 UK Leading Environmentalists by Forbes. She also received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Studies from Kingston University.
For over twenty years, Jo has conducted keynote talks internationally, like An Evening with Jo Fairley Founder of Green & Black's in 2017. Offering insight to conferences, corporate clients and specialist occasions, her status in the industry guarantees a buzz around any event she attends. With first-hand knowledge of the entire spectrum of business development, from start-up to global market leader, Jo’s talks have seen her address audiences at every stage, including schools, entrepreneurs and the business sector. She has an impressive portfolio; some of her previous clients include HSBC, Bloomberg, and Deloitte. With such extensive public speaking experience, Jo has spoken on numerous business topics and is often called on to share how to become an ethical business like Green & Blacks.
Champions Speakers proudly represent Jo Fairley as an official speaker agent. Find out first-hand how the inspirational businesswoman achieved it all and transformed your company's future when you book Jo Fairley for a motivational keynote talk.
Jo Fairley has been listed in multiple official lists by Champions Speakers, including Top 10 Keynote Speakers Trending in the UK and 50 Women Who Have Shattered Glass Ceilings.
Social Media
Books
The Story of Green & Black's: How two entrepreneurs turned an ethical idea into a business success
The Perfume Bible
The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible
The Anti-Aging Beauty Bible
Reviews
Jo Fairley received a 4.5 star rating across 20 events in 2023.
Agent Recommendation
"Jo Fairley is an inspiring entrepreneur and co-founder of Green & Black’s, known for her dynamic storytelling and insights into ethical business and resilience. Her journey from magazine editor to global chocolate icon captivates audiences, offering valuable lessons in innovation, sustainability, and overcoming challenges. Highly recommended for impactful, engaging events."
How to hire Jo Fairley
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Jo Fairley for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Jo Fairley’s official speaking topics are listed below:
- Business Management
- Sustainability & ESG
- Business Success
- Leadership
- Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Marketing & Branding
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events:
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming to our event on Monday. We had brilliant feedback from everyone that attended - it was along the lines of 'inspiring speaker', 'engaging and humourous' and 'amazing career story'. Other interesting feedback... it was great to have a story from a woman where there haven't been significant barriers because of gender." - Bernadette, Senior Counsel of International Acquisition Finance, Mizuho Bank
"She had an action-packed day at the College, speaking with local hospitality employers at a lunch, inspiring our current students at two workshops and motivating our award winners to believe in their ideas and ambitions at our annual awards ceremony in the evening. Jo’s experiences and achievements were shared so well with all audiences, everyone enjoyed their time with her. Her talks were from real experiences, sharing real problems and real solutions. Her friendly nature and positive attitude were a great example to all who attended, and her easy going personality made managing all three events an easy task. I would certainly recommend Jo to other organisations who are looking for a ‘down-to-earth’, inspirational and motivational speaker. Jo was a pleasure to host and I would welcome her back to the College again." - Kate, Marketing Officer, City College Plymouth
"All went well thanks - she was very well received" - Chinnor RFC
“Jo met the brief and event objectives 100%. She handled everything with the up-most professionalism and her comments were enlightening." - Jergens Naturals
"Josephine Fairley spoke at our Chairman’s Annual Business Dinner on the 15th March 2013. Jo was absolutely fantastic, her talk was so inspirational and completely fitted our audience of 160 business delegates. Jo’s story gripped the crowd by being both honest and funny, holding everyone’s full attention for 40minutes. Jo also communicated well in lead up to the event ensuring that she had an understanding of the audience that would be present as well as providing me with contact details, making my role as an event manages that little bit easier. On the evening and shortly after the event, I received an abundance of compliments from delegates all praising Jo’s talk so once again, thank you." - Plymouth Chamber of Commerce & Industry
"I just wanted to pass on that Jo Fairley was absolutely brilliant! The learners benefited a great deal from these talks." - Newcastle-under-Lyme College
“It was wonderful that Josephine Fairly could speak at our first ‘An Evening with Women in Business’ event. Her openness and honesty about her business development provided everyone with plenty of food for thought to add value and help grow their own businesses." - Smith Partnership
"I have received such positive feedback from across the company about how insightful, entertaining, and engaging your talk was. The fact that you tailored your story, which is equally inspiring on its own, to also reflect on insights into ATG was the perfect fit for the day. With of course the very generous added bonus of a bit of chocolate for everyone!" - Ambassador Theatre Group
“An absolute pleasure to work with and hugely engaging with the guests in sharing her story and inspiring others. Really looking forward to working with Jo again." - Wilson Hartnell PR (Organisers of Allied Irish Bank event ‘Backing a Sustainable Future’).
“Jo was the perfect speaker for our International Women’s Day Business Breakfast. Thought-provoking, inspirational, insightful and engaging, we’ve had really great feedback from our clients. A pleasure to work with and an ideal speaker for our audience of entrepreneurs and business people. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her.” - Julie, PR & Marketing Officer - BE Offices.
