Stepping into an industry where the odds are stacked against you requires a blend of resilience and tenacity—qualities Sarah Perris has in spades. Sarah joins us to narrate her extraordinary journey through the realm of business and sports. This conversation isn't just about breaking glass ceilings; it's about building a new foundation for future female leaders to stand on. Join us for a stirring episode that celebrates the strength and spirit of women forging their paths, against the odds, towards greatness.
Listen to learn:
- Skills to navigate the complexities of male-dominated spheres
- The importance of amplifying women's voices in leadership positions
- The power of staying true to your passion
- The importance of self-care and the significance of setting boundaries
You can now nominate for the 2025 Northern Power Women Awards to be in with a chance of celebrating with changemakers, trailblazers and advocates on 6th March 2025! Nominate now at wearepower.net
Sign up to our Power Platform to check out our events calendar here.
Keep up to date on the latest news from We Are Power : Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook
Sign up to our newsletter.
Stepping into an industry where the odds are stacked against you requires a blend of resilience and tenacity—qualities Sarah Perris has in spades. Sarah joins us to narrate her extraordinary journey through the realm of business and sports. This conversation isn't just about breaking glass ceilings; it's about building a new foundation for future female leaders to stand on. Join us for a stirring episode that celebrates the strength and spirit of women forging their paths, against the odds, towards greatness.
Listen to learn:
- Skills to navigate the complexities of male-dominated spheres
- The importance of amplifying women's voices in leadership positions
- The power of staying true to your passion
- The importance of self-care and the significance of setting boundaries
You can now nominate for the 2025 Northern Power Women Awards to be in with a chance of celebrating with changemakers, trailblazers and advocates on 6th March 2025! Nominate now at wearepower.net
Sign up to our Power Platform to check out our events calendar here.
Keep up to date on the latest news from We Are Power : Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook
Sign up to our newsletter.
Music the Northern Power Women Podcast For your career and your life, no matter what business you're in. Hello and welcome to the Northern Power Women Podcast, a podcast that I absolutely adore hosting every week, where I get to chat to some of the most inspiring personal and professional role models out there doing fantastic things, and I always want and hope that we can pass some of those advice, top tips and hacks on to you, whatever it may be, to help you through your life, your career, no matter what, what, what journey you're on right now. So I am delighted this week to have Sarah Parris, who is the managing partner at Parris my, join us on the Northern Power Women Podcast.
Speaker 1:Sarah has the widest story and the most fantastic biography. I see her bobbing all over LinkedIn doing fantastic things, and when I asked her to come on the podcast and then ask for that bio, I was like, oh my goodness, how do we make this not into a, into a box set? You know sort of from your your growing up, differences and working across the whole of the world. It feels like the many charity roles that you've got and your overwhelming passion for sport, in particular, women's Rugby. We have got such a lot to unpack in the next 20 minutes. Sarah, welcome to the podcast. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:It's an absolute honour and pleasure to be with you this morning. I would I can't tell you I was so chapped when, when I saw your, your message on LinkedIn, I thought, oh my God, that's wonderful. So, yes, I'm delighted.
Speaker 1:Oh, and honestly it is. It's brilliant because I think there's always something about listening to people. Everyone has a different story, everyone has a different pathway and I think for anyone listening out there who's either lost, stuck, thriving, wherever you may be, I think there's always something that we always like to pass on in. So you know, you weren't in the motor industry, haven't you? For a very tough industry for over a decade. Talk to me about what. What was tough? What was the? Was it tough with the capital T?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really was. Because it was. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm now in my early 60s and when I started in my early 20s it was I was just assumed, whatever role I was in, that I was somebody secretary. If I was phoning up to find out where a meeting room was, who who's secretary are, you Go and get the coffee. If I was in a in a in a meeting room and I mean there were, I could tell you so many stories we could spend 15 minutes just on that. But let me tell you one of the most horrendous. And when I was offered the role as Worldwide Communications Director for Rolls Royce and Bentley Motor Cards, as it was then Bentley Motors, as it is now, it had recently been acquired by the Volkswagen Group. So it was great. I was so excited. I'm a real car nut. I've been working for Ford for 10 years around the world and this was a real challenge to take a brand, to take the Bentley brand that was really in a lot of trouble and make something of it. So it was great opportunities. I was saying yes, I was very excited as I was put my house on market and a house up here, ready to go, ready to move up. And then I had a phone call to say would you make some of the chief executive names chief operating officer, chief executive and chair of the Volkswagen Motor Group wanted to interview me. Oh sorry, really, and why I was such a minion in comparison. You know I was, I was nothing, I was so unimportant. So anyway, I was I. Okay, all right, you want to talk to me off.
