When Sara is first diagnosed with MS she asks the medics , ‘how did I get it?, what can I do to make it better? and what is it going to do to me?.’ 

Pointed questions that not everyone asks when we first acquire a medical condition that can disrupt our working lives. And because she did not get clear information she keeps her personal information private and doesn’t share it too widely. However, unlike the majority of us she had a huge job. In fact, she was Chief Executive of Argos.

Her story about how she has built her impressive career at the same time as managing disability is very special and her words will stay with you for a long time.

Sara has a plural portfolio career. She is a Non-Executive Board Director of both BT and Virgin Money. She is also the chair of the government’s Money and Pensions Service.

Sara takes us through her career journey with Mars Confectionary, Abbey National, Sainsburys and Argos, as Chief Executive with 750 stores across the UK. It was, she shares, the perfect job.

In our conversation together Sara talks movingly about how hard it is to ask for help and workplace adjustments. She offers some great take-aways and talks powerfully to the very essence of what it means to be human and her own honest reflections in this conversation bring out the things we need to do to help those that come behind us.

These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.

The first tranche of six films is brought to you with thanks to LSEG who are working to build a culture of belonging for everybody and accessibility is a key part of that.

Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.

We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence as a strong expectation of a positive outcome and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.

Enjoy this film.

For PurpleSpace members wanting further information about how to build inner confidence of their ERG/Network members, visit our resource hub.

Transcript(33.32kB) 

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