When Carol Llewellyn first stepped into British Airways, it wasn’t with the intention of building a decades-long career. She had been made redundant, took on

a temporary role through an agency, and told herself it was just a stopgap. Nearly 27 years later, she is still here, an Executive Assistant to the Chief Commercial Officer, Co-Chair of the BeMe network, and a force whose story is inseparable from the theme of standing firm in power and pride.

For Carol, the secret to her journey has always been authenticity. “I’ve never lost myself,” she says with conviction. “Over the years, people told me to tone it down, but why should I? Toning it down means being someone I’m not. I won’t compromise my identity.” Her directness, her warmth, and her insistence on speaking her truth have carried her through every challenge and every triumph. Belonging, she explains, comes from being able to show up as yourself and from knowing that what you bring to the table has value.

That lesson was seeded long before BA, in the hills of Jamaica where she was raised by her grandparents. They gave her more than a home. They gave her a sense of grounding that has never left her. “They were the driving force,” she recalls. “They made us feel empowered, even before we had the words for it.” When she arrived in the UK as a child, her accent and dialect set her apart. Some tried to make her feel lesser. But Carol, even then, refused to shrink. “I’ve always spoken my mind. I’ve always been my true self. No one was going to take that from me.”

Her career at BA has been shaped by the same resolve. In the early years, she often walked into rooms where she was the only Black person present. It could have been isolating, but she chose resilience. “If it wasn’t for my originality, I don’t think I would still be here,” she admits. Instead, she has turned that isolation into determination. Determination to open doors wider for those who come after her. Being part of BeMe, championing diversity, and seeing real change in representation since the pandemic are among her proudest achievements. “When I walked back into head office and saw more people who looked like me, it was emotional. That’s progress. We’re not all the way there yet, but it’s a start.”

For Carol, power isn’t tied to titles. She bristles at the idea that some roles carry more worth than others. “I don’t like when people say, ‘I’m just an administrator’ or ‘just a baggage handler.’ You are not ‘just’ anything. You are worthy. What you do matters.” Her philosophy of leadership is about lifting others up, not standing above them. She believes in spotting potential where others might overlook it, mentoring colleagues to see themselves as future leaders, and challenging the systems that make progression harder than it should be.

The theme of standing firm in power and pride isn’t a seasonal motto for Carol, it’s her way of being. “We’ve always stood firm in power and pride,” she says. “Our parents, our grandparents, our forefathers, they carried pride through every obstacle. For me, it’s about being authentic, never losing my identity, and always standing tall.” The events of 2020, particularly the murder of George Floyd, deepened this conviction. “Coming back after the pandemic, I decided change had to happen here at BA. We’ve made strides, not as quickly as we want, but more than before. And that matters.”

Ask her what she wants her legacy to be, and her answer is simple but profound: that she showed up, empowered others, and made a difference. “If people remember me for anything, let it be that I achieved what I could, that I was there for others, that I left a mark worth building on.”

Her message, to colleagues at BA and beyond, is one of defiance and dignity: be your authentic self, don’t let obstacles define you, and know that your power is already within you. Because Carol Llewellyn does not just embody standing firm in power and pride, she lives it, every single day.