Speaker 2:We went and got to Germany, got the head offers, went up in the lift, went across the corridor to another lift where there was a guard with a gun, went up to the boardroom drawer, went into the boardroom and I'm thinking this is so surreal, this is just so weird. Anyway, he of course kept me waiting nearly an hour and two other members of the board came in, one of whom didn't speak any English, and then he eventually came in and sat and started asking me questions and I was warned about him. I must admit that he had piercing blue eyes and he would use them just and say nothing. And he was asking me a lot of questions. And he said Sarah, I understand you have twin daughters and they are two years old. I mean, yeah, seven. Do you not think that makes you a bad mother. I have a question for you. You can imagine I was ready to go absolutely vertical. I thought what planet are we on here? What planets are we on? And I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that when he said, do you have any questions for me, I got one in. That was incredibly embarrassing for him and I walked out thinking justice was done. But yeah, quite extraordinary.
Speaker 2:So yes, the automotive industry had an awful lot of challenges and one of the things, one of the reasons I do a huge amount of mentoring now, is that in those days it wasn't even a thing. It probably wasn't even in the dictionary, to be honest, and I would have benefited so much by having somebody who'd been through that, who could guide me, who could help me, who could say that's a battle worth fighting. That one just leave it. So yeah, lots and lots of interesting, amazing stories and I mean I had a great time, but I did have two young children. I don't know if it was the job, but not long after I started the job, I ended up getting divorced. I was a single parent in a very big role and there came a time where I thought can't do this anymore. So I was offered redundancy. I thought, yes, great, took it and that was a one and only time I've had with my daughters Actually, there were two but this one where they did that twin thing and I sat down with them and I said, right, mommy's got an opportunity.
Speaker 2:We're going to leave here, I can go and get another big job and we can have the house and the holidays and the cars, or we can get rid of all of it by really small house somewhere, and I can't promise you there'll be any holidays or anything. But I will take it to school in the morning and I will pick you up from school in the afternoon, which I hadn't done for the whole lives. They would have been four by this time. Five, six, five, six, six. By then I said go and talk to each other and then we'll have another discussion. They stopped, they looked at each other, turned to me and said mommy, we want you. End of discussion.
Speaker 1:So, yes, I didn't go into another corporate role and just to have interest, before we kind of unpack some of that conversation there, what was the second twin moment you talked about there being? They did it twice, the twin thing.
Speaker 2:Actually, the other one was an odd one. Actually, this was when they were very small. They would have been two, they could talk about two and there were very different parts of the house and we had Quetely Castle. In those days, this one, we're a whole family. And I heard one of some scream who was down one end of the house. The other one was upstairs with me a hand to head and said oh, oh, my head, and the other one had hit her head.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, and we'll come back to your girls in a minute because they've got. They're very much in the world of sport, and in different ways, but we'll come back to that because they know sport is really important to you. But what were the superpowers that you honed to overcome some of the challenges that you had in that, I suppose, that very male dominated industry, the interview situation that you had, going through divorce, deciding to take this different, what would you say that superpower that you brought to the fore?
Speaker 2:I guess two things learning when to zip it because my head there's a million things of just wanting to come from my head straight out my mouth and learning very early on when is the right time to say something, when it's not. I also learned how to use my eyes to say a lot more than my mouth could say and to make it very clear to somebody when what they were saying was absolutely Incorporate or wrong, when I was not happy. So Everybody really knows you will tell you, they can tell, they can read me like a book. It's, it's all there, it's all in my face. But it actually was a real advantage when I was was in that industry because people can repeat back to you things you have said.
