Inspirational Women – Sarah Pennells

I am so pleased to bring you this interview with Sarah Pennells, editor of Savvy Woman, a web site dedicated to bringing women good sound financial information.

Jane: Sarah, you are well known for your work with financial information for women, and I’m sure many of our readers will have seen you on BBC’s Saturday Breakfast or heard you on Radio 4.

So my first question is -Why a specialist site for women? Are our financial issues very different?
SARAH: Yes, I think they are – in two significant ways. Firstly, women often have to make different decisions about money because of different working patterns and priorities and secondly, women often approach issues around finance, such as risk and debt, differently.

For example, many women will want to know how much they could lose before they’ll invest whereas men tend to focus more on the maths of how an investment stacks up. Women also typically owe less than men but have debt that charges a higher interest rate (such as credit cards) and also worry about it more.

How did you first get into the world of finance? Was it something you had planned to do from school days? Were you always good at managing your pocket money? (I wasn’t…!)
I can safely say that my burning ambition when I was at school wasn’t to work in personal finance. I wasn’t very good at managing my pocket money (unlike my sister) and would often run out of money halfway through the week.

I gradually moved towards personal finance journalism via a theatre company, an arts centre, catering for rock bands and reporting and producing for local radio. When I moved to London I was offered some freelance work on BBC Radio 4’s Moneybox, filling in for someone who was on holiday. She didn’t come back and I stayed for six years! I loved working on the programme because I felt that – by giving people information – you could make a real difference to the amount of money they had and ultimately to their lives.

It was also a great programme to work on because you had to get all the facts right otherwise you’d be inundated with letters and phone calls (this was before email was popular!).

What was your very first paid job? Do you remember how much you got paid?
My first job, during the school holidays, was working at a fruit machine company filing invoices. I had no idea there was so much money in fruit machines (literally!).  I think I was paid £37 a week, which seemed like a fortune at the time.

You now run your own business. What’s the best thing about being your own boss?
The best thing was being able to set up SavvyWoman in the way I wanted to. I had strong ideas about the content, tone and look of the website – I didn’t want it to be fluffy but was keen to make sure that women felt it was written with them in mind.

It’s really rewarding when you get positive feedback to one of your ideas.  I also have a huge amount of freedom about the topics I can cover on SavvyWoman. Sometimes I’ll write about a topic that’s in the news, but look at it from a female perspective, at other times I’ll pick a completely different subject that I know will be of interest to website users.

What advice would you give to any woman thinking of launching their own business?
‘Go for it’ is the obvious piece of advice. The other one is to say that there are bound to be times when it’s scary so don’t think it’s only you who’s experiencing that. You have to be prepared to work hard and you have to do your research before you start, but it’s a great feeling when you see that your idea has translated into something tangible.

When do you think we’ll have our first female Chancellor of the Exchequer? Do you think the public is less ready for that than they were a female prime minister?
I’d like to think we wouldn’t have to wait too long for our first female Chancellor of the Exchequer but I have a feeling I’d be wrong.  The absence of women in politics – especially at cabinet level – is such a problem and it’s one that parties of various political shades don’t seem that keen to tackle.

Why it should seem acceptable that decisions about the future of this country are led by a cabinet largely representing 50% of the population by gender is a mystery to me.

What was the best piece of advice that you were given when setting up Savvy SavvyWoman?
I don’t think I can pinpoint one piece of advice that stands out. Overall, I was just pleased to get encouragement from so many of my friends. There were times, especially in the early stages when I couldn’t talk about what I was doing because I was waiting to get the trademark on the domain name and when I was trying to choose a web designer when it felt like it was a long way from a business, but in the end it all came together very quickly.

In terms of things I’m glad I did, I was very lucky with the web design team – thebrightplace.com – as they were fantastic communicators as well as having the ability to interpret my non-technical speak into a great website. That took a huge amount of pressure off me.

I was also really pleased to get such a brilliant panel of experts lined up for the website, all of whom give their time free of charge. It felt like a great endorsement of the idea.

