Ann Marie Costelloe

At first glance, the road that led me to becoming CSO at The Gap Partnership is, at best, unconventional. I grew up in the Royal Ballet School in a time when wellbeing took second place to the single minded focus on the pursuit of excellence and unending quest for perfection. I loved it. After graduation, a brief spell as a professional dancer, before the desire to keep learning led to Cambridge and a degree in history. Following Cambridge, the bright lights of London's advertising scene and a chance to bring together creativity and strategy... before a re-direct once more, this time to the world of negotiation and the world's leading negotiation consultancy. Unconventional perhaps, but on reflection, maybe the moves had more in common than a first glance might suggest.The pursuit of excellence and restlessness to grow, learn and perfect has followed me since those early school days. At Cambridge I discovered the joy of self learning, seeking answers to develop and solve problems. From there, a moved to brands and brand strategy eventually spending fifteen years at BBH. Where a focus on the primacy of the idea and the development of award-winning effective creative campaigns was the order of the day. Yet, when I do look back at my time at BBH, what I am most conscious of is not so much the work, which was excellent, but the truly inspirational people I was surrounded by. And a sense of home, BBH was an agency that fostered the same restless pursuit of excellence.And then to The Gap Partnership, a negotiation consultancy delivering world class consulting and training solutions to our clients all over the world. And again, to a culture where the desire and drive to deliver excellence for our clients permeates everything we do.At TGP I have had the joy of leading an exceptionally talented team of people and together we have rebranded the company, innovated and produced half of our digital portfolio, launched and curated the bi-annual The Negotiation Society magazine and as part of the Executive Leadership Team, my role has enabled me to work with some of our most inspirational leaders helping to ensure that together we articulate, inspire and drive our teams to realise our company strategy removing any barriers or obstacles along the way. So, when I do look back at my career to date, perhaps the thread that joins it all has been an uncompromising quest for excellence, a desire to be surrounded by people far more accomplished than me, and at all times, a healthy dose of laughter and the odd negroni.