Speaker 1:Not so much so a senior look, you've given a love within sort of the roles that you've had in particularly automotive. I can't imagine there was many women at very senior levels at that time. Did you see change during that time or not to be?
Speaker 2:honest, no, no, not in the automotive industry while I was there and the senior people were always HR, pr, communications and HR that they really weren't want anymore. But actually now in my Running my own business, which I've been doing with Mary and for nearly 20 years now, we do a lot of work in the automotive industry and it is changing. It is definitely changing. There. There are far more engineers coming through the system and designers coming through the system who Nearly nearly there and you talk about that.
Speaker 1:Women don't quite and they're not stereotypical every woman but, you know, don't always really realize their own potential or don't see it. I have a million whatsapp groups and I see it every day. When somebody puts a role in or an opportunity I almost see, or a media opportunity, you see people almost like lean out sometimes because they think that imposter syndrome you talked about earlier, you know, is that one of the reasons why you got involved in women at boards to try and help and support that whole kind of unleashing the power of our fantastic board ready women who just don't realize it.
Speaker 2:Well, one artist is two things actually. It's one because Boards benefit when they have women on them. So it's to the benefit of the board and I could see that through my career. But also it is to encourage women. You are needed out there, you have the skills. Sometimes they just need a little, a little nudge. Sometimes they just need a Short conversation with someone like me or the many other women are out there supporting women, to say, okay, well, tell me about this, okay, so what? You've done that and you've done that really wow and okay. So let's just have a look at this job role and now tell me why you're not the right person for this.
Speaker 2:And it's a lot of women do do that. Oh, no, no, no, I haven't. They've listed all these things and I've only got any of them. Well, I Promise you, the guy who's only got tourism will go for the job. And it is so important to the benefit of younger women coming through, to the girls who are still at school, to the girls I haven't even been born yet that we go out there and we that we're brave and we say, okay, it's a big jump, I've got to take a bit big breath, but just do it and People like me are out here to help you. People have been sure people who are older were here to help you with, to give you the confidence to to go out there and apply for those board roles, because they need you and, yeah, the world needs more women on board.
Speaker 1:So I'm seeing a question about it and it strikes me is, looking at your biography, that you are a Serial either board advisor or or chair or vice chair. From women in sport to sales sharks, to Motherwell, cheshire twins, troraciphon trust, cancer research, age UK, the list goes on. The list goes on and on and on. Which is amazing Is that, is that something that's very intentional that you've you've done to go? You know, actually one old can add value and I want to be that visible role model who is on boards. It was that your plan.
Speaker 2:No, I must be absolutely honest. I wish I could say yes, I wish I could say I was that structured. And no, just I mean to be clear, I'm not on all of those now because, well, we'll come back to my mantra in a little while but the one of them I was asked to be on and they just kind of happened and sometimes I look back and think, oh, how did that happen? But yeah, all of them I was approached for and Very happy to, to put it, to say yeah, okay, let's go for it. And with some of them I started as as as trustee Twins trust. I started as a volunteer. I was volunteered for, oh, nearly 20 years and and with about six years, eight years ago now, they came to me and said would you consider coming onto the board? Because they wanted to go through a name change and I have that skill set. So, yeah, absolutely, I'd love to.
Speaker 1:And is it ever too early to go and seek that board position or trustee position?
Speaker 2:I'd say an ideal age to start thinking about it is about 18. And I do know 18 year olds who are on boards, and that doesn't mean it has to be BP shells full made company. It can be a local charity that you're really passionate about, the primary school you went to, that you know firsthand the things that could be improved upon. There are so many charitable opportunities and what I would say to everybody out there that you can learn so much from going on a board. And it starts small. If you are concerned about it, and if you're not and you've got a lot of experience, then go in at the top, go for the big boards.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I would urge everybody to consider it from a much earlier age, because traditionally what's happened is people like me. You get to your 50s and think, oh, actually I'm going to do it, I want to give something back. But actually, what I would say to all younger women out there, it's not only about getting back. You get so much from it and it can really help your career. So it's a strategic, good move too.
