My sixth form teacher told me to lower my sights

Kiria McNamara grew up in Luton, about 55 kilometres north of London in the United Kingdom.

The youngest of four girls, McNamara, who is director of people and culture at vitamin company Swisse Wellness and who is today named one of the six BOSS Young Executives for this year, lived on a council housing estate, with not a lot of spare cash to hand.