Think of the term Aspergers, what images do you get? Someone who’s incapable of learning? Someone with some kind of mental illness?
These are stereotypes and negative ones to boot. But negatively is how those with Aspergers are largely viewed.
What if I were to say that people with Aspergers are often very talented? Witness the likes of Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Woody Allen, Michael Palin, Susan Boyle, Darry Hannah and Bob Dylan- I could go on.....
When poverty and hunger are real for 13 million people in the UK, this is an obscene amount of food to bin.
And here’s the thing – many of us don’t think twice about wasting food because many of us aren’t aware of food poverty.
So what do such startling statistics have to do with my Page 1 Woman? Everything, because she’s a co-founder of the charity, Plan Zheroes. Launched in 2010, it aims to achieve zero food waste and zero hunger...
Here’s the scenario: a person with a 1st class degree in physiology and biology plus a doctorate in neuroscience. A brain box, right?
But what if that person was a blonde woman with a Geordie accent, what would you think, then?
My Page 1 Woman is all those things and a brain box too. And over the years she’s faced confidence- knocking stereotyping when people didn’t believe she was clever enough to have a ..
For many of us, swimming the Channel ranks alongside walking on the Moon – high risk adventures attempted by a ‘super human’ few. And usually, the ‘super human’ few are never ourselves – always someone else.
My Page 1 Woman is definitely not ‘super human’. But, she’s fearless, persistent, driven and has a tendency to ask ‘bold questions’ that other people might shy away from. She spots opportunities, calculates the risk but goes for them anyway. And she has dared to dream big and take on challenges that push her personal boundaries. She has the usual self-doubts – well, she’s human – and she’s definitely inspirational. She’s a Page 1 Woman with a twist....
Some people might have low expectations of a woman with this kind of academic history. But in the case of my Page 1 Woman, they’d be wrong, because her capabilities belie the qualifications with which she left school...
This woman has proven that your academic performance at school need not set the tone for the rest of your life. In fact, she’s proven that the school environment and unchallenging teachers can limit the brightest amongst us. And leaving and finding a thirst for continuous learning can be the thing that spurs you on. So it was for Carol Stewart, director of ‘Abounding Solutions’...
If you were 20 and was told to go buy a family home and settle your younger siblings in a big city far from your Midlands roots, could you do it? As horrified as my Page 1 Woman was, she rose to the challenge and excelled. In fact my Page 1 Woman has led a life characterised by big challenges which would have fazed many. When just 14 years old, she took responsibility for the care of her seriously ill mum and became a surrogate mother to her 3 younger siblings. Whilst she did well, it meant that she had to leave school at 16 and sacrifice the opportunity of a university education. However, there were pay-offs....
When you hear of a strong-willed 16 year old girl, what image comes to mind? A stereotypical ‘difficult’ adolescent? My Page 1 Woman, Hilary Robson, might have been seen as such. But it was precisely her determination and refusal to accept the status quo that got her into a ‘male profession’, where she became a director at the age of 29. When asked by her career advisor, “Have you thought about a nice bank job, dear?” Hilary Robson wasn’t fazed by gender stereotypes. And when denied work experience in....
If you had a prestigious job in the City that paid megabucks, would you let it go? We’re often told these days that your worth is based on your earnings. But for my Page 1 Woman, Sepi Roshan, being true to herself far outweighed the desire for big bucks. So, as difficult as it was, she decided to leave her job as a technical accountant in banking to follow a dream she’d had since childhood. And when she took action, she discovered her purpose....
Now here’s a woman who describes herself as having a ‘range of persona’ – significantly more than being a portfolio worker. But the term ‘more than’ is built for my Page 1 woman, Sue Liburd.
She’s the CEO of Sage Blue, working with the likes of IBM, the Prudential and Balfour Beatty PLC; a non-executive director on several boards and published author of 2 books . And that’s not all....
Her name is Derryn Cope. She got into the male world of managing construction projects by accident, you might say. Because this wasn’t the career she envisaged. In fact, as a school leaver, her love of horses led to competing on them for their owners. But love of horses didn’t pay the bills; so several years later she moved on and then up into sales management in an electronic distribution firm. From there she became a Business Process Director where she got a taste for....
When you find someone who’s set up and run 4 businesses, what image springs to mind? A man in a suit perhaps, or maybe the likes of Sir Richard Branson or Lord Sugar? That’s the stereotype. So you could be forgiven for thinking this way. The person I’m referring to, however, in no way fits the stereotype. She’s my page 1 Woman, Genevieve Zawada, mother of 2, with 15 years track record in coaching and mentoring. She has energy and determination in abundance alongside a desire to help people build and improve romantic relationships. With a background in sales, training and recruitment management, she currently....
Have you ever yearned to do something totally different? And what if you ignored the doubting Thomas’ and did it anyway? That’s the stuff my Page 1 Woman is made of. With almost 10 years as a manager in the arts, and uncertain where next, she left work, signed up for a business with Spanish degree, and did year 2 at Valencia University -all in Spanish.
But guess what? She passed her exams and what a sense of achievement that gave her. This reflects the type of challenges that this Page 1 Woman rises to. And looking at her life, you might even call her....
Have you ever been through a divorce? Whether or not you have, divorce is so commonplace these days that you’ll have some awareness of the agony it perpetuates. Acrimonious or amicable, it’s usually traumatic and in the same stable as bereavement. And when divorce gets into a drawn out court process, fuelled by combative lawyers, the effect on all concerned is....
If you were earning a 6 figure salary, would you give it up? With more than 30 years’ experience of the retail industry and all the trappings and enviable lifestyle that come with big bucks corporate jobs – nice house, flashy car, 5 star holidays, my Page 1 Woman of the Week lived a life that other people wanted her to have. But in 2011, she ditched the 80 hour days, backstabbing and negativity – the unspoken reality of her megabucks job - and decided to live her newly found life purpose. She walked her talk away from it all. She became a....
My Page 1 woman of the week, Althea Grant, was terrified of public speaking. Now, you wouldn’t have expected that of a family lawyer and a community activist. When, some years back, she did the rounds of local churches as leader of a campaign for justice for a church ‘brother’, the feedback said that she’d done it with her....
Have you ever lived on an island made from plastic bottles? Our Page 1 Woman of the Week has.
She’s a global wanderer and a business owner with a background in IT in banking, insurance, online gambling and some of the big shot corporations. And now she’s a dynamic yoga enthusiast, who takes yoga practice and philosophy into companies for workforce resilience, business growth and increased profits. And that’s not all....
