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14 - 20 February 2019
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We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” J K Rowling
WOMEN BY CATHY ELELMAN
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nie Lenox: “There was a time when they used to say that behind every great man there had to be a great woman. But in these times of change you know that it’s no longer true.” Sisters here in Spain and around the world are doing it for themselves. Women are proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are just as capable as men at creating innovative new businesses, overseeing companies, at holding political office, at reaching the top of their chosen professions. Here in Spain, both the current and the former deputy prime ministers are women, more than half the cabinet are female, and over 50 per cent of judges are women. It’s also the case that around one third of businesses in this country are run by women, according to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs. This would all have been unimaginable not so very long ago. That’s not to say there is yet a level gender playing field in Spain or elsewhere. Inequalities between the genders remain in many areas of society, in many countries, many women having to fight every step of the way to be treated in the same way as their male counterparts. The most recent World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report covering the areas of health, education, economy and politics in 144 major and emerging economies showed that while the overall gender gap has very slightly improved, at the current rate of change it will take 108 years to close, while differences in economic opportunity, including pay between men and women, are so great that gender parity remains 202 years off. Women are taking action though. On International
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Sisters are doing it for themselves Women are coming together to bring about change.
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Women’s Day last year millions took to the streets in Spain alone to demand equality in the workplace and in wider society. And as the global Me Too movement to empower women has highlighted, while all too often women suffer assault and harassment, especially in their working lives, women are coming together to bring about change. Despite the fact real gender parity has still not been achieved, it is also true that today there are many examples of inspirational women in all walks of life. Among the public figures featured here in the Euro Weekly News Women in Business supplement are politicians, business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities, human rights activists and sportswomen. The stories covered in our Women in Business special also illustrate that right here on the Costa Almeria we have many high achieving women, all of them inspiring examples of how to be successful in business, achieving their dreams and goals on their own terms.
The most successful entrepreneurs I know are optimistic. It’s part of the job description.” - Caterina Fake, Founder of Flickr
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In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook
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SPANISH DEPUTY PM: Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.
For CEOs today, it’s all about achieving growth and efficiency through innovation. It’s not about product innovation so much any more as about innovating business models, process, culture, and management.” Ginni Rometty, CEO IBM
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HE Forbes business magazine list of the world’s 100 most powerful women in 2018 includes world leaders, CEOs, bankers, philanthropists, judges, celebrities and royalty. Forbes says the list ‘celebrates the icons, innovators and instigators who are using their voice to change power structures and create a lasting impact.’ Here we look at five of the influential women making the top 10, starting with the only Spaniard to feature among the 100, executive chairman of Santander Group Ana Botin, who is ranked number eight. The 58-year-old is the fourth member of the Botin family to hold the post, and before her appointment in 2014 was CEO of Santander UK: the first woman to run a major British bank. In 2017 she oversaw the Banco Santander acquisition of Banco Popular, making it Spain’s largest bank, and has put particular focus on entrepreneurs, and backing small enterprises and women-owned businesses. The mother of three is married to a fellow banker, Guillermo Morenes Mariategui, son of the Marquis of Borghetto, and is an honorary Dame Commander of the Order
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Girl power ANA BOTIN, Executive Chairman of Santander Group. of the British Empire for services to the British financial sector. Coming in at number six is Melinda Gates. Best known as Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ other half, she is considered one of the world’s most inspiring women thanks to her philanthropic work as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The couple set up the foundation in 2000 with the principal
aims of supporting healthcare initiatives and reducing extreme poverty on a global scale. Melinda has played a major role in shaping foundation strategy and has focused a lot of her efforts on women’s and girls’ rights. General Motors CEO Mary Barra is fourth in the list. She joined the company in 1980 and is the first woman to lead any major car manufacturer. She’s known for
having future vision, investing billions in electric vehicles, self-driving cars and a ride-share service called Maven. Interestingly GM was ranked the number one company in the world for gender equality in the workplace in the 2018 Global Report on Gender Equality.
