Irene Walsh

Irene Bejenke Walsh has worked in management training for well over a decade and founded MessageLab in the year 2000.Through her previous career as a business journalist for The Wall Street Journal and CNBC and subsequently in corporate communications with global PR agency Hill & Knowlton, she combines in-depth knowledge of corporate issues with extensive media and presentation experience.

Irene specialises in presentation and media training, investor communications as well as trust coaching and crisis communications. She has coached a vast number of senior executives in preparation for all types of communications challenges: from speaking at industry conferences to conducting IPO roadshows, analyst presentations, shareholder meetings, press conferences as well as sales presentations. One of Irene’s special areas of expertise is the “investor pitch”: preparing management teams in fundraising mode for both public offerings and raising private equity. Her strength lies in helping clients to create rapport and trust with their audiences.

Her clients include Fortune 500 companies such as British Telecom, Motorola, Oracle, Kodak, ABN AMRO, Astra Zeneca, PwC and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Irene has also helped many early-stage businesses and SMEs across various sectors to raise finance. Over the last seven years, she has trained over 300 entrepreneurs pitching to London Business Angels (part of GLE) for funding and also worked extensively with Venture Capital Funds and early-stage investment organisations such as NESTA and The London Technology Fund. Irene also moderated the first two national Award Ceremonies for the British Business Angel Association (BBAA).

Her work has taken her to most Western European markets as well as the Emerging Markets of Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In 2006, she coached the management team of Russian steel giant Severstal prior to its successful £1.5 billion listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Irene still enjoys writing and has recently penned an article for Swiss HR Magazine “HR Today”. She is bilingual in English and German.

Education

• Diploma Universität der Künste Berlin (1989 — 1994)
• GISMA Business School

Companies

• EIC Accelerator Coach German Aerospace Center (DLR) (2020)
• Lecturer Jacobs University Bremen (2013)
• Senior Lecturer Imperial College London (2010)
• Director Messagelab (2000)
• Director Messagelab (2000)
• Leadership Development Consultant Pandora (2015 — 2021)
• Senior Lecturer DTU Business (2013 — 2021)
• Executive Development GP Bullhound (2012 — 2014)
• Coach - Investor Pitch/Fundraising ecoConnect (2010 — 2013)