Students Inspired by EY Rising Star at Industry Spotlight Event

West London College welcomed Liliane ‘Lili’ Kiefer from multinational professional services company EY (formerly known as Ernst & Young) to Hammersmith & Fulham College for an inspiring session exploring career journeys, resilience, creativity, storytelling and artificial intelligence (AI) this week.

The event marked the first Industry Spotlight of the 2026/27 academic year, bringing together 135 students from Foundation Learning, Business, Public Services, Health & Social Care and GCSE English. Titled “The Future of Storytelling”, the interactive session explored how personal experiences, creativity and professional support can shape career development.

An EY Rising Star Award winner, Lili shared her unconventional career journey, revealing that she had worked in 28 different jobs before joining the company. Her experiences demonstrated that successful careers do not always follow a traditional path and that different opportunities and challenges can contribute to professional growth. Lili also spoke openly about living with bipolar disorder and ADHD, reflecting on how these experiences have influenced her career and development as a writer. She highlighted the importance of supportive workplaces, explaining how encouragement from her manager, alongside coaching and mentoring, had helped her recognise her strengths and progress professionally.

Alongside her role at EY, Lili is a writer and creator of “The Diary of Misfits and Those Up to No Good”, a creative project exploring people who challenge convention and the value of embracing individuality.

Artificial intelligence was another key theme of the session, with Lili encouraging learners to see AI as a tool to support research, generate ideas and enhance creativity, rather than replace human imagination. Drawing inspiration from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, she used storytelling and fictional characters to explore identity, belonging and individuality. Through interactive activities, students reflected on characters they identified with, experiences of feeling different and the qualities they believe technology cannot replicate.

Reflecting on her visit, Lili said: “It was a pleasure to be a guest speaker for this term’s first Industry Spotlight. It is an experience I will always treasure and one of the special highlights of my corporate journey and my career as a writer. I could see myself in so many of the young people there when I was their age. I hope I inspired the students that no matter what your challenges are, if you have the resources to support you including coaching and mentoring, the determination, motivation and the belief in your potential and capabilities, you can be whatever you want to be.”

Disun Majekodunmi, Programme Lead for Foundation Learning at West London College and organiser of the Industry Spotlight programme, praised Lili’s openness in sharing her experiences: “What made Lili’s session so powerful was her willingness to share the whole journey, not simply where she is today. Hearing about the 28 different jobs she had before joining EY, the challenges she has experienced, and the importance of having a manager, coaches and mentors who believe in you gave our learners something very real to connect with. Lili also gave our students a thoughtful message about AI. She demonstrated that technology can be used as a research and creative tool, but that the ideas, imagination, judgement and human experience behind the story remain incredibly important.”

Marina Clark, Head of Foundation Learning and Business at West London College, emphasised the importance of connecting education with industry, adding: “Industry Spotlight is a valuable part of how we bring the world of work directly into the learner experience. Lili’s openness about her own journey, the challenges she has overcome and the importance of mentoring and supportive workplaces gave our students a powerful and relatable message. It was fantastic to see students from across different curriculum areas come together and leave with a greater sense of what is possible for their own futures.”

West London College’s Industry Spotlight programme welcomes professionals from a range of sectors to share their career journeys, industry knowledge and experiences with learners, strengthening connections between education and the world of work. The session gave 135 students an opportunity to reflect on their own potential, explore different career pathways and recognise the value of creativity, resilience and supportive relationships in shaping their futures.