Balancing your ego is the most important thing, because success fuels ego - and that is not easy sometimes. When you're in the public eye, people see that as success and it's just not.
Mary PortasI really, really do believe that the future of being successful in work is going to be about embracing all of those wonderful things women bring - empathy, collaboration, flexibility - all those wonderful feminine traits we've suppressed for too long.
Mary PortasSuccess is a balance thing, it's about work and play together, so we need to work on how we embrace that. The conversation we need to keep having is how women and businesses learn to embrace women having children.
Mary PortasBecause of the financial crash, we've lost trust in these big businesses that were led by a linear ambition to reach the top by risk - and invariably led by men. And so I think all the stuff that was seen as great "behaviour" will not be in the future, which I'm really pleased about.
Mary Portas