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Two European leaders take the number one and two spots. Forbes lists British Prime Minister Theresa May as the second most powerful woman on the planet. Love or hate her, it is hard to deny she has shown incredible stamina in the long, complicated and tumultuous process of the Brexit negotiations ever since taking over from David Cameron in July 2016, facing resistance from both Remainers and Brexiteers in the opposition and in her own party. Finally, for the fourth year running it is Angela Merkel who tops the list. In 2005 Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany and is now in her fourth term. Although her political future is uncertain after stepping down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) last November and making it clear she will not seek re-election as Chancellor, she has undoubtedly had a major impact as head of her party since 2000 and as leader of the country with the largest economy in the region, and she remains, for the moment, widely held to be the de facto leader of Europe.
Power’s not given to you. You have to take it.” Beyoncé Knowles Carter
HARRISON’S CONVENIENCE STORE
Firm favourites at the best prices
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OWEVER much we embrace life in Spain, there are always going to be those favourite British products which we just don’t want to go without. That’s where Harrison’s Convenience Store comes in. Harrison’s offers a really extensive range of British brand goods, and at the best possible prices. Owner Nicki Harrison has been progressively expanding the product line ever since the store first opened its doors in January 2016. Shelves are stacked with all sorts of goodies, from best loved biscuits to muchmissed chocolate bars, and from savoury sauces to tantalising tins. Of course there’s a great deal of thought and planning behind the
scenes. Nicki has built up a network of trusted suppliers and never stops working to ensure customers can always find what they’re looking for. Mega organised, she’s always up-to-date with demand and with the latest product ranges, and plans well ahead for seasonal essentials to make sure she won’t let customers down: the Christmas season has only just come to an end, but Nic-
WELCOME: The team (from left to right Karen, Julie, Nicki and Bryony) has put Harrison’s right at the heart of the community. Harrison’s is conveniently located in one of Albox’s main streets near the football stadium. The store is open seven days a week: Monday - Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-3pm. Harrison’s Convenience Store Avenida Lepanto, Albox
ki’s already well and truly on the case with Easter eggs! And Nicki listens to customers. If there’s any particular product a customer wants which Harrison’s doesn’t already have, they just have to let Nicki know and she’ll do her best to get it. Nicki and her excellent team of Karen Mcrae and Julie Hunter on the shop floor, and daughter Bryony on the office side of the business, have managed to put the store right at the heart of the local community, always welcoming customers with a smile, making time for a chat, and making this a relaxed, very friendly shopping experience. No wonder that Harrison’s has so many regular customers and is a real local success story.
WOMEN IN BUSINESS THE customer always comes first. Ensuring satisfied customers has always been the guiding principle for Nicki Harrison’s approach to running her family’s hugely popular store specialising in British brand goods in the centre of Albox. Harrison’s Convenience Store has been a success right from the getgo. Nicki and her husband Lee first opened the shop in January 2016, and ever since she has been steadily expanding the product line and taking on more staff. In fact, making this a real family affair her daughter Bryony has now joined the team, taking on much of the administration side of things. Clearly Harrison’s is an enterprise which meets market demand, and that, Nicki advises anyone thinking of starting a business themselves, is key. That, and then like Nicki, never resting on your laurels, but staying on the ball, listening to customers, keeping up with new products and changing demand, and always running the business to the very best of your ability. Nicki admits there is always going to be an element of risk in starting your own business, but goes by the philosophy of, “if you don’t take the risk you won’t know.” Her response when launching Harrison’s when people asked what
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NICKI HARRISON HARRISON’S CONVENIENCE STORE
Putting the customer first
GRAFTER: “I’ve always worked - I’d be bored if I didn’t!”
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she’d do if didn’t work, “it has to work, end of. I’ll make sure it works.” Well Harrison’s certainly does work, but Nicki stresses this is not just down to her, but also to her fantastic team, as well as friends and family. Nicki already had extensive experience in running her own shop before moving to Spain. She and Lee ran their own newsagents and convenience store back in the UK, working seven days a week, 15 hours a day, and building the business up into a busy, thriving concern. The decision to relocate to the Almanzora Valley 12 years ago was driven by the feeling that this part of the world would allow them and their children to enjoy a slower paced, more laid back way of life, and it’s a move which Nicki says was absolutely the right choice. Not that Nicki doesn’t still work incredibly hard, but then she says, “I’ve always worked - I’d be bored if I didn’t!” But Nicki has managed to strike a good balance between working to the best of her ability to make sure her business continues to be successful and enjoying some downtime. And despite the challenges and responsibility which being in charge of a business brings, Nicki wouldn’t have it any other way. “I like being my own boss!”
