LAUNCHING:
HANA MANTHORPE
Company:
The Mental Movement
THE BIG QUESTIONS
WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL TITLE?
Life & Mindset Coach
WHAT DO YOU DO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?
I walk my dog, I go to spinning or perhaps for a run or to a yoga class, sometimes I play tennis, I have a current fetish for jigsaws and I do fascinating work to support women whose lives look great on the outside but that’s not how they feel on the inside.
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD AND WHAT CHANGED?
I wanted to be a tennis player or a fashion designer. Turns out I was quite average at tennis and quite terrible at drawing.
WHAT ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU HAVE?
4 A’s at A-level, a 2:1 in Economics from Bristol and, as much as I’d rather not tell anyone, I’m an ACA (Chartered Accountant – boo hiss).
WHAT’S THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU’VE EVER BEEN GIVEN?
A female boss once told me that the best career move she’d ever made was to suppress 100% of her personality at work. At that moment I knew that the advice I was going to take from her was the complete opposite of that! Needless to say I didn’t stay in that job much longer.
WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL AND WHY?
I really love Reese Witherspoon at the moment because she’s found a brilliant way to be very likeable, very funny, very honest, very smart and a very good advocate for women.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR CURRENT WORKING ENVIRONMENT?
That I get to do something I love, mainly sat in the comfort of my own home, in my yoga pants, whilst cuddling my dog.
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOUR DAILY WORK ROUTINE IF YOU COULD?
Right now I would love to have someone on board who is a whizz at social media and could take on some of that load. I love it but jeez is it time consuming sometimes.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF PROFESSIONALLY IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME?
I’m about to try to have a baby on my own so, in five years, I hope that I have a great self-sustaining business with some passive income, some great childcare in place so that I can still invest in my work life and a funny, happy little person running around my ankles.
DO YOU FEEL YOU CAN BE THE SAME PERSON AT WORK AND IN PRIVATE?
I’ve discovered that it‘s nothing short of essential in the work that I do that I am authentically me however and whenever I show up.
WHERE AND IN WHAT ROLES ARE WOMEN IN THE LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE AT YOUR COMPANY?
Me, me and me.
DOES DIVERSITY MATTER TO YOU?
Hell yeah. But with a big focus on equality. As a privileged woman living comfortably in London I want to be careful about how I bang my diversity drum. Personally, I don’t feel in any way disadvantaged as a woman and I don’t want to pretend otherwise. I care as much about equality for men – particularly how we can allow them the opportunity for more equality in parenting/family life, if they want it. And I also appreciate that there are many women in the world who are still very much discriminated against and I’m currently putting some thought into what I do/don’t want to do in order to support that very genuine need.
HOW GOOD IS YOUR WORK LIFE BALANCE?
It’s excellent but I’m working pretty hard at the mo to grow my biz, so I generally work 7 days a week. And I go to yoga in the middle of the day and I meet people for coffee and I take days off when I choose. I have the balance that I choose to have right now.
WHAT QUALITIES DOES BEING IN YOUR ROLE NECESSITATE?
Authenticity. Hearing and seeing what might be going on below someone’s surface. The confidence to express an opinion and to sometimes be wrong.