When Rachael mentions her business partner’s career at Hewlett Packard, Kate details her feelings on the role. “I was Vice President of Europe at HP and took a break to have twins. When I returned back to corporate-ville I was there for 9 days when Rachael approached me and the entrepreneurial bug hit me. I’ve always had an interest in small business and I saw this amazing opportunity to begin this new adventure.” Rachael then details elements of her own background. “When I finished university I went straight to the city on a trading floor for 7 years. It was tough but I learnt some important lessons, mainly that it takes a long time to gain a reputation but seconds to lose one and that ‘you’re only as good as the last thing you did.’ I also went on maternity leave and had lots of business ideas but none of them were good enough and they didn’t fit around my 2 children.
“I then noticed that despite being married to a really nice guy I was left thinking at every significant event that he didn’t know me at all. Whether it was my birthday or our anniversary, he just couldn’t get the gift buying process right. I remember thinking that it didn’t make sense – he is also an entrepreneur and is incredibly organised, but just couldn’t complete the task of buying a worthy present. The last straw came at Christmas when he bought me an electrical toothbrush. My only option at that point was to contemplate divorce or find a solution!”
Rachael also based her initial thinking on genetics, with women tending to display thoughtfulness and caring, whilst men are designed to solve a problem as quickly and linear as possible. “I think most women can vouch for their partner not knowing one handbag
“ Working in a small business is a lot of fun, particularly post recession when big corporates are cost cutting. Entrepreneurs have far more choice ” - Kate
40 entrepreneurcountry
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