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS
A simple idea and a self-made woman WHO would have thought undies designed to smooth out lumps and bumps could be such a massively money-making concept. The answer is Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and self-made billionaire. The Florida-born mother of four’s incredible success story really does lend credence to the American Dream, that anyone with initiative, hard work, selfbelief, determination, and the guts to take a few risks, can achieve their goals. The whole Spanx phenomenon began in the 1990’s. Blakely chanced her $5,000 life savings on looking into the viability of her idea on how to give women not built like supermodels a seamless, streamlined look under close fitting clothes and turning it into something she could actually sell, at the same time as holding down her day job in office supplies sales. And the idea was simple enough: getting a firmer looking bod as you do from tights, but without covering the whole leg and foot. Blakely cut the VERYONE loves a winner, and that’s exactly what Grupo Platinum Estates is. One of the leading provincial estate agencies, Grupo Platinum Estates has this year scooped two highly prestigious Iberian Business Awards: Most Trusted Real Estate Agency 2018 South East Spain, and Award for Excellence in Property Finance Solutions 2018. The awards are a highly-deserved recognition for the Grupo Platinum Estates hard-working and dedicated team. Highly professional and multilingual, the team provides a complete range of services to buyers and sellers, with a guarantee of excellence and efficiency in every aspect of their work. Grupo Platinum Estates was first launched by Caroline Smith in 2010, and in the last eight years has continued on an upward trajectory, consoli-
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Work hard, take a few risks and achieve your goals.
ends off a pair of tights, tried them out under trousers, and the seeds were sown for her business empire. As with all good success stories, she had her struggles and rejections along the way, hosiery company after hosiery company turning down her concept until one stepped up to come up with a product prototype. Blakely’s first big break in getting someone interested in actually selling is also now the stuff of business legend: having managed to beg a Neiman Marcus Group rep to give her 10 minutes of her time she demonstrated the pros of her prototype product on herself to the rep in the ladies’ loo. The rep saw the Spandex light, and
Blakely’s product was soon on sale in their stores, followed shortly by others. Blakely was pretty much a onewoman business show to begin with, doing everything she could to put her product on the fashion map, and still selling fax machines door-to-door for a living. But then came a really big break in 2000, when after sending a gift basket of prototypes to the Oprah Winfrey TV show, the globally influential lady herself chose the product as one of her favourite things of the year. Sales started to go up, and by its second year Spanx had achieved $10 million in sales. Today the company produces a whole range of underwear, leggings and body shapers, for men and women and annual revenues are in the hundreds of millions. Blakely has demonstrated she has a strong philanthropic side to her character as well as entrepreneurial, establishing a foundation to help women through education and entrepreneurial training in 2006. In the same year she donated $1 million to the Oprah Win-
SARA BLAKELY: Self-made billionaire. frey Leadership Academy for Girls, and in 2013 she became the first female billionaire to join the ‘Giving Pledge,’ whereby the world’s richest people donate at least half of their wealth to charity. In 2012, Blakely was one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, and was named the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire by Forbes. Two years later Forbes ranked her as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world.
GRUPO PLATINUM ESTATES
A winning team! dating its well-earned reputation as a company which not only deals with a full range of properties, but crucially which clients can trust. The office is strategically located in San Juan de los Terreros in Pulpi on the Almeria-Murcia border, and Grupo Platinum Estates offers buyers a vast portfolio of everything from holiday apartments on the coast to luxury permanent homes throughout the Costa Almeria and over the border into Murcia, with something to match all needs and budgets. The team, who between them speak English,
Spanish, Dutch, French, Flemish, German and Russian, know the whole area inside out, which combined with their extensive experience in the provincial property sector makes them ideally qualified to help find clients exactly what they’re looking for. The Grupo Platinum Estates service does not end there however: they also provide an exceptional after-sales service, covering all aspects relating to the acquisition of a property and moving. For vendors, the team makes the entire process of managing a property sale as straightforward as possible. They take on
Grupo Platinum Estates, SL Calle El Puntal 2, San Juan de los Terreros 950 466 112/666 687 251 info@grupoplatinum.com • www.grupoplatinum.com
everything, from the highly effective marketing of the property and ensuring it reaches the widest possible pool of genuinely interested prospective buyers, to dealing with all the necessary paperwork, while keeping sellers regularly informed. The Grupo Platinum Estates property service also extends to rentals and property management, as well as to other associated services, among them financial and insurance, as well as property upgrades and renovations. The scope of the
services Grupo Platinum Estates provides translates into the very best assistance and advice for all their clients, whatever their property requirements.
