Natasha is a Builder's Merchant MD by day (a very successful one!) and an actor by night, performing in various Amateur Dramatic groups and shows throughout the year. And isn't that a brilliant paradox?!
Like Mary-Clare, Natasha and I met because our sons went to primary school together, but perhaps unlike me and Mary-Clare (sorry MC), Natasha was always the mum at pick-up, that looked amazing, and as though she really had her shit together... Because she did/does!
It is Natasha's tenacity, bravery, and lets face it, her innate drive to succeed, that has got her to where she is. She put the hours in, made sure that she fully understood how the business worked, bottom to top; made sure that she had great relationships throughout the business, before, in effect, orchestrating a leadership take-over to become the MD.
Natasha has 100% made her career happen. She's the MD because she wanted to be the MD; she believed she could do it, and was brave enough to almost demand it.
Yes, there is an element of her having a 'foot in the door' because the umbrella business is her father's/family business, however, as you (hopefully) heard, she also has an older brother. And an older brother - a son - in a male-dominated/masculine industry like the building and construction industry, is an fully-fledged golden egg.
And whilst I didn't ask this question during the chat, I am in no doubt that Natasha's brother was being primed (potentially from birth) to take over the business, when the time came.
By contrast, Natasha was the 'wayward' thespian daughter, going to drama school, living a very cosmopolitan life in London, and seemingly doing everything other than interact with the building trade.
Until things changed, and she came home for a while; during which time her old-school 'get a job' father demanded she did just that. Now at this point he could have given her an exec role, or a role with higher prestige (and limited actual work), but he didn't. He put his drama-school daughter on the trade counter of one of his depots and made her graft like everyone else.
Which she did... all the way to the top.
Enjoy.
Chops x
Click here to listen to Natasha's podcast:
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