I am currently Divisional Managing Director of Ibstock Clay, incorporating Ibstock Brick and Ibstock Kevington, the biggest brick manufacturer in the UK, I am new in post but have worked in the construction industry for circa 20 years.
No day is the same. I get up reasonably early and send and answer emails before travelling to my meetings for the day. I spend a lot of time in there factories, with customers, and also with our internal teams. There are also a lot of phone calls during the day!
I do my best to treat people the way that I would want to be treated. I’m honest, hardworking and care about the business and all of the people in it.
What would you say to your 16-year-old self?
Ignore the doubters, chase every opportunity & party less (it catches up with you!).
I work in the construction industry which is heavily male orientated. When I was younger I was always questioned if I was tough enough to handle it. I, therefore, felt I had to continuously prove myself to a greater extent than my male counterparts.
My family, my desire to succeed and my drive to be independent.
We need to educate that being a successful leader doesn’t mean that your characteristics have to fit into a box. We also need to promote a culture of equality and ensure that we understand what is holding people from minority groups back.
Nelson Mandela, my Mum & Dad, my Niece.
To be brave, go after what you want and don’t let anyone make you feel like you aren’t equal.
I bring a different dynamic to what is a very male-dominated industry. I think about things in a different way. Hopefully, this means that I can be a role model for other females. I also feel that I can influence change positively when it comes to diversity.
Because I want my 10-year-old niece to have career aspirations which aren’t inhibited in any way by her gender.
Yes, absolutely. All statistics point to diverse organisations being more successful because it means that there are different perspectives on key decisions and the business is more representative of its customer base.
Winning an “Inspire” leadership award in 2018.
Work ethic – there is no substitute for it. Hard work will always beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard.
Resilience – you will get knocked down throughout your career and you have to keep getting up.
Staying true to yourself – be the best version of you, not a version someone else wants you to be. Being authentic is key.
Finally, always treat people the right way.
With great difficulty. I’m obsessive about work and it’s something I have to work hard at and don’t often get it right!
Family and also the challenge of the job. Im easily bored so need to be in a role that pushes me.
I don’t have a specific role or title I want to achieve, I just want to be in roles that are challenging and where I can make a genuine difference to the people in an organisation.
Wanting to be successful and people believing in me. I was given some big roles at a relatively young age because someone had the belief that I could succeed regardless of my age.
I do what I say I’m going to do via a lot of hard work!. Therefore, I’ve always been relied upon to deliver. I’ve also made sure that I have worked for people that believed in me and who I could learn from and develop under.
When I was training to be an accountant I worked with some people within the construction industry and I really enjoyed it, it’s a very straight talking industry with down to earth people which suits my style
A paper round! I was only 11 or 12, so when it was dark my mum used to make my dad walk around with me early in the morning!
