Dressing for Yourself and Using It to Your Advantage with Business Strategist Sara Marshall
"I don’t conform to the patriarchy—I challenge it. And I do it in heels." – Sarah Marshall
Welcome back to ‘Don’t f**king tell me what to wear or how to run my business’ on the wo0 pod. Hosted by Wendy Gannon (aka wo0), this podcast is part of Female Five Million—a movement dedicated to empowering women to own their space unapologetically, both in business and life.
In this episode, Wendy is joined by Sara Marshall, a powerhouse strategy advisor who helps businesses of all sizes build growth strategies that actually work. Sara shares her experiences of prejudice in the workplace, being told to change her appearance to be “taken seriously,” and why she refuses to play by outdated corporate rules.
In This Episode - Sara & wo0 Discuss:
- Challenging workplace prejudice – Sara’s personal experiences of being judged for how she looks
- Why strategy isn’t just for big corporations – How businesses of all sizes can benefit from a strong strategic approach
- Corporate life is a game – The unspoken rules women have to navigate to get ahead
- The power of choice – Why how you dress should be about personal power, not conformity
- The next generation of women – Why Sara is determined to create a better future for her daughters
- Calling out everyday misogyny – How Sara confronted a client’s sexist remark and changed the culture of his business
About Sara Marshall:
Sara Marshall is an accredited strategic advisor, business consultant and keynote speaker who helps ambitious business owners and corporate leaders reposition, grow, and build future-proof strategies. With experience across corporate giants and small businesses alike, Sara brings no-nonsense, practical advice for companies ready to stop winging it and start winning.
Connect with Our Guest: Sara Marshall
- LinkedIn: Sara Marshall
- Website: www.saramarshallstrategy.co.uk
Connect with wo0:
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- wo0 on the ‘gram: @wo0photography
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Female Five Million is an unapologetic celebration of women who’ve faced male to female abuse, broken free, and are now thriving on their own terms. This is a story of empowerment and resilience against abuse and toxicity from men, in business and beyond. This is a multi-faceted project made up of two empowering photoshoots, conversations, research, exhibitions, art and a beautiful coffee table book.
“This project is deeply personal to me because I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to suffer domestic, sexual, financial, mental abuse and general misogyny in the workplace and my private life. I’ve been there but I’ve also found the strength to rise above and overcome it.
By speaking openly about my experiences, I’ve met so many incredible women who’ve faced similar challenges, yet they’ve come out the other side stronger, smarter, (more hilarious) and more determined than ever.
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Transcript
>> Wo0: Welcome to don't fucking Tell Me what to Wear or how to
Speaker:run My business. This is the
Speaker:Woopod.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: When I put a pair of heels on, that gives me
Speaker:power. When I put on my.
Speaker:My dresses that I choose to wear to work, that gives
Speaker:me power.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I'm your host, Wendy Gannon, but most people call me
Speaker:Woo. I'm a photographer, adhder,
Speaker:female advocate, and let's be honest, an all round
Speaker:fucking legend. Can you tell I didn't write this
Speaker:script?
Speaker:This podcast is part of Female5Million, a
Speaker:movement founded to empower women to step the fuck up,
Speaker:take control, and unapologetically own their
Speaker:space. It all started
Speaker:with some fucking Jebins LinkedIn post
Speaker:spouting some sexist bullshit about how women should dress
Speaker:to succeed in business. And you know what?
Speaker:Stuff like that really fucks me
Speaker:off. It really fucks me off.
Speaker:So I posted about it and that post ignited
Speaker:something bigger. A nationwide photography project,
Speaker:a full blown fucking movement. And now this
Speaker:podcast here on the Woopod,
Speaker:we're raising the voices of women who refuse to be told what to
Speaker:do. Women who are done playing by the rules and are now
Speaker:saying, don't fucking tell me what to wear or how to run my
Speaker:business. If you've ever been told to tone it down,
Speaker:dress more appropriately or. Or run your business like a
Speaker:man. Fuck that.