RECOGNITION: The Grupo Platinum Estates team has scooped two highly prestigious Iberian Business Awards.
WOMEN IN BUSINESS FOR Caroline Smith, relocating to the Costa Almeria with her young family was a dream come true. And as the founder and owner of Grupo Platinum Estates, she loves that her company helps clients share the dream of enjoying a great quality of life in a privileged area. Originally from Solihull, when Caroline discovered this area on a chance holiday it gave her the drive to make living abroad a reality. She had already built up an impressive curriculum, predominantly in finance and customer service. She was employed in the mailroom for Barclays Bank by the time she was 16, working her way all the way up to bank manager. She then become a financial advisor for various financial institutions, before a complete career change and serving in the police force for five years. She then returned to the world of finance, as a mortgage broker, and after moving to Spain she worked in finance and property for several years. All this experience served as the ideal basis for launching her own estate agency here in 2010.
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CAROLINE SMITH - GRUPO PLATINUM ESTATES
Sharing the dream, doing what she loves! Caroline had realised there was a gap in the market for a company which listens and helps find the right property, combined with a service which helps clients find the best financing options if necessary. Grupo Platinum Estates is therefore an estate agency providing a full range of services to vendors and buyers, as well as rentals, but additionally providing reliable financial assistance. Caroline believes her financial and customer service-focused background also sets Grupo Platinum Estates apart. Right from the beginning she has put a strong emphasis on
providing a top, professional service, but also a personal one, treating each client as an individual. For Caroline there is no strict division between business and personal life. Going to work and meeting new people is a pleasure, and many of the company clients become friends. That doesn’t mean there isn’t time in her life for other interests: She is very involved in the local community,
DREAM: Moving to the Costa Almeria has been a great move for Caroline and her children.
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notably the Casa Teja occupational centre for the disabled, sponsoring the local football team and the walking football team, and stays fit walking, going to the gym and playing paddle tennis. Being able to multi-task is a great asset for any business owner she says, and she’s convinced women are stronger in this respect, able to successfully take on additional opportunities. But she also recognises having the support of friends and family is key. Talking of family, moving to the Costa Almeria has also been great for her children. Now in their early 20’s, Brooke and Drew are, Caroline says, “Well-grounded, multilingual, love the life here, and have great prospects for the future.” Both help in the business and will, Caroline says, hopefully take over the reins one day. Believing in yourself and your ideas should be the first step, Caroline advises anyone considering following their own dream and starting a business. Above all else she stresses, “Do something you’re passionate about!”
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Business trailblazer CAROLYN MCCALL has made business history. The current Chief Executive of commercial broadcaster ITV, she is the first woman to hold the post, the achievement the latest in a succession of career triumphs. McCall’s first professional foray into the media sector was with Kevin Kelly’s Business magazine, before she joined The Guardian in the mid-1980’s as a research planner. Moving into advertising sales, she proved to be a tough operator and she rose her way up through The Guardian Media Group’s ranks to become CEO in 2006. In the 2000’s she served as non-executive director of Lloyds TSB, New Look and Tesco. She was chair of Business in the Community project Opportunity Now (BITC is a business community outreach charity promoting responsible business), and has acted as President of Women in Advertising
and Communications London. In 2010 she was appointed Chief CAROLYN McCALL: Executive of no-frills airline easyJet. Although her last year in the One of the UK’s post was a fairly turbulent most powerful one, her record at easyJet Has been named women. was for the most part imas one of the pressive, her leadership UK’s 100 most was made an balance between work and family life, style credited with greatly powerful OBE for her ser- commenting recently, “The concept of improving the airline’s forvices to women having it all just does not exist.” tunes. During her seven women. She has also admitted she has exin business. years with the company Eight years later perienced misogyny in her professionpassenger numbers rose to record highs, revenues went up, and she was made a Dame in the New al life, but said she has dealt with it by the airline’s share price almost Year’s honours for her services to the just focusing on what she set out to quadrupled, moving it into the FTSE aviation industry and BBC Radio Four do. As well as running ITV, McCall cur100 and making McCall one of only a named her as one of the UK’s 100 rently serves as a non-executive handful of female CEOs of an FTSE most powerful women. Trailblazing businesswoman, McCall board member in the Department for 100 Index company. McCall’s many achievements in is also a mother to three children, and Business, Energy and Industrial Stratbusiness have earned her various ac- has admitted it can be tricky to find a egy. colades. In 2008 she was named It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of blast through and have faith.” Emma Watson the Year, and in the same year she
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SHOWCASE: Casa Conchillo offers a vast range of building supplies and interiors possibilities.
