The elephant in the room time and time again when it comes to work and promotions is maternity leave. We need to work with businesses so they work with women and make it easy and supportive for them to come back into the workplace.
Mary PortasI don't want to be Sheryl Sandberg and 'Lean In', I don't want to lean in like a guy. I want to be more. I want to be a woman and proudly a woman.
Mary PortasThe more we talk about kindness in business, the more we'll break through the hard structures that have defined business and alienated women from getting to the top.
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 PortasWhen I first went on TV, to make you look like a successful woman you had to be ball-breaking. I remember looking at these shows and thinking 'I'm not sure that's me'. It seemed like you had to behave like a man - but I think that's all going to go down completely, that's not the way we're going to live.
Mary Portas