Speaker:Expect raw, unfiltered conversations with women
Speaker:who have fought through sexism, abuse and
Speaker:outdated patriarchal bullshit to build success on their terms.
Speaker:all whilst wearing whatever the fuck they want.
Speaker:Oh, and there's more swearing than our producer is willing to
Speaker:beep out. Sorry, buckers. Speaking of
Speaker:which, you'll probably hear me ask producer Bacchus to chime in
Speaker:from time to time, because like I give a shit what
Speaker:she says. We've both got adhd. We bounce well off each other.
Speaker:Deal with it. We're here to
Speaker:celebrate women doing business their way and shine a spotlight on
Speaker:the incredible ways women are fighting back and lifting each other
Speaker:up. Because, to be honest, that's what it's all about.
Speaker:And for those who aren't able to speak up right now
Speaker:for whatever reason. I see you.
Speaker:Okay, let's crack on then.
Speaker:Hello and welcome back to
Speaker:Woopod, or as we're calling it, the Don't
Speaker:Fucking Tell Me what to Wear or How to Run My Business
Speaker:podcast. Today I'm joined with, one of my
Speaker:favourites ever in the world, Sara Marshall. Hi,
Speaker:Sara
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Hello, love. How are we?
Speaker:>> Wo0: I am good. How are you doing?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I'm good, I'm good, thank you, could.
Speaker:>> Wo0: You please give yourself an introduction
Speaker:and tell us what you do?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I am a strategy advisor,
Speaker:so. So I work with businesses of all types to make their
Speaker:businesses better. So I generally go
Speaker:in and do a bit of
Speaker:analysis to understand what's going on and then
Speaker:help my clients build strategies to grow
Speaker:their businesses.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Same. You've done it with me, haven't you,
Speaker:Sara
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Might be working a treat.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Might be working a treat. Thank you very much.
Speaker:So why did you get involved with female 5 million?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Well, you obvs,
Speaker:natch. Most people
Speaker:would do pretty much anything for woo. But,
Speaker:I had a couple of things happen in my earlier
Speaker:career that
Speaker:impacted the way that I think,
Speaker:and it gave me an understanding
Speaker:of how the world isn't necessarily a
Speaker:democracy or a meritocracy.
Speaker:So what? When I was on the grad scheme, years and years and years
Speaker:and years and years ago,
Speaker:I got somebody sent down a
Speaker:message, tell that gobby cow to shut up.
Speaker:Yeah. And it was because I was telling
Speaker:the truth. I was, I was
Speaker:talking to customers and I. I gave my boss
Speaker:some feedback that the customers had given me and
Speaker:they didn't like that. and then I
Speaker:had another situation where I got offered a job on a
Speaker:grad scheme. I got the job. It was
Speaker:a brilliant grad scheme. Like, if you. If
Speaker:you were, you know, 21 and you wanted to
Speaker:go and be at the forefront of consumer goods, let's just
Speaker:say. So I got on this grad scheme and the
Speaker:recruiter called me and she said that I had to cut my hair.
Speaker:And she said, if you want to be taken
Speaker:seriously, you need to cut your hair. And I was
Speaker:like, what? Haven't you just
Speaker:offered me a job because of my brain?
Speaker:>> Wo0: Oh, my God.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I know, I know. True story. Yeah. No, we
Speaker:think, we think that you need to cut your hair. And then
Speaker:I had another client who decided to
Speaker:tell me what to wear, and
Speaker:specifically that, the bag that I was using
Speaker:wasn't good enough. And I was just like. So all through
Speaker:my career, you know, since I was kind of
Speaker:21, trying to get on a grad scheme,
Speaker:even up to some of my most
Speaker:senior roles, people have thought they could have an
Speaker:opinion on either what I look like, what my
Speaker:hair is like, what I wear.
Speaker:and that is not the world that I want.
Speaker:I don't want to be in it.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: And I certainly do not want my kids to be in a world
Speaker:where they're judged by what they wear, what they look like,
Speaker:what their hair is like.
Speaker:Surely you're judged on the job that you do. Right.
