Born in Hong Kong, with Scottish roots, and having lived in more than seven countries, Irene’s perspective is shaped by the experience of different cultures.

She began her career as a journalist, travelling extensively to interview founders and investors, developing an instinct for people and the environments in which meaningful conversations unfold. She went on to spend a decade in private equity and secondaries origination, rooting Sardine & Co with institutional professionalism.

Throughout her career she led global investor initiatives — the conferences, flagship events, and interview series that brought together the people behind the capital. At every step, she kept gravitating toward the same thing: gathering people together around experiences rather than transactions.

What started as a simple observation—that the most important business relationships are built outside the boardroom — became the founding principle of Sardine & Co. Irene has designed gatherings across 15+ countries and four continents; curating the guestlists, designing the rooms, engineering the moments, and focusing on the details that let connection happen naturally.

These are in places that are often inaccessible; private spaces, hidden landscapes and locations known more by introduction than by search.

Sardine & Co works with a small number of discerning clients each year who value the potency of a curious perspective. We work at the intersection of boundary-pushing creativity and white-glove execution, delivering experiences that become the stories guests tell for decades.