Speaker 1:I could agree more, as an amazing woman called Mayor Ellis. When I first met her, right at the start of my Northern Power Women journey, she was on, I think she was one of the youngest trustees ever for Girl Guiding and she was also on the board of our local theatre, or Pin Lancaster, and she was on the board of our local theatre and she was the one who always made me believe that, you know, actually this is something, you know, we should be encouraging at an early age. Almost these things, that so things that you never learn in school, isn't it? But anyway it is, it's those things. But you now head up your own agency, which we talked about before and very much heavily focused around training. Coaching and communication is key to you. Talk to us about that.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is key. And actually I was so lucky because I went to a big networking event which would have been 20 years ago and the keynote speaker was Maryn Myatt, who was then a broadcast journalist. She fronted Northwesternite specifically and we had to chat afterwards and I said, oh, let's have a cup of coffee sometime. So a couple of months later we had a cup of coffee which lasted four hours. Oh, we can do this, we can do this, we can do this. So always have that cup of coffee, you know. Then take every opportunity.
Speaker 2:And we realized that with my strategic comms background and her practical journalism background she'd worked in radio, television, on local and national news. We had a huge amount to offer in terms of supporting organizations big, small, medium with strategic communications, teaching how to do television, how to do interviews, how to do presentations and, honestly, we've never looked back. We definitely are ying and yang. She's just the most wonderful person in the world and various, calm, very patient, and I'm neither of those things and just to give us, I know you talk about public speaking and that's one of your things you very much talk about.
Speaker 1:What are those three top tips that you talk about that you would offer for anyone out there who thinks, oh, I can't do that, I'll leave that, I'll stay in the audience?
Speaker 2:Why would you miss the opportunity to have your voice heard? I can assure you that 99.9% of the population are terrified, so you're not alone. The person up there that looks like the swan gliding along is not Maryna will tell you. Before she went on television to present to eight, nine million people, she was absolutely broken. She was stirring up in the loose every evening before she went on. But once you get into it and you get used to it, is it great fun. It is really good fun and it gives you the opportunity again, if you're in whatever stage of your career you're in, to be in the spotlight and to have your voice heard.
Speaker 2:And you're just out there having a chat with people. That's what I would say. Find some friendly faces, take a couple of deep breaths Breathing is so important. Find some friendly faces out there and chat to them as if it was your new home, your neighbour. Over the fence You're standing over the cup of tea or glass of wine. Just have a chat. That's really all it is. And the most important thing I would say is any form of communication is authenticity. Don't try to be something you're not, because people see through you and then they won't listen to you. So be you.
Speaker 1:It's authentic, isn't it? It's be exactly you. Don't try and be somebody else, because actually they're all taken. Let's jump back into the sort of where we had probably a good 20 minute conversation before we press record today about sports. We talked about your twins, your twin girls and about women's rugby. The importance of sport is so, so vital. It's always something I've been really passionate about and the disconnectivity between sport disengaging with sport in the early age, and belief and confidence and all that kind of things. You've got a different experience, haven't you, with your girls at different sides of the spectrum in sport.
Speaker 2:I do. So they, as I said, they're identical twin girls and they both play rugby and however hard I've tried to get them doing different things, they've always swung back around and ended up doing the same thing. So they both started playing touch rugby and play touch rugby for England, and then they both started to get into contact rugby. Well, one did, the other one followed a little bit later and they really enjoyed it. So one of them they've got American passport. So one of them decided that she was going to go to America to coach, to play, to hopefully get up to the level of playing for USA International team. The other one stayed here. She played at Waterloo over in Liverpool. Waterloo Women's Rugby Club did very well there and then Sail Sharks was given a place in the Premiership in the Allianz Premiership, as it was then three and a half years ago and so she moved over there and moved over to Sail and very, who played there for a couple of years. We had lockdown and all the rest of it and then was very quickly picked up by USA International team.