Speaker:Anyway, so that's just your question. That's a long way
Speaker:around. I have
Speaker:experienced,
Speaker:prejudice, judgement,
Speaker:criticism because of
Speaker:appearance. And that is bollocks, quite frankly.
Speaker:That's why I got involved.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I remember you just reminded me when I first went
Speaker:into recruitment, I
Speaker:was told to cut my hair by my female
Speaker:manager. Wow. And that
Speaker:I was not, I was
Speaker:wearing, like trousers and a top and
Speaker:they were wearing like
Speaker:very tight skirts and
Speaker:tops and stuff. And I was like,
Speaker:no, not K.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: If that's what they want to wear, that is
Speaker:100. But don't make you wear what they want
Speaker:to wear.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah, yeah. Also told me to go and buy a
Speaker:suit. I'm like, we're working in transport.
Speaker:Sorry. If you're listening to this, darling, I do love you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So you mentioned your
Speaker:kids.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yes.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Great story. You're happy to share with us
Speaker:your beautiful story. And like you
Speaker:said, They've been on LinkedIn this morning, haven't they?
Speaker:In the cutest post. Because their
Speaker:mum is the best business strategist. Thank
Speaker:you.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: My kids, are, donor kids. Donor
Speaker:conceived kids. And so it's just me. I am a solo parent.
Speaker:I bought some sperm, shipped it across
Speaker:America. Yeah. And did. And so I've done it on my
Speaker:own. So it
Speaker:is hard work, but they
Speaker:are my pride and joy.
Speaker:I was going to say they're my why. They're not all of my
Speaker:why. They're. They're part of my why, but not,
Speaker:not all of my why. Yeah. So it's
Speaker:just the three of us. And that gives me. Because I've
Speaker:got two girls. That makes me even
Speaker:more determined that things
Speaker:have got to get better. They can't be like this.
Speaker:They can't be like this for them. And do you know what
Speaker:worries me, Wendy? Is that
Speaker:sometimes I think that it is going to be like
Speaker:this. Because it was like this for me
Speaker:20 years ago and I'm still seeing
Speaker:it.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I think the difference is. Right.
Speaker:So, from when I was
Speaker:my daughter's age to my daughter, she's nearly 25.
Speaker:Like, the difference is, is massive. Of
Speaker:what women will accept.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yes.
Speaker:>> Wo0: So I. Yes. it's still coming.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: But you know, Wendy, it's not. It's not just what
Speaker:they will accept is different. So minus six and seven.
Speaker:So, you know, I started late, you know, I went on my
Speaker:solo journey, -6 and 7. And
Speaker:already you can see what
Speaker:is, what is going into their brains from what they
Speaker:watch on tv, the way they are treated at School and
Speaker:the teachers are great, but there is just this
Speaker:long standing way of doing
Speaker:things and a way of talking. Boys will
Speaker:be boys. Bullshit. Boys will be boys. Boys
Speaker:will be boys. When you let boys be boys and actually
Speaker:let boys be emotional. Oh, well,
Speaker:girls need to talk about kind hands and kind
Speaker:words and the boys need to not hit people. No,
Speaker:this is bollocks. Absolutely. There is,
Speaker:there are some differences between boys and girls, but at 6 and
Speaker:7, if they're already
Speaker:being. Clara, my 7 year old
Speaker:said to me, do I look pretty in this? And my
Speaker:response is, you're, you're brilliant,
Speaker:Clara, you're brilliant. But she's like, but
Speaker:mommy, do I look pretty? Why is she
Speaker:asking, do I look pretty? Right. Why is she
Speaker:asking that? At 7, they
Speaker:got given. Not by me. They got given makeup
Speaker:on their fifth birthday. So
Speaker:somebody, somebody's
Speaker:kids is saying, I want to buy makeup for
Speaker:those kids. And I'm like, they're
Speaker:five.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: So it's not, it's not just. You're right. There is, there is
Speaker:a massive difference in what I would have accepted
Speaker:when I was that age. Absolutely. There is a massive
Speaker:difference. But, the societal norms and the things that
Speaker:they're being fed at such young
Speaker:age is still pretty much what
Speaker:we were being fed.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: And it's.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I remember and I've had counselling
Speaker:from therapy for this. I remember being
Speaker:about 4 years old and thinking that fat people
Speaker:were disgusting.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Right.
