Jobs and Careers Spring 2019 - 35

G U E ST E D I T O R

there and then go back to S&S and apply for
the next level up. In the end, I stayed at LBC.
I went into sales the old-fashioned way,
picking up the phone and cold-calling
potential clients. That builds resilience -
you learn to take rejection. If you don't pick
up the phone, no one will do it for you and
I was dogged and determined. I found I was
good at sales and by the end of my first year
at LBC I'd made £38k - my basic was just
£9,500, so that was mostly commission. I loved
it and had found something I could excel at.

How did you find the world of work?
The biggest transition anyone ever makes in life is
leaving education and going into work - it doesn't
matter whether that's when you are 18, 25 or older.
Suddenly you're on your own, fending for yourself - you
haven't got a safety net and you have to get on with
people. If you don't like something you have to change it,
and if you can't you have to change your attitude to it.
In my first job, I couldn't believe how many people
complained about work because I thought it was fabulous.
I was independent, I could be my own person and I was
hugely enthusiastic about everything I did. I loved the
people, the place, the culture - everything about it.

Do you think it's still worth going
to university, considering how
expensive it now is?

What about the gender pay gap
in the UK? Is it improving?
The gender pay gap still exists - for
every pound a man makes, a woman
makes 86p and in some industries the
gap is much wider. In insurance, the
pay gap is over 40%, so there's a long
way to go. Only 19% of senior business
roles are held by women and 41% of
businesses have no women in senior
management at all. It's quite depressing.
The government is trying to change
this by publicly shaming companies
with the gender pay gap data that has
to be submitted by companies as a legal
requirement. But from the first year to the
second, the problem actually got worse!
Attitudes are changing, though. If you want
the best staff, you have to pay them the
same and women are asking for what they
want, not accepting less than they deserve.
However, there's still an old-fashioned
attitude that comes into play when women
go off to have a family, which is a big
barrier because there is still a perception
that working mothers are less committed.

"Of all the titles
I have, the most
important for me
is working mother"

For me, going straight into work was the right
decision; I couldn't have done another day of
studying. I felt university was for professionals
- you came out a teacher, doctor or dentist, and
I didn't want to be any of those things.
But going to university now doesn't mean you're saddled
with debt at the end as people often believe - you only pay the
money back if you earn enough. The amount you have to
borrow is irrelevant because either you never pay it back, or
you pay it back in small amounts depending on your income.
So it's not a debt, it's more of a loan.

You were dubbed "the first woman of football"
when you became director of Birmingham
City FC at the age of 23. It was rare for women
to hold such senior roles in 1993, especially in
that field. Do you think that has now changed?
Definitely! There are now lots of senior women in football.
At the last football club I bought and sold - Birmingham City
- 75% of the senior management team were women, and at
West Ham more than 50% of the directors are women. I have
made that effort to balance it out.
Lots of industries have particular issues when it comes to
attracting women - the building trade is similar to football.
Women think, "I can't play football, so I can't work there," but
beyond the football there are behind-the-scenes departments
such as finance, sponsorship, sales, retail and strategy. When
you explain that to people, you get the right outcome and
there are lots of senior women coming into the industry now.

How did you
manage when
your children
were small?

I spent my life going
from sports day to board
meeting, from nativity
play to board meeting. I
never knew which one I should be at - I'd
be at one and think I should have gone to
the other! Work-life balance didn't exist 23
years ago, but things have got better
because of technology. But you can only do
what you can and you have to come to
terms with that fact.
Of all the titles I have, the most
important one for me is working mother.
My work and my kids and family are the
most important things to me and I didn't
want to give up either. I tried my best, and
when home was more important than work
I was at home, and when work was more
important than home I was at work. You
have to find your own balance.

Some industries are looking to
recruit more women by offering
options for flexible working. Is
this the way forward?
Definitely - I 100% genuinely believe that.
The more industry sectors that do that, the
better it will be for everybody. Women
JOBS & CAREERS /// 35
Jobs and Careers Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers Spring 2019