Speaker 2:Meanwhile the other one, who had gone to America, in her third match, smashed her knee to ceases. I had to go over, bring her home for major surgery. She was off for a year. She decided to go back and play again. I think it was about three months after she started again, she did the same thing again. So she was off for another year and the most dreadful three hour operation I mean the soul sings awful. I never played rugby again. And then she got better and then she's decided actually I will play rugby again and honestly, this is part of the joy of rugby. She said look, you do whatever you want to do.
Speaker 2:We went to her first match back. She was supposed to play for 20 minutes but she said no, I'm staying on. She played for 60 minutes, came off and I've never seen a grin like it. She was so happy. The buzz of it was incredible and in that one snapshot moment I thought this is what sport is about. This is what sport can give to young girls, to young women, to older women. They're playing rugby as well, by the way, they're playing rugby. So then she got back and then, unfortunately, last year she had a very nasty concussion. So she was off for a long time and she came back again. And then 10 days ago she was playing again and she completely slapped her collarbone, so she's now off work for over a month, she can't drive for six weeks, and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, the other one is Captain of Sail Sharks Women and if she's selected which we're all hoping she will be she'll be going off to I think it's Australia for the next USA International Tour.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow. It's just different stories, isn't it? We talk about career journeys constantly. We talk about the world of sport, but I think it's the smile that you talk that I bring to your daughter. So, even though I know she's having that challenging time, this is where you've got to dig deep on the resilience and get some of the superpower out, isn't it?
Speaker 2:But also the other thing I would say that Rosely brings. Any sport, any team sport brings. So the first week she was in excruciating agony. She couldn't move. She was her right arm, her right collarbone, so she couldn't move her arm, so she couldn't do anything for herself and there was not a moment there wasn't one of those girls that she plays rugby with. They're by her side, making her meals, feeding her, showering her, helping her. And that's the other thing that team sport brings is this incredible bond, this friendship that all I know with many of those girls last forever.
Speaker 1:So just talk to me finally about you mentioned earlier.
Speaker 2:You talked about your mantra yeah, yes, my mantra. Now, this is something that took me far too long to learn, and this is about all the various things I did. I suddenly my mantra is really about. We all heard it put on your oxygen mask first before you see to other people, and I suddenly found myself doing too many things all at the same time and I wasn't able to care for others, let alone myself, and I had this conversation with one of my daughters the other day stop saying yes to everything. Think before you say yes. Is it something that you want to do that talks to your heart? Is it something that will benefit you? If so, say yes, but don't just keep saying yes to everything, because looking after yourself first is the most important place.
Speaker 1:I literally think you're talking to me right now, Sarah. Who's put you up to this? Who's put you up to this? I could talk to you forever. We've gone on a journey have away from working in the automotive industry to bring in up an amazing young family, to supporting them on their career ventures into the world of sport, to being a serial charity, trustee, board members across a number of different disciplines, setting your own business up and, just quite frankly, being kickass. Sarah, thank you.
Speaker 1:I keep playing rugby. That didn't say that in the bio. Oh, I will.
Speaker 2:I will. I know I forgot about that one.
Speaker 1:Sarah, thank you so much. It's been an absolute delight to converse with you today. Thank you for all those top tips. I'm literally scribbling as we go along, but thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining us. Another amazing role model of the Northern Power.
Speaker 2:Women podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much indeed, Simone. I was just so thrilled, so thank you.
Speaker 1:Oh, I thank all of you for listening. I'm sure you will be totally motivated and inspired by Sarah and her stories, and now I can't wait to chat to the twins too, because what a story and journey they've been on Just phenomenal. So please stay connected with everything we do on our socials on North Power Women on Twitter and Northern Power Women on all the others and sign up to our digital platform, wearepowernet. It's the home of everything we do, from our podcast to our webinars, to the awards, to our virtual power-up, speed networking and mentoring that we do. It's a world that we want to pass on, pay it forward. We want to be a version of Sarah every day, giving it back, passing on skills and knowledge. Thank you so much for joining us. My name's Simone. This is the Northern Power Women podcast and that's what goes on. Media production.