Speaker:>> Wo0: That, I have no idea where that came from.
Speaker:I have like, not got a clue.
Speaker:Oh my God, it's just so bad.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: So we have to do something about it. We have to be role
Speaker:models. We have to celebrate those
Speaker:people who are forging a way
Speaker:forward. And we have to make sure that our
Speaker:narrative to not just
Speaker:my generation of kids, you know, the five and seven year olds, it's far worse for
Speaker:teenagers. Now, the narrative, the narrative that we
Speaker:give, the narrative that we allow them to hear
Speaker:has to be about you
Speaker:are not what you choose to wear, what
Speaker:you look like. You are the choices that you make,
Speaker:the standards that you hold yourself up to,
Speaker:how kind you are. It's not
Speaker:about whether you've got blue eyeshadow
Speaker:on or not.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: It's ridiculous.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:We have worked together, so mentioned before. So
Speaker:you've helped me with my strategy and I've helped you with your photos.
Speaker:The brief you gave me,
Speaker:what was it, Sara The brief you gave me for your.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Photos might have been the patriarchy.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Can you tell us why and
Speaker:if we managed it?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Well, my. I I
Speaker:absolutely love my photos,
Speaker:absolutely love them. why did I give you that
Speaker:brief? So
Speaker:when as a strategy advisor I
Speaker:am, I'm a grown up,
Speaker:intelligent,
Speaker:effective strategy
Speaker:advisor and I quite often end up in
Speaker:pitches against the big
Speaker:four, which is basically the
Speaker:patriarchy.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: And I think
Speaker:how I how I choose to show up
Speaker:is almost a pushback on
Speaker:that. So I am, I am quite. Or not. Not
Speaker:so much anymore. I have been underestimated
Speaker:a lot in my career because of how I
Speaker:look. You know, the
Speaker:hair. I haven't got much lipstick or much makeup
Speaker:on today, but you know, I choose to wear makeup.
Speaker:and there is an element of, nah,
Speaker:nah, I'm not not doing that anymore. And,
Speaker:and there's an element of recognising that there is a patriarchy and that we
Speaker:don't all have to conform to it.
Speaker:So maybe that was why the brief was that.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah. And I think we managed it, didn't we?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yeah. But interestingly I would, you know, some people would look at
Speaker:my pictures and go, yeah, but she is conforming.
Speaker:I'm not, I'm choosing. Yeah, that's,
Speaker:that's. I, I choose. So I
Speaker:turn up when I put a pair of heels on, that, that
Speaker:makes me, that gives me a power. When I
Speaker:put on my, my dresses that I choose to wear to
Speaker:work, that gives me power and
Speaker:it's. I, I choose to wear what I choose to wear and actually in
Speaker:some situations I might stick out because I probably dress more
Speaker:formally than other people. M might. But that's
Speaker:my choice.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yep. 100. Yeah,
Speaker:100%.
Speaker:So with your strategies, you work, do you work
Speaker:with businesses? Do you work with
Speaker:solopreneurs,
Speaker:founders, everybody.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I work, I work with people who want, who are
Speaker:ambitious for change and who are
Speaker:prepared to do the work. So
Speaker:I'll give you an example of this week. I've just had,
Speaker:I've just come off a call with a
Speaker:corporate client. So I'm doing
Speaker:their repositioning. It's a massive repositioning
Speaker:exercise. So they are, they're a
Speaker:hundred million pound turnover business.
Speaker:So that's today. But I spent a full day this
Speaker:week on a ca. A CEO day
Speaker:with a founder of an agency, a digital agency.
Speaker:And they are a 200 grand a year business.