"Jo’s story and presentation was incredible and well received by the attendees of the event. Everyone was fully engaged as she shared her real experiences with the audience providing an inspirational and valuable insight into her business and business practices. Jo has a very friendly and down to earth demeanour and was extremely generous with her time throughout her talk and at the Q&A session. After the event, Jo graciously spoke to all those who wanted to chat directly with her. Jo’s positive attitude to business is a shining example to entrepreneurs." - Brilliant Red Ltd
“Jo delivered an engaging and interesting account of Green and Blacks’ which drew in the audience. Her thoughts and lessons learnt from the business was very insightful especially from the perspective of a women in business. We thoroughly enjoyed her talk (especially the chocolate!) and recommend her highly." - Hargreaves Lansdown
"Jo is an inspiring entrepreneur, a resilient and creative businesswoman, and a self-confessed chocoholic. As the co-founder of one of the world’s most well-loved confectionary brands, Jo Fairley offers hugely valuable insight into the world of international trade and growing a business overseas. As part of our Trade Horizons Roadshow events, Jo hit the brief to a very high standard, taking care to ensure that her presentation was structured around the customer experience which we had designed. It was clear that the audience left inspired by Jo’s story. Jo also made a point of allowing ample time for her Q+A - something often overlooked – this also included a chocolate prize for the best question!" - Jim, Business West
"We were delighted to have Jo Fairley share her business story, experience, and business advice at our annual conference. Jo met her ‘Think Different’ brief perfectly giving an entertaining, high energy, engaging, motivational, thought provoking, and behaviour changing presentation. Her powerful message was delivered with humour but sprinkled with excellent take away business tips and advice (and delicious chocolate) for our delegates to enjoy. I can highly recommend Jo for any event." - John SightCare Group
"Jo was a huge success at the event on Friday - everybody loved her and her speech was inspirational and relevant. Thanks for all your help, it's been great working with you." - Be Bold PR
"Jo Fairley is a phenomenal story-teller. Our audience was dazzled by her wit and extraordinary knowledge of branding and organic businesses." - IPO
"Everything went very well and Jo was amazing! You truly inspired us with your story and what you said about sustainability, thinking different and that no idea is too crazy and I think you could tell by the amount of questions, that there was a lot of interest in those topics and your personal journey." - Hugo Boss
"Jo was amazing! Such a delight to work with, and spend time with before and after her keynote. The audience loved her, got some really great feedback – and the little touches like the chocolate have really gone really well!" - Richmond Events
"Thanks again for all your help with securing Jo for our event. It was a great evening and we had a wonderful response from having Jo speak." - Bain & Co
"Everything went really well all the ITAs have been telling me how good they thought Jo Fairley was. The room of 70+ (Including me) were all captivated by her story. She is knowledgeable, funny and approachable happy to answer any one’s question and the Green & Blacks chocolate she bought were an added bonus." - Newable Trading Ltd
"Jo was AMAZING – thanks so much with your help securing her as our keynote – this is really appreciated." - BBF
"Really enjoyed listening to Jo sharing her personal and business experiences with us and insights into her career journey." - Unilever
"Jo was fantastic, she really engaged the crowd and had a great balance of humour and inspiring messages to take away. She came up as one of the highlights of the day in feedback we received." - University of Lincoln
“Jo Fairley spoke at the inaugural Yorkshire Sustainability Week in July 2023. Jo’s brilliant story of founding Green & Blacks Chocolate was shared with passion and honesty which was very inspiring for our audience. Thank you Jo!” - Kate, Managing Director, The Secret Event Service
"Jo was great. She was really friendly, her talk was inspiring and her time for questions at the end was brilliant." - Paul, Director of Sixth Form, Dame Allan's School
Feedback from Virtual Events:
"Jo was absolutely fantastic! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the call and found her to be interesting and inspiring. Our CEO was one of the people on the call and he loved the effort that was put into her slides and talk. Just to note that Jo was super professional by setting up calls to have run throughs and she was really enjoyable to work with." - UNiDAYS
"I really enjoyed hearing Jo speak and thought the content was uplifting and positive, a great story to hear for IWD." - OC&C Strategy Consultants
- 2024 - Columnist for The Daily Mail
- 2023 - Spoke at Start-Up Day in Liverpool
- 2022 - Featured in the Women of the Year Alumnae series
- 2015 - Received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Studies from Kingston University
- 2014 - Co-founder of The Perfume Society
- 2011 - Launched The Wellington Centre
- 2008 - Co-authored Sweet Dreams: The Story of Green & Black's
- 2005 - Founder of Judges Bakery
- 2005 - Sold Green & Black's to Cadbury
- 1996 - Co-founder & Editor of The Beauty Bible
- 1994 - Launched Maya Gold, UK's first product awarded the Fairtrade Mark
- 1991 - Co-Founder of Green & Black's
- 1983 - Youngest-ever managing editor, editing for Look Now and Honey
- 1979 - Britain's Youngest Magazine Editor at Look Now Magazine
- Recipient of the World Aware Award for Ethical Business
- Judge for the RSPCA Good Business Awards and HSBC Business Thinking Awards
