Portas reflects on her career progression starting in the early '80s outlining the alpha culture that was apparent and the decisions that she made on the way to create a career where she felt she had more control. The creation of her own organisation allowed her to shape a culture of compassion, her decision to change her role in the same organisation again giving her the freedom to do the kind of work that she wanted. I like that Mary tries not to exclude men from this, and couches terms in such a way that you know she isn't saying they apply only to, and to all, women exclusively. It shows that thought has gone into the presentation of this manifesto, as well as into the beliefs it represents. Mary continues to present Channel 4’s annual December documentary, What Britain Bought in which she offers an eye-opening look into the shopping trends of the year. She sounds so confident as she tells me all this, even a little bullish. You would never know how bruised she still is by the press she received after the government asked her to look into the issues affecting Britain’s high streets in 2011 (the Portas Pilot Towns, where her ideas were tested, were widely criticised; shops in many of these places closed rather than opened, and some thought the budgets had been misused). “I was really hurt by it,” she says. “Of course I’m glad I did it. The issues did join the public agenda. I mean look at Margate now. It has totally changed. But… I went in with a touch of hubris when they said they’d call them Portas towns.”

Work Like a Woman: A Manifesto for Change Book - Oliver Bonas

There are chapters dedicated to childcare. Towards the end of the book there is a statement that if you aren’t a mother by your 30/40’s don’t worry- we all come to these things in time. Or if you want to be successful choose who you spend your life with carefully - as you will need their support etc. This book written by Mary Portas about her life is a memoir to feminism and all women who are fighting against alpha culture in the workplace✨ She also writes about the values in embracing typically 'feminine' qualities within work, steering away from the usual hierarchical alpha-style working practices of offices, businesses and boardrooms. She suggests (using examples from her own business practices) that being more flexible, more open minded and more supportive of each other could really transform the quality of employees' working experiences and could help to bridge gender gaps.

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Alongside her work with the agency, Mary has embarked on a number of personal projects. She has published three books, Windows: The Art of Retail Display, and How to Shop. In February 2015 she released Shopgirl, a memoir of her early years. Whilst I generally agree with most things she says, I'm more bothered with 80-90% of this book being her own story of a shopwindow decorator on path to business leadership. I did not (really) know Mary Portas before, so it may have startled me more than an English person would have been startled by it?

Mary Portas: ‘It was a question of how do I want to work as a

But we’re half the workforce and only a third of its managers, directors and senior officials. That’s rubbish by anyone’s standards. The workplace is still working against us and, as much as I respect Sheryl Sandberg, who argued that women need to adapt their behaviour to better suit the status quo, I’m more of a Gloria Steinem fan. ‘It’s not about integrating into a not-so-good system,’ she said. ‘It’s about transforming it and making it better. If women have to acquire all the characteristics of a corporate world, it’s probably not worth it.’ Too right, Gloria. I don’t want to lean into a system that is entrenched in a working world that’s quite frankly dated, limited and controlling. It’s bloody well time it changed. The other day, she went to the funeral of a friend of her father’s, someone she knew as Uncle Harry; long ago, the two men had come to England together from Ireland to work on the buses. It was with Harry that she and Lawrence lived for a year after her father died. “You don’t forget that. They put us up in their tiny council house, and they had four kids of their own. At the funeral, I experienced such a huge tug.” People she spoke to that day remembered her as the “naughty one”, but when push came to shove she simply got on with what she needed to do. What’s odd is that she never felt resentful. “I don’t think I’ve ever resented anything. I was just trying to survive. I was petrified: this horrible, nervous energy.” Both womens' success can be attested to a combination of 'right-place, right-time', hard work, good sponsors/mentors, and so on. I'm happy they have both have had successful careers and I'm sure inspired many other women with their success.