Speaker:So from 100 million to 200 grand. But the thing
Speaker:that they've got in common is that ah, both of
Speaker:the, the leaders that I'm working with
Speaker:know that they have not necessarily a problem but they've just got this
Speaker:niggle, we're not doing, we're not quite doing this right. Our strategy
Speaker:is not right. There's more opportunity, but we're not quite sure what it
Speaker:is. So both of the individuals that I work
Speaker:with come, come to me with a brief that says, I've got a
Speaker:strategic niggle. I think we can be doing better than we are. Can you help
Speaker:us?
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: So with the MD of the digital agency, we sat
Speaker:down, we repositioned her business,
Speaker:we went through the whole thing. And with
Speaker:the the chief exec of the
Speaker:corporate, that's been a far longer process. That's
Speaker:been interviews with probably 30 of their
Speaker:customers, a deep dive into their internal
Speaker:strengths and all that. And But it, it is that the common
Speaker:denominator is people who want, people who are ambitious
Speaker:and want to move forward with their strategies. I mean you,
Speaker:you're solopreneur, you
Speaker:knew what you wanted, you knew that you could possibly
Speaker:be doing things slightly differently.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Better. Better.
Speaker:I was just wondering like, are there such common themes that
Speaker:come up when you work with women specifically?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I think this, this thing about being underestimated comes up
Speaker:a lot. And the whole, you know, the
Speaker:chief exec of my corporate
Speaker:client was underestimated. She's
Speaker:not now, but she, if I
Speaker:think about the conversations that we would have about her challenges in
Speaker:the boardroom, so she had, her
Speaker:CFO was a male or the CFO
Speaker:was a male, the CTO was a male.
Speaker:And there was an element of
Speaker:ganging up.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Ah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: And you know, that kind of latent
Speaker:lazy sexism.
Speaker:And it would be statements like
Speaker:I'm not, I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for you. I want to make
Speaker:sure that you're okay. And you're like,
Speaker:why are you saying that to her? Or the, the
Speaker:constant assumption that their position was the right
Speaker:position. And, and it's, you know, it's an age
Speaker:old problem. When I was at,
Speaker:so I was at Barclays years ago
Speaker:and I went from, so banks have
Speaker:kind of admin level, managerial level
Speaker:and then senior exec level and I went from management to senior exec.
Speaker:So there were at the time there were 400 senior execs
Speaker:and 40 of them were women. And I was one of those.
Speaker:And I remember, I thought I had to be
Speaker:one of the boys. And I remember dressing like
Speaker:a man and trying to act
Speaker:like a man. And it was only
Speaker:when that didn't go so well for me because I'm, I'm
Speaker:not, that it was probably then
Speaker:that I realised the power in me being me and living my
Speaker:values and living
Speaker:the way that I am. And
Speaker:actually I did better then.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I mean, there was still the politics and all of that bollocks to deal
Speaker:with. And the game. I mean, corporate life
Speaker:is a game. You constantly play the game. There's always somebody trying
Speaker:to trample you down to get a.
Speaker:>> Wo0: But, you know, it's cutthroat, isn't it?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yeah, it is, it is. So there was still that. But actually once
Speaker:I'd recognised that I could, I, I could be
Speaker:me, then life got a
Speaker:lot easier for me. Well, probably with myself, if you see what I
Speaker:mean.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah, yeah. It's less knackering, isn't it?
Speaker:It's so tiring trying to be somebody that you're not.
Speaker:Yeah, it's exhausting.
Speaker:Have you got
Speaker:a story or would you like to shout out
Speaker:or give a positive example of men showing
Speaker:their support to you? Because we're not men bashing here.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Not men bashing.
Speaker:>> Wo0: We're not men bashing. So just so that
Speaker:we've got a nice balance.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I've got, I would say my clients are half men,
Speaker:half women.
Speaker:And
Speaker:I, I would actually say that the clients that I work with, and this is
Speaker:probably because it's a bit self selecting,
Speaker:they're pretty good. They,
Speaker:they don't need educating, they don't, they don't
Speaker:need pulling up on stuff. And that might be because I choose to work
Speaker:with cool people. I don't, I'm
Speaker:lucky now that I can be quite discerning with
Speaker:who I choose to work with and I, I, I genuinely
Speaker:do that. I, I, I ch, I.
