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Women in Marketing Inspiration International Women's Day

Who inspired you? To mark International Women’s Day, women in the industry reflect on who has inspired them most

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By Katie McQuater, Magazine Editor

March 6, 2015 | 6 min read

To commemorate International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, The Drum asked a cross-section of women in advertising, media and marketing to tell us which woman has inspired them most in their careers.

Leigh Thomas, CEO, Dare

Lisa Thomas has been an inspiration to me over the years (and that's not just because we have similar Welsh surnames!).

Most management people are either alpha by nature, or alpha by sex. Lisa was, and still is, a refreshing antidote to it all the ‘ox like’ behaviours.

She has an innate resilience, intellect, and fascination with the effect of modern creativity, whilst being unafraid to put an ‘x’ at the end of an email, and genuinely listen. She epitomises the 'iron fist in a velvet glove' idiom.

In fact, she would be number one on a list of both male and female sources of inspiration in my career – and that is the acid test.

Pippa Glucklich, co-CEO, Starcom MediaVest

Now that’s a tough question – there are so many amazing women, particularly whom I’ve met in our industry, picking just one that has inspired me is simply impossible.

So forgive me, but I’m going to choose my mum. Yes I know, it’s a cliché but true nevertheless. With working class roots in the North, my mum was the first in her family to go to university and went on to have her own successful career, including running her own business and writing two books. Passionate about equality for all but particularly women, she worked for the Equal Opportunities commission and stood as a Labour councillor in suburban, stockbroker belt Surrey. Of course she never won – she never expected to – but she did it because it’s what she believed in.

Her passion, belief, integrity and constant curiosity have inspired me throughout my life.

Anna Jones, CEO, Hearst Magazines

One of the most inspiring women in the media and communications industry is Nik Govier, co-founder of the PR agency Unity. Nik and I worked together in our first jobs after university, in communications, at Ketchum in the 1990s. From there I went into the corporate world and Nik used her entrepreneurial and creative spirit to set up Unity, which won a staggering 56 industry awards last year – including most creative PR agency in the world. Her energy and creativity know no bounds. Her team and clients love her, as do her gorgeous children and friends. She does a lot of juggling!

Emma Perkins, executive creative director, LoweOpen

The woman who has had the biggest effect on my career is Tanya Goddard. She doesn’t work directly in our industry anymore – she’s a career coach. All of my mentors have been very talented men, feminists at heart. This is, of course, symbolic of the crazy gender imbalance in our industry. Amongst the multiple barriers women face throughout their careers, women report the absence of a role model as the biggest barrier to career progression.

Lacking a female role model led me to seek out Tanya. Tanya has coached me through transitioning in and out of stints of maternity leave, transitioning between jobs, managing my career and my family. She taught me to set boundaries and ask for what I want, she taught me to build my network. She brought out in me tenacity, confidence and strength. I’d recommend career coaching or a mentorship programme for any woman looking for support to realise their potential.

Jenny Halpern Prince, founder of Halpern PR and partner in The&Partnership

It’s women with confidence who have inspired me most in my career.

There have been many – Martha Lane Fox, Joanna Shields. Lynne Franks in particular stands out. One of many PRs I met through my father in my teens, her strength of character attracted me to the industry – still one of far too few in which women stand shoulder-to-shoulder with men.

With true confidence comes compassion – Lynne actively cultivated confidence in those who had less. She influenced not just the way I approach my role as a leader at Halpern, but equally my decisions to work with Women’s Aid and to found my own work experience charity, Access.

Those who are blessed with confidence have a duty to pay it forward. That is Lynne’s legacy – a legacy the PR industry should proudly fly the flag for.

Sue Unerman, chief strategy officer, MediaCom

It's impossible for me to just mention one woman. In my family my teenage daughters both inspire me massively. Their ability to do everything better than me has taught me loads. When it comes to icons, I've got to mention Bette Davis. Despite being a star long before I was born, I love her films – everyone should see All about Eve – but she inspires me professionally for two other reasons: she fearlessly took on the movie industry over her contract; she sat through award ceremonies with a look on her face that perfectly expresses that she thinks she should have won another Oscar (she won two but was nominated ten times) but somehow the judges are mistaken this year.

Debbie Klein, CEO, Engine Group

The woman who has most inspired me in my career is Rita Clifton. Rita took a chance on me when I was fresh off the boat from South Africa, and gave me my first job in the industry as a strategic planner at Saatchi & Saatchi. She taught me the art of 'and' rather than 'but'. She gave me the confidence to trust my instincts always. That laughter and levity go a long way. She showed me how business can change the world. The importance of good black suits and crisp white shirts. And that you can have it all – just not all at the same time.

Women in Marketing Inspiration International Women's Day

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