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Worth quoting: “But the irony is that the whole thing is deeply emotional: wanting to smash the competition and be top dog isn’t exactly unfeeling, is it?” Work Like a Woman is a memoir-cum-self-help manual in which Portas aims to show how businesses might become less “alpha” and more woman-friendly, a process she began to put into practice at her own company five years ago, when she stepped down as its CEO, having decided she would be better deployed as its chief creative officer. Henceforth, she and her colleagues would work more meaningfully, with profit no longer the bottom line. Her book is full of advice for working women, some of it practical (she has much to say about improved flexible working and how it might best be achieved) and some of it – as even she admits – just a touch Oprah Winfrey (there’s quite a lot of goofy stuff about taking your “whole self” to work). At its heart, however, lies a personal crisis, one born of fame and success – and it’s this story that will perhaps most pique the interest of the reader, however much you might be looking for advice as to how to secure a hefty pay rise and a seat on the board. In January 2013 she re-launched her agency as Portas with a new offer reflecting today's retail landscape, and how consumers behave today. But we all grapple with questions like these almost every day. Humans are tribal. Even if we’re not a complete fit for the group we’re part of, we like to create social groups with rules we understand and can work to.

Work Like a Woman by Mary Portas | Goodreads

I've always admired Mary Portas, as she has made such an influential name for herself within the retail industry and has had a fascinating life at home and at work. In January 2011, Channel 4 aired Mary Portas: Secret Shopper. This new format saw Mary championing the often “underserviced” customer on the British high street, giving a voice to disgruntled consumers. With two more series being commissioned in 2015. As a self-employed woman it was great to read this. I don't work in an office/board environment but there were definitely parts of the book that I could take away and think about. And regardless of how much you can personally put the advice into practical every-day life it's still a fascinating, empowering read. Widely recognized as the UK’s foremost authority on retail and brand communication, Mary Portas has a multitude of expertise; business woman, advertising executive, retail expert, Government adviser, broadcaster and consumer champion. The British media crowned her “Queen of Shops”. But let’s be clear here: women don’t get a free pass on all this. Alpha culture might have been put in place by men, but we’re also working alongside them and, in many cases, perpetuating the status quo.It's about calling time on alpha culture and helping every one of us to be happier, more productive and collaborative. If you had told Mary Newton at 15 what life she would end up leading, she would not have believed you. I am a completely different person now. I genuinely do think that a person can have more than one life.” Again, she shakes her head; again, every last hair snaps to attention. And, as I watch this happen, I realise she is that rare and marvellous thing: at once both a brilliant invention and yet, somehow, so completely and utterly herself. ‘I don’t want to lean in’ Clients shouldn’t expect me to have nice lunches with them because that’s a waste of time’: Mary Portas. Photograph: Jean Goldsmith/The Observer

Work Like a Woman - Penguin Books UK

Inspired by her weekly ‘Shop!’ column in the Telegraph Magazine, Mary began her television career in 2007 when her efforts to rescue failing independent boutiques were documented by the BBC2 series Mary Queen of Shops. The show was nominated for two Royal Television Society Awards and a BAFTA. At first, Portas had relished her television career, which began in 2007 with Mary Queen of Shops for the BBC, in which she helped to turn around struggling fashion boutiques (she was discovered by the late Pat Llewellyn, who brought us Jamie Oliver). She knew she was good at it. She was also, at 46, old enough for it not to turn her head (she still had her business, then called Yellow Door). A well thought-through and well-written manifesto for cultural change across businesses. Portas makes a great case for nurturing non 'Alpha male' personality types, and for implementing important gender equality policies to create parity in areas such as caregiving. My favourite part was actually at the end where Portas gives women at various stages of their career words of advice - she is almost like a feminist mentor for your career here and I think we all need that.When she first began working in television, no one knew she was living with a woman, and her then business partner, a gay man, advised her to keep quiet. “Lesbians aren’t that glamorous,” he said. “And you are.” She knew what he meant. “There is this aspirational hierarchy. White straight men are at the top. Gay men come quite high, too. Look how many there are on television. Gay women are right at the bottom. I remember that AA Gill [the late TV critic of the Sunday Times] knew, and he wrote a very hinting piece about me striding around and stuff.” As if she was Radclyffe Hall? “Yes, exactly.” She snorts. “Anyway, in the end, I just decided to be truthful. The truth is all that matters, so tell it.” How do you want to work as a woman? This is the question at the heart of Mary’s business biography as she walks us through her years of navigating alpha dominated workplaces before she decided to set up shop for herself.