Speaker:If you're a knob, I'm not going to work with you.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Same. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: so most of, I was gonna say less.
Speaker:>> Wo0: You're sexy.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: That's entirely different. Not for this podcast.
Speaker:I mean, it could be
Speaker:only fans.
Speaker:>> Wo0: My love portal is open.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Is that a metaphor?
Speaker:>> Wo0: I'm working with a love coach and,
Speaker:no, it's not. My love portal is
Speaker:open. I am accepting love. I'm seeing
Speaker:love everywhere. But my other portal
Speaker:is closed for business.
Speaker:Yeah, so you love it.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: You could go somewhere completely different.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I mean, it's bound to like you're the
Speaker:second recording we've done. the first recording was
Speaker:very, very professional. We did really, really well. Didn't
Speaker:go off at all. But now we're talking about only
Speaker:fans, knobs and portals. So.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yeah, so I tell you one, one interesting thing
Speaker:that happened this, this year, one of my Clients were in a
Speaker:meeting and it
Speaker:is a stereo. So his business
Speaker:is probably a 30 million pound business
Speaker:and it is a stereotypical manufacturing
Speaker:business, quite male oriented.
Speaker:And there was me in the room.
Speaker:There were probably eight of us in the room, me
Speaker:and one other woman.
Speaker:And we were talking about the price of things and
Speaker:somebody said something about being expensive.
Speaker:And my client said, oh, you mean like wives and
Speaker:girlfriends? And I said, at the
Speaker:time, I said, that's unacceptable.
Speaker:And the men started laughing and I said, no, that's unacceptable.
Speaker:But I just, I moved on. and I called him,
Speaker:my client. And before I called
Speaker:him, I did a bit of research into how do you
Speaker:tell somebody they're being a twat and they're being
Speaker:misogynistic? And, I'll try
Speaker:and find it. There was a piece of. I don't know, it was an article written
Speaker:by an Aussie and this Aussie said
Speaker:if it was two Aussie blokes talking to each other, one would just say to each other,
Speaker:you're being a knob. Why are you being. They wouldn't worry, you
Speaker:know, they wouldn't overthink it. So I phoned my client
Speaker:and I said, mate, you were a jerk.
Speaker:And he said, what are you talking about? And I said, you an utter jerk.
Speaker:This is what you said in the meeting. And he, like,
Speaker:paused and he went, I did, didn't I? And I
Speaker:went, yeah, you did. And. And I said, by you
Speaker:behaving like that, you have just allowed
Speaker:all of the other people in your business to be
Speaker:a jerk. to be fair to him, he
Speaker:owned it. He recognised it, he owned it, he
Speaker:apologised publicly.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Good.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: and, you know, I'm not saying that he is never going to
Speaker:be a jerk again.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I mean, I'm sure I'm going to be a jerk at some point, Right.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: But fair play to him, he. He took
Speaker:it and he did something about it.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: So I suppose my piece of advice would be, if you're trying to
Speaker:say to somebody you're being misogynistic,
Speaker:I would find the, the most appropriate
Speaker:way for that person. If I'd have overthought it and started
Speaker:using, research and theories and
Speaker:throwing this at him, he would not have responded well, but by just
Speaker:saying, you're. You're a complete and utter cock.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: He was like, yeah, I was actually.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah, we spoke about that when it happened, didn't we? Do you
Speaker:remember?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Wo0: And I think I gave you some advice that
Speaker:wasn't that. No, no,
Speaker:it's definitely like yeah, yeah. It's tricky isn't it?
Speaker:So. And I don't think people understand
Speaker:like what they do gives other people permission to do
Speaker:those things as well. It's really dangerous.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yeah. And ah, he's, he's the MD of his
Speaker:business. So if he is saying that stuff.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: And it is already a male oriented business,
Speaker:male dominated business. Of course everybody's going to think it's all
Speaker:right to do that. Well no it's not.