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ASA CONCHILLO is a one-stop shop for building supplies, and is the go-to business for professionals and for the general public. This long-established family business offers a complete sale and distribution service of a full range of materials for all kinds of building work, ranging from construction iron rods, building blocks and swimming pool construction materials to flooring and wall tiles. Conveniently located on the main access road into Albox town,
CASA CONCHILLO
One-stop shop the Casa Conchillo showroom is laid out with the extensive range of all styles and types of tiling, bathroom fittings and accessories, and many other quality items, including paint and plumbing materials. They can also supply white goods for kitchens if requested. Many of the company’s customers are British DIYers, and there
are English speakers on the staff team. The team unfailingly provides a friendly and professional service, able to guide customers through all the different options and offer expert advice, whether relating to ma-
jor building works, updating a bathroom or retiling a room. Casa Conchillo’s reputation for all-round excellence is well deserved. The company has been trading for the best part of 50 years,
Casa Conchillo Ctra. Lorca-Baza, Km 72.3, Albox 950 430 740 • contabilidad@casaconchillo.es • www.casaconchillo.es
continuously moving with the times, and the family team always striving to offer clients the best products, services, prices and guarantees based on half a century of experience and their complete dedication to the enterprise. Mari Carmen Conchillo represents the second generation of the family to manage the business, stressing that
ever since it was founded by her parents, the business has been based on the values of hard-work, dedication and integrity. Casa Conchillo is a company with a solid history, and one which is always looking towards the future. They never take their eye off the ball, attending the most important construction sector trade shows, keeping up-to-date with the latest advances and changing trends, and going out of their way to respond to customer demand.
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
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EMILIA SANCHEZ - CASA CONCHILLO
Enterprising spirit, vision and hard work HARD work and entrepreneurial spirit are part of Emilia Sanchez’ genetic makeup. Born into a family of business people, Emilia, along with her late husband Francisco, founded highly successful building supplies business Casa Conchillo in Albox five decades ago. What began as a relatively modest enterprise in Albox town is today the go-to business for construction supplies, both for professionals and DIYers. Emilia and her husband built up the business stepby-step, gradually expanding the range of products and services and always adapting to changing markets and demands, their dedication and vision turning Casa Conchillo into something of an Almanzora Valley institution.
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A business at the heart of the community with a bright future.
Emilia’s parents had had an ironmongers, and before she was married Emilia worked in the family shop with her three brothers and her sister. It proved to be invaluable experience for when she and Francisco decided to go into the building supplies trade. They began by focusing on products they knew were in high demand: one of the company’s biggest sellers back in the 1960’s was the
terrazzo mosaic tiling, which in those days was more or less standard in every home in Andalucía. Bit by bit the business grew, allowing them to acquire a large warehouse, and today Casa Conchillo boasts a 10,000sqm premises in a prime location. Thanks in no small part to the business acumen of Emilia, Casa Conchillo has stayed on a steady course, weathering storms like the property crash and financial crisis a decade ago where others floundered, and emerging stronger than ever. Fifty years on from starting Casa Conchillo, Emilia remains involved in the business, although these days more on a consultancy basis, while it is her daughter Mari Carmen Conchillo who has
FAMILY: Casa Conchillo founder Emilia Sánchez and her daughter, Casa Conchillo manager Mari Carmen Conchillo. responsibility for the day-today running of the enterprise. This leaves Emilia more time to dedicate to other interests, notably her voluntary work with the Spanish Cancer Association and in her position as secretary of the local branch of the charity Caritas.
Rightfully Emilia is very proud of everything she and Francisco achieved, and is proud too of Mari Carmen for continuing their work. Casa Conchillo is a business historically at the heart of the community and with a very bright future.
