Published in 2018
228 pages
Mary Portas is one of the world’s foremost authorities on retail and brand communication, and is credited with turning Harvey Nichols from a staid department store into a modern fashion powerhouse. She is the founder of the creative communications agency Portas, which creates award-winning campaigns for brands including Habitat, Clarks and Mercedes-Benz. She regularly travels the world advising on retail strategy and frequently lectures on the theme of brands and retail. Mary is a fierce protector of the UK’s high streets and has previously advised the British government on their future and continues her vociferous campaigning for high streets and communities. As Global Retail Ambassador for Save the Children she is the creator of seventeen Mary’s Living & Giving charity shops, after she redefined the charity shop experience to put the local community at its heart, and in doing so raised millions of pounds. As well as contributing a column to the Telegraph for eight years, Mary has become a household name through her television series, including Mary Queen of Shops and, most recently, Mary Portas: Secret Shopper on Channel 4.
What is this book about?
Work Like a Woman is a bold manifesto about why the way we work now is in desperate need of change, how you can campaign to help make this happen and why we will all – men and women – profit from this.
Women today are working in a man’s culture – and it’s holding us back. In Work Like a Woman, Mary Portas examines the world of employment, how it works against women and what needs to change, as she tells the story of her career – and learning to rewrite the rules.
Taking us through her working life, Mary looks at a range of topics from workplace bullying and accessing promotion, to combining a career with children and the affect that getting divorced and becoming a single parent had on her professional life. Speaking candidly about the traps she fell into – from aping the behaviour seen in aggressive corporate environments to recreating a male working culture within her own business – Mary will explode the myth of women ‘having it all’. She will also track her evolution as a business leader and the decision to rebuild her company from the ground up on a model that today embraces female values.
Examining practical issues, including flexible working and equal pay, and also cultural ones – such as gender bias – Mary will argue for a revolution in the way we work.
Work Like a Woman is a manifesto for all: from young women entering the workforce and older women trying to integrate professional and family ambitions, to executives running businesses and creating best practice and the businesses that employ them. Honest, accessible and entertaining, it is a bold and inspiring vision of the future world of work.