Speaker:>> Wo0: And it won't just be in the business. They'll take it home and they'll
Speaker:share it with their kids and then. Yeah. Etc. Etc.
Speaker:Etc.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: He did tell me that he told his wife that I'd pulled him up on it.
Speaker:Good. So yeah, yeah, good.
Speaker:>> Wo0: I love that.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I mean he's not going to get a medal for not being
Speaker:that, for not doing it anymore but you know.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Well done, well done for not being a.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay. So I have got a final question
Speaker:for you Sara Can you tell us one piece
Speaker:of clothing or an outfit or an
Speaker:accessory or something that makes you
Speaker:feel your most powerful?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I can cuz I've thought about it.
Speaker:I was married for a very long time. I don't know if you know
Speaker:that. I don't to a man. I was married
Speaker:for a very long time and when we
Speaker:split up I had all of
Speaker:my jewellery and my mom
Speaker:had also died and I had some of her
Speaker:jewellery and it was all kind of sitting
Speaker:there. So I took all of the
Speaker:jewellery to a designer. How random is this called
Speaker:Sara Marshall?
Speaker:>> Wo0: Okay. Are they in
Speaker:Hampshire?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: She was in Richmond. I don't know where she's now. Anyway, I took
Speaker:it, I took it on Sara Marshall
Speaker:and said I don't want, I don't want all of this
Speaker:jewellery. I was going to say diamonds. I mean we're
Speaker:not talking Imelda Marcos or anything. You know it there.
Speaker:It was nice jewellery and I want to I don't want it to sit in a
Speaker:drawer but equally I can't wear my old
Speaker:engagement ring and wedding ring and stuff. My mum's
Speaker:engagement ring she got an upgrade so that was a bit of a
Speaker:chunk and so she
Speaker:took all of these different elements of the jewellery
Speaker:and turned it into this most beautiful ring.
Speaker:It is absolutely stunning. And it's got my
Speaker:mum's upgrade ring in the ah, diamond in the middle
Speaker:and then it's got all of the rings, all of the
Speaker:diamonds, all. It wasn't
Speaker:massive but you know. And she said it's like a little daisy
Speaker:ring and it's beautiful. And when I look at
Speaker:it, that makes me.
Speaker:That kind of makes me proud of myself
Speaker:because I came through all of this
Speaker:stuff and I've made something
Speaker:positive from it. And, it's
Speaker:kind of about. When I look at that ring,
Speaker:I'm like, yeah, smashed it. You know,
Speaker:my. I was married for a long time. It didn't work out in the end. I still
Speaker:consider that a success.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Buckers is crying.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I mean, I know I'm inspirational. Come on.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Give me a cuddle.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Wow. So I look at this ring, I wish I'd. I wish I'd got
Speaker:it. Anyway, I look at this ring and I
Speaker:go, yeah, you've got this,
Speaker:mate. You've got this. You're all right. So, you
Speaker:know, my mum died. she was only 60, so that
Speaker:was horrific. I was married. I was. Well, I was with
Speaker:him for 17 years. That was probably the worst
Speaker:two years of my life when we split up.
Speaker:But, I've got this beautiful ring and I look at it and I go,
Speaker:you're all right.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Because you are all right, you know,
Speaker:your bloody brilliant.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Yeah, I'm better than all right.
Speaker:>> Wo0: You are. I love you so much. Like, you are, you are
Speaker:a breath of fresh air. You.
Speaker:I, suppose you could look quite scary if you were
Speaker:going into a business. You know, I'm thinking like, if I
Speaker:was in that business, working there and we've got this big strategist coming in,
Speaker:I'd be like, oh my God, look at how.
Speaker:But you are the. The
Speaker:most clever,
Speaker:smart, brilliant, hilarious
Speaker:person. And,
Speaker:I just need to know about
Speaker:Shrek.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: What do you want to know about Shrek? Shrek? When I was at Universal, Shrek was one of
Speaker:my movies. Yeah.