In your experience, what is the most common dilemma or issue for women and finance?
I think the biggest issue is retirement. I get more questions about pensions from SavvyWoman users on pensions than any other subject. I know that retirement and, in particular, how to pay for it are big issues for both men and women but all the statistics show that women retire on less than men and in around one in three cases, retire on very little at all.

Not all women have career breaks to look after children but those who do invariably put the pension on hold for quite a few years and never make up that lost time.  Even those who work throughout their lives generally earn less than men (sometimes a lot less) and may be less keen to lock money away.

Of women reaching state pension age last year, fewer than 50% received a full state pension compared to well over 90% of men. Changes were introduced in April that will benefit women, but they’ll take quite some time to filter through the system. A pension may not be the answer, but you cannot rely on the state.

Who most inspires and motivates you currently?
I absolutely love working on the website and I’m genuinely really pleased if I’ve come up with something that women can relate to and that will help them get more from their money. One woman said it was the first finance website that didn’t scare her, which I was really touched by.

I hate unfairness and injustice and it frustrates me that some financial companies will treat customers as badly as they think they can get away with and will only behave decently once they’re threatened with the prospect of publicity.

I’m not motivated by money and I don’t advocate thinking about it day and night but neither should you dismiss it as boring or complicated because it’s hard to function without it. Sometimes a relatively straightforward piece of information can make all the difference between a good or bad financial decision.

What’s the best piece of advice you have been given?
From a financial point of view, the best advice I was given was never to combine borrowing and investing. This was when endowment mortgages were all the rage and I was working on Moneybox at the time. It was a favourite saying of one of the producers – but she was right.

In terms of general advice I think the one that’s rung true for me over the years is to trust your instincts. I think I generally have quite a strong gut feeling and the times when I’ve not listened to it I’ve normally regretted it.

And what advice would you give to women re their own financial affairs?
I’d say, don’t be scared of money and don’t think you have to be money obsessed to take an interest in it.  Women often make very good financial decisions but can miss out because they’re put off by the jargon that often litters financial articles or brochures (more so than men, it seems).
The last piece of advice would be to think about what you’re going to live on in retirement. It doesn’t have to be a pension, it can be some other form of retirement saving, but make sure you won’t have to rely on the state.

Sarah, thanks you so much for sharing your thoughts with us.

If you’d like some more information about Savvy Woman, or to sign up for a regular newsletter from Sarah, visit her web site by clicking here

Inspirational Women – Val Huxley

Val Huxley and I met at a networking event where Val was talking, most persuasively, about her charity work. I was intrigued by what had led Val to get involved in this demanding line of work, hence this interview. I know her enthusiasm and dedication will inspire you. 

Jane: Val, what exactly is your role?
Val: I run a charity called Robin Hood Ministries which works internationally in relieving people from poverty.  We work closely within the business community here in the UK who also have a desire to change the lives of others, through the charity. Our biggest project is in Romania working with families and children that live in extreme poverty, living in ghetto blocks with no heating, lighting, sanitation, or running water. 

These people eke out an existence in society where they are forgotten by their own.  We reach the children to provide their basic needs i.e. providing them with food to fill their starving bellies & clothing to wear on their naked bodies, giving help with their education and providing medication through our projects and the child sponsorship scheme. 

What was the very first job you had and did you learn any skills from it you still use?
I was a copy typist in a London branch of National Westminster Bank.
As a copy typist for the Bank it was extremely important that I learned to be precise in my work as I was the one that typed out cheques for clients!  The skills I learned through this work was touch typing and ensuring that everything is checked before its sent out.  It could end up being very costly otherwise! This attention to detail has stood me in good stead.
  

What educational path did you follow?
I stayed on at school until I was 16 leaving with just 5 GCSE’s in English, Typing/Commerce, Maths, Geography and Music.  As an East End girl during the 70’s, attending a comprehensive school in Islington it was not the “norm” for anyone to go onto university. Most of the kids left school at 16 to start work. I think I personally learned more from being out in the big wide world than I would have, had I stayed on to further my education. 

Did you plan to have a career? Or have you reacted to events as they have happened?
Although I never planned on a career, all the jobs that I have done over the many years have been professional in one way or another.  After leaving my first job as a copy typist I then ventured out and tried various other office jobs in the print industry, a tailor in Saville Row, secretary to a partner in a large firm of Solicitors in London, PA to a director in the security industry to finally settling as a doctors’ receptionist in Kent after having children. 

This progressed onto Practice Manager for the same surgery lasting 11 years when I left to work as Office Manager for an NCH project in Surrey (now Action for Children) lasting another 7 years.  I left that role 5 years ago to start my career with Robin Hood Ministries and the rest is history.  I guess I can say I reacted to events as they happened. 

Who most inspired and motivated the young Val?
As a young very naïve girl I tended to be very black and white. There was no ‘in between’ with me. It is only in my latter years that I have been able to look at life in a different perspective.  I met my husband when I was 17 and we have been together now for 37 years, so I guess my motivation came a lot from him, but inspiration came from a lady called Anna Scher. 

I attended her children’s theatre group at the age of 13 and was able to perform with the likes of Pauline Quirk & Linda Robson of Birds of Feather TV show and Martin & Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet and Eastenders fame.  It was Anna’s encouragement that motivated me and brought me out of myself giving me the confidence I needed in my career. 

And who (or what) inspires you now?
Over the years through the charity I have met with lots of people but one of them, Valentine who runs the Way of Joy project in Romania is the one that inspires and motivates me.  He inspires me with his outlook on everything. He is such a wonderful, loving, gentle and Godly person – you often hear the saying “he wouldn’t hurt a fly”, we’ll I know he actually wouldn’t. 

I don’t think I have ever met anyone that would ever reach his standards.  And motivation comes again from Valentine because if I can see him working in the most horrendous situations, often facing death threats, often seeing young children die through malnutrition, watching mothers of young kids face complete despair, depression and suicide because they cannot care for their kids as they would wish, then if that doesn’t motivate me to do what I can to help these people then nothing will. 

What is best thing about your current role? What has been the most exciting and challenging to date?
I love taking teams out to Romania on one of our Awareness Trips. To see lives changed of the people that go on these trips is amazing. I hope to also be taking trips out to our project in Nepal in the future. Most challenging of my work is when last year I visited the project in Romania and met with a group of young children all singing in the worship team. 

A beautiful 15 year old girl, with stunning blue eyes and dark black hair stood that had stood out amongst the team had, the following week on my return back to the UK, committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the Phantom Block where she and her family lived. Life for her had gotten to be so hard, she couldn’t take it anymore. I felt so sad that I was unable to see the signs of her despair. 

And worse or most difficult…?
The most difficult has to be my first visit to Tanzania when I was leading an Awareness Trip to our project there. We had booked into the “best” hotel in the area. Unfortunately their best was my nightmare! We walked into a dingy room with mould all over the walls, the toilet was hanging off the wall, the mosquito net had holes all over it and worse of all there was no hot water. I cried. However, I was leading a team and I couldn’t let them see that and so had to stay strong. It was very difficult, but somehow you just seem to get on with it once you see how the families living in extreme poverty cope.  It certainly changed me. 

What advice would you give to any young woman thinking of changing their job or life?If you have a yearning to do something, go with it.  You have to make the best of your life as you are on this earth for just a short period of time.   Be adventurous but don’t be selfish. 

How do you relax?
When I can find the time to relax I usually like to do various things like shopping, eating out in restaurants and going to see the latest movie at the cinema 

What (or who) makes you most happy?
Usually entertaining and spending time with friends. 

Do you have a book, saying, or thought to share that has inspired you?
I have this verse from the Bible that instigated the change in my life: (It’s taken from The Message which is a modern day version of the Bible).  I hope it inspires you too; maybe you can join me on an Awareness Trip and have your life changed! 

This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.

Val, thank you so much for sharing your story with us.

If you would like to contact Val, or find out more about the Robin Hood ministry, this link will take you to their web site.