Ms Motivator: Exclusive Interview with Philippa Davies

I recently attended an excellent event honouring International Women's Day, where by matter of luck the guest speaker was Philippa Davies.  Philippa is an exceptional motivational speaker, with a successful career spanning the fields of psychology, business and politics. Her great speech really focussed my mind to sort out my life, re-establishing my goals, dreams and objectives both on a personal and professional level. 

Philippa Davies

Philippa took some time out of her busy schedule to talk to me and answer some questions, as well as providing  some motivational advice for you, the reader. 

What attracted you into pursuing a career in psychology, specifically in the field of business?

I started off reading drama at university, acted a little and then achieved a big ambition by going to drama school and qualifying as a voice teacher. Starting Voiceworks, a communication skills training company, made me realize that individual psychology played a huge part in how we speak and influence each other - so I went off and did a Master's in Business Psychology at London University. 

We built up a business client list rapidly and I realized that I loved working with bright people in this sector. As a drama student, I'd thought this sector might be boring... how wrong was that!

How has the digital world changed your life?
Since then I've helped many people set up blogs and sites, produced e-books and videos and written apps. With a friend, I co-run Wordpress Users Wales, which is a learning network for developers, designers and content creators.

Tremendously. Just by great good luck John Lewis, the UK retailer, asked me to help with their dotcom integration, so I went off to learn basic HTML and CSS. Heavily recommend more women do this...as it enables you to be a one-stop content creator...    

What has been your most challenging consultancy role to date?

Well I am about to embark on a project which is very challenging, helping university academics review their Impact Skills. This is a very controversial area and one that is of course very difficult to measure and begs questions like 'Where and on who, should academics have impact?' and 'Should academics be appraised, for instance, on their knowledge of employability in their sector?' 

I'd have to say. too, that working in 10  Downing Street for Sir John Major and for Lord Mandelson on the 1997 Labour Election campaign was also challenging - but actually so frantic and full-on, that I never had time to see it like that...  

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

Am lucky enough to meet and work with some extraordinarily bright and dedicated people - and I love the requirement to totally immerse myself in a situation and its development need. Love to try and think incisively about what can be done, practically.  

If you could consult anyone or any company, who would it be?

I would love to consult young aspiring female politicians for their future import.  

Secretary Clinton

Which female individuals inspire you, both professionally and personally?

I like leftish women who do their own thing well : Barbara Castle, Betty Boothroyd, Hillary Clinton, Yvette Cooper - and in Wales, our Assembly Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler. All these women have remained strongly feminine, and seem to me to combine dignity with compassion.  

How would you encourage young women interested in succeeding in the worlds of politics/business to do their best?

Become specialists in what they love best. Engage with science, technology and economics and involve them in whatever your passion is. There is such mystique around these subjects which can be off putting and they are not always well-taught in school. 

Remember that a rudimentary knowledge of the web can enable you to communicate with potentially very large groups of people. You can show what you are capable of here - without needing to big yourself up...

Seek out people of integrity who share you passions and do stuff with them - create projects - even if these are not in anyway linked to your current job/study remit. It is these networks of like-minded supporters who will sustain you through life. 

If you could give one piece of advice to a young girl/woman just beginning their professional life, what would it be?

Prepare yourself to be isolated, ignored and sidestepped when you start to be successful and do what you believe in - and work out a way of being bossy without worrying about attractiveness...  Cherish and value your close family and friends - for they will sustain you when the going gets tough. And it will get tough if you are going to get anywhere...  

What are your upcoming projects?

Well- one is partly inspired by you, Laura! - and it is web project to celebrate inspirational women, from all walks of life. This is to be a collective enterprise and if anyone reading this would like to get involved then please contact me.

I am helping General Electric build up a women's network, which am very looking forward to.

And then my novel about the women in the 1984/85 miners strike in the UK,  'The Gritties' is coming out at the start of May, so I will be trying to interest people in that. 

Digital agencies and events organizers are asking for talks on blogs and e-books, so am starting a site to teach people on this: http://www.pjpublisher.com/

And I have http://www.mrsmotivator.com/ to keep updating - which links to the practical work I do as a psychologist.

Oh,  and the teenage sons with-bottomless-pits-for-stomachs here, will mean this will all gets done in between a heck of a lot of food shopping... 

For more information about Philippa's work, career and to get in touch with her, visit: http://www.mrsmotivator.com/

A BIG thank you to Philippa for answering my questions, and I hope you all feel suitably inspired and fired up to take on the world!