Speaker:>> Wo0: So like, how is it your movie?
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Because so, so I was in charge of what
Speaker:was called theatrical, so so not
Speaker:theatrical home entertainment. And so
Speaker:there are people who, greenlight
Speaker:approve a movie being made.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: And so I was in charge of home entertainment. There are, you
Speaker:know, the various people and I was one of those people
Speaker:and. Yeah, so.
Speaker:>> Wo0: So you are Shreky's love. Shrek is
Speaker:life. Did you
Speaker:watch, did you watch that video in the end.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: When you're sending something?
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah. I need to say not so for work.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: Somebody with a 6 and 7 year old called Shrek.
Speaker:It needs a warning.
Speaker:So sorry, not gonna have to share with the children.
Speaker:Guys. What.
Speaker:>> Wo0: What are you talking about? So there's this, there's
Speaker:this meme. It's just like, oh, it's so
Speaker:grim. It's just a guy that just ends up getting bummed
Speaker:by Shrek.
Speaker:it's, it is wonderful. Can we
Speaker:link it in the show notes? No. Okay.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I am a professional strategy
Speaker:advisor. We're gonna have to get people to DM
Speaker:you if they want the link.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Yeah, DM me if you want that link.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I mean, I have better stories from Universal Time. Like I
Speaker:got drunk with Mariah Carey and Duncan from Blue
Speaker:and I had to go to LA for a two hour
Speaker:meeting because the bosses in LA
Speaker:thought that so King. When King Kong was coming out, it was
Speaker:going to be like, it was the Peter Jackson King Kong. It was going to
Speaker:be the biggest movie ever, ever in the history of
Speaker:ever. And the studio wanted a certain
Speaker:artwork on, the
Speaker:DVDs. I mean it's, it just sounds so
Speaker:ridiculous. And I was responsible
Speaker:for, ah,
Speaker:every territory, every country in the world, apart from
Speaker:the States. And so I was arguing them, saying you can't
Speaker:put the same artwork, you can't have the same creative
Speaker:in Russia as you do in
Speaker:Chile. People respond differently. It's
Speaker:all about the customers. And they're like, no, we're just going to have the
Speaker:American one. I was like, no, no.
Speaker:So I had to, I had to build my kind of financial
Speaker:case, fly out to la, have a two hour argument,
Speaker:which of course I won. fly back.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:>> Wo0: Oh, I fucking love you.
Speaker:So, the book's coming out soon.
Speaker:You are in it. The
Speaker:exhibition's happening soon. You
Speaker:are in it.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: I'm all over it.
Speaker:>> Wo0: You're all, you're all over my life and I'm
Speaker:very grateful for that. Sara Marshall, thank
Speaker:you so much for coming on to the don't
Speaker:fucking Tell Me what to Wear or How to Run My Business podcast.
Speaker:>> Sara Marshall: It's a pleasure, darling. See you soon.
Speaker:>> Wo0: That's it for today's episode of Don't Fucking Tell Me what to Wear
Speaker:or How to Run My Business. On the Woopod with me, Wendy
Speaker:Gannon. This is more than just a podcast. It's part
Speaker:of female 5 million. Head to the link in the show notes
Speaker:to find out more about our movement to empower women.
Speaker:If this episode spoke to you in any way, made you laugh,
Speaker:made you cry, or maybe inspired you, share
Speaker:it with a friend who needs to hear it. Leave us a rating and a
Speaker:review and let's keep this movement growing.
Speaker:And while I've got you here, my photography is the way that
Speaker:I fight back against the patriarchy. I, I empower
Speaker:female founders with the confidence to be themselves in their business
Speaker:to really enjoy their photo shoot and actually
Speaker:love their photos. So then they can grow their
Speaker:business, increase their prices and get paid what they
Speaker:deserve. If you want to work with me, drop
Speaker:me a message. All the info you need to contact me is in the show
Speaker:notes. Until next time, keep doing you and
Speaker:remember, you are part of something bigger. Bye.