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AMAL CLOONEY is one of those women who really does seem to have been blessed with a great deal. She is beautiful, stylish, multilingual and brilliant. She’s the woman who turned perennial bachelor and Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney into a devoted husband and family man. And she’s the mother of twins Alexander and Ella. Glossy magazines frequently feature Amal on her husband’s arm at red carpet events, glowing in gorgeous designer gowns. Fashion icon yes, but it is her ‘day job’ as an internationally respected human rights barrister and activist which really defines this woman. Lebanese-British Amal was born in Beirut and brought up in London. She is an Oxford and New York University graduate, and is qualified to practise as a lawyer in the US and the UK. She has also practised at international
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Human rights champion courts in The Hague, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Since 2010 she has been a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, a firm with a strong history of civil liberties work, and in 2013 she was appointed to a number of UN commissions, including as adviser to Special Envoy Kofi Annan on Syria and as Counsel to the 2013 Drone Inquiry by UN human rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC into the use of drones in counter-terrorism operations. She has also contributed to the Global
Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative, which works to defend the rights of women in war zones. Over the course of her career Amal has defended a series of high-profile clients, among them the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy, who was arrested in Egypt, and the former President of the Philippines. She has even managed to squeeze in working as a visiting professor and senior fellow at Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute. Quite a role model indeed.
ALMERIA PROPERTY FINDER
AMAL CLOONEY: Quite a role model indeed.
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The mere fact of being able to call your job your passion is success in my eyes.” Alicia Vikander
Listening to client needs I
F there’s one thing that sits right at the heart of the Almeria Property Finder approach to business it’s really listening to buyers and sellers and carefully considering their needs and wishes. This estate agency stands out for its ethos of putting the client and their wants and requirements before anything else, and for being fair and upfront. Based in Albox, Almeria Property Finder has a vast assortment of properties on its books, from country villas and village houses to apartments and duplexes, and from renovation projects to super luxury, not
just in the Almanzora Valley, but also on the coast in locations from Mojacar to San Juan de los Terreros and inland right up to Vélez-Rubio and just over the borders into Granada and Murcia provinces. They collaborate with a trusted network of other provincial estate agencies with a similar approach to the property business, meaning buyers are virtually guaranteed to find a property which ticks all their boxes. The team - Laura Stevens, Kate Meechan and Dawn Smith - led by company owner Cathie Saunders - offers buyers an exceptional service every step of the way, their
highly informed advice and guidance based on their many years’ experience in the local property sector and their extensive knowledge of the different areas of the province. Crucially the team carefully takes note of all the information from client consultations to ensure they can inform buyers about any property which they truly believe will match their requirements and preferences, while the Almeria Property Finder after sales service goes way beyond the ordinary call of duty. Each property they take on is professionally marketed locally and on the most important international property portals to
LISTENING: The Almeria Property Finder team (from left to right, seated Kate and Cathie and behind Dawn and Laura) put clients’ wants and requirements before anything else. reach an extensive pool of prospective buyers. Almeria Property Finder then filters interested buyers, believing firmly in not wasting vendors’ time and only organising visits where there is a genuine interest in the property.
The fact that Almeria Property Finder is such an ambassador for Almeria, investing time and money in promoting the area and the properties here is also a huge benefit to vendors. They regularly have stands at the Place in the
Sun international property fairs in the UK, acquiring literally hundreds of new prospective buyer client contacts and highlighting the many reasons for acquiring a home or relocating to this privileged area of Spain.
Almeria Property Finder: Avenida America, Albox 950 431 624/950 715 695 • info@almeriapropertyfinder.com • www.almeriapropertyfinder.com
WOMEN IN BUSINESS CATHIE SAUNDERS is a firm believer in seizing the opportunities which life presents. After all, the fact that today she is the owner of highly successful estate agency Almeria Property Finder is thanks to her taking the plunge and taking on her own enterprise when an offer happened to come her way, even though having her own business had not been part of the original game plan. As Cathie puts it, “Circumstances come along, and you either jump on the ride or you don’t. We’ve always been jumpers!” As it turns out it was very much the right decision. Cathie’s honest, upfront approach to property sales and her genuine love of the province are key reasons why Almeria Property Finder has done so well. Cathie is a great example of someone who wanted to relocate to a privileged part of the world and enjoy a great way of life, while at the same time continuing and developing her professional career. Cathie came to the provincial property sector from an extensive sales background, hav-
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CATHIE SAUNDERS - ALMERIA PROPERTY FINDER
Seizing life’s opportunities ing worked in advertising for regional newspapers in the UK, followed by running the administration of a self-funded magazine and then becoming a partner in a family commercial cleaning company in Cambridge: all experience which has equipped her with essential skills for running her own estate agency. Her story behind the decision to relocate to Spain also seems to be a case of the stars aligning. On a search for a holiday home in an inland idyll they found and fell in love with an
OPPORTUNITIES: “You either jump on the ride or you don’t. We’ve always been jumpers!”
old farmhouse in the Almanzora Valley which they planned to renovate. Sale all agreed, no sooner had they returned to England when a competitor offered to buy out their business, and that was that: 14 years ago the family relocated here permanently.
It’s a decision Cathie has never regretted. She admits that her commitment to work has, as for so many of us, at times presented challenges when it comes to juggling her personal and her professional life. But she’s always had the support of her husband, and is proud that both her children were fully integrated into Spanish life in no time, and today are embracing their own challenges: her daughter is teaching English in China and her son is working in insurance here in Spain. Cathie is rightly proud too of everything she has achieved professionally here in Spain, taking on and building her own
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business, and running it according to her own, very high ethical standards. She knows her team do their very best for buyers and vendors, and there are many very satisfied Almeria Property clients, a good number of whom Cathie says have become good friends. Cathie encourages others considering running their own enterprise to go for it, but emphasises the importance of having good expert advice at hand and having a good support system at home. She also stresses that the success of Almeria Property Finder is not just down to her and her hard work, but also to her trusted team, all of them women: the fact that all the agents are female is Cathie say perhaps why they are all such good listeners, always taking into account their clients’ views. “We’re all people with experience of the world and how things work, and I think that makes us empathetic. Also we are a very professional and very supportive team, and that’s what makes the company such a pleasure to be involved with. It’s like family!”
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS
National treasure COOKERY writer and broadcaster Mary Berry reached the status of national treasure thanks to her years as a sweet, fair-minded judge on The Great British Bake Off. When Bake Off moved from the BBC to Channel 4, she decided to leave the programme, but
MARY BERRY: Age is just a number.
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HERE isn’t much AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje doesn’t know about wood. This family company specialises in all things wood, from pergolas and fencing, to kitchen doors and wooden huts for businesses like campsites. AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje offers pretty much any kind of wood a client is looking for, and for whatever it is required. It offers quality general wood supplies and a comprehensive range of associated products to protect, stain and treat wood. Each and every wood product AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje supplies comes with full guarantees of 12 years for the most economical options up to 15 years. They also deliver. In addition, products available at AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje extend to other kinds of building materials, including a comprehensive selection of paint for home decoration. AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje has its own team of
that didn’t mean she stopped working, despite by then being at an age where most people have long since retired. Mary Berry is proof that age is just a number. Now well into her 80’s she shows no signs of slowing down, putting out new cookery books and remaining a regular on TV. Post Bake Off she appeared as a judge on the American version of the programme, and is now a judge on Britain’s Best Home Cook. Her lifelong passion for food began in domestic science classes at school. After training at the Bath School of Home Economics and The Cordon Bleu in Paris, she went on to become the cookery editor of Housewife magazine and then at Ideal Home magazine. Her first foray into TV
was the 1970’s Afternoon Plus with Judith Chalmers: the Cooking Retro Style snippets from the programme are now a big hit on YouTube. She managed to organise her work around bringing up her three children, writing cookery books throughout the 1980’s, as well as filming television series for BBC from her Buckinghamshire home. Then in the 1990’s she started her own homebased cookery school, Aga Workshops, and launched her own salad dressing with her daughter Anabel; her dressing and sauces went on to be sold around Britain, Germany and Ireland. The cooking icon’s achievements on TV have earned her various awards, among them the 2017 National Television Award for Best TV Judge,
and she has been a guest on a whole bunch of TV and radio programmes, ranging from the Graham Norton Show to Woman’s Hour. She has also been recognised by her peers from the world of food, receiving the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild of Food Writers and