One Removed

A couple of week’s ago I was a guest speaker at the Royal Bank of Scotland Focused Women’s Week event hosted by the talented Heather Melville, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Head of Inclusive Initiatives at RBS. I began my talk by stating that Heather was a rare asset and I explained that each year, in early January, I call her to test my ideas. I watched Heather as I talked about her and she beamed a warm smile.

Within two minutes of my presentation I could sense that I had captured the curiosity of the audience. I talked through my self-portrait – my Scottish heritage, my Guyanese gold bangles, my forensic mind and my creativity. I mentioned entrepreneurial characteristics particularly my passions underpinned by strong values, my determination to succeed and my commercial acumen to assess opportunities.

I challenged the audience to imagine a situation where the majority of their colleagues had grown up in an entrepreneurial home. What would the dynamics be? How would thinking styles differ? And then I mentioned a little known fact about the Semple core team: the mothers of all but one runs their own family business. 

These mothers contribute to the Semple culture but they don’t know it. Their ideas are discussed but they don’t hear them. Their resilience is drawn upon but they don’t see their efforts. 

From my perspective, these supportive women have helped my businesses to grow even though they are one removed.