Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Entrepreneur who built a multimillion-pound haulage business and became a star on Dragon's Den.
On the island
Eight records
Because it was in the 80s, it was my era. I was foot loose, fancy free, I was stunning, I was blonde, I was tall, I was slim, I had the world at my feet, I was travelling with my job, I had a TR7 sports car with the Union Jack all over it, I was the girl of outtown.
It's fond memories, happy times. I was caught in my first husband, Malcolm, and he was in a band, and he always used to play the intro into Bohemian Rhapsody on his guitar for me. And both of us just thought that it was so futuristic for the time. And I just love that music.
Every Sunday morning we woke up as kids to this record blaring out, and that was my dad's way of he cooked breakfast for us all every Sunday morning. And it was the full English works, you know. And um ... I think, you know, it was so apt for my dad. It was his favourite song because everything he did, he did his way.
on the way back up the motorway we used to play Pearl's a Singer and we'd both be trolleying down the motorway, singing at the top of our voices.
You Raise Me UpFavourite
I had this song played at my mum's funeral and. If you listen to the words, I think you'll understand why I love my mum, and she was my best friend and my mum, and I spoke to her every day until the day she died. ... I feel quite choked actually because um it epitomizes what my mum did for me. And I don't think she ever got to grips. She was kind of in awe of her own daughter and what I'd achieved. And I didn't like that feeling. And I I could never manage to convey to her that I've just done it because I had to do it.
I Will Always Love You reminds me of Mev's dad. We used to go into the woods and, you know, take some charcoal with us and have a barbecue in the woods, just take a tape recorder with us and sit and listen to music. And I Will Always Love You is what he always used to sing to me.
Simply because I'd got over the cash flow problems with Pallix and I wasn't then scrambling around to put a meal on the table and going home at Christmas with eleven pence in my pocket. And I was beginning to start to relax and chill and just enjoy my life a little bit.
And when my son was a baby, the only way I could quieten him was put this music on top blast, and he'd be rocking in the back seat of his little baby chair, you know. All the way from, you know, London to Bolton, we'd be listening to the same song, The Gambler. And I used to say, Can we turn it off now, Mev, and have something else? No, mummy, turn the gambler on, mummy.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:48Have the trappings of success—the homes, the jewellery—brought you happiness?
Money certainly has not brought me happiness at all. In fact, the only real time in my life I've appreciated money is when I had a stroke and I needed twenty four hour care round the clock and I could afford to pay for it. That's when I appreciated the fact that I got money. When you think about it, everything's on loan to us. We're here for a given period of time. I believe in putting as much back as I possibly can. I want to leave a legacy, and I'd like that legacy to say she gave as much as she got.
Presenter asks
2:55You once said there is no such thing as the glass ceiling. A lot of women find that hard to imagine. Is it true?
It's mythical, there is no glass ceiling, and a manicured fist will smash it just as easily as a male fist.
Presenter asks
8:57Tell me about your mum and dad, how did they meet?
My mum had gone to Blackpool for a weekend with friends, with girl friends, and met my Dad. My Dad whisked her away to work with him in Northern Ireland. … It was only years later my mum found out that my dad was already married with four children.
The keepsakes
The luxury
Presenter asks
10:42What was going on underneath that very controlled surface?
Devastation total and utter devastation because what it meant was my whole life with him had been a tissue of lies. It was like the whole world collapsing around you.
Presenter asks
16:49Can you pinpoint a moment when your drive was ignited and you thought, 'I'm going to do something with my life'?
Yes, it was around the time I decided to establish Pallax. It was inconceivable to me that this business concept would not work, would not fly, would fail. And my motto was failure is not an option. And that was the first strap line I had on the vehicles. And everybody thought it referred to delivery service. In actual fact, it referred to myself.
Presenter asks
29:07What advice would you give to young men and women listening today, who want to become entrepreneurs?
I'd say be true to yourself, be true to your business, don't chase the money, it runs away. … If you've got a concept that you think you can turn it you can bring to fruition, then be proud of that and start the business because that's your reason for doing so, not because you think you're going to make a million pounds, because it's those sort of people that don't make a million.
“I don't believe you have to be ruthless to get to the top. I think you've got to be understanding, be empathetic, and it doesn't stop you having a heart and feeling sorry for people. But if you have to deliver bad news, then I'm sorry, you've got to deliver bad news.”
“Money certainly has not brought me happiness at all. In fact, the only real time in my life I've appreciated money is when I had a stroke and I needed twenty four hour care round the clock and I could afford to pay for it. That's when I appreciated the fact that I got money. When you think about it, everything's on loan to us. We're here for a given period of time. I believe in putting as much back as I possibly can. I want to leave a legacy, and I'd like that legacy to say she gave as much as she got.”
“It's mythical, there is no glass ceiling, and a manicured fist will smash it just as easily as a male fist.”
“Devastation total and utter devastation because what it meant was my whole life with him had been a tissue of lies. It was like the whole world collapsing around you.”
“I'd say be true to yourself, be true to your business, don't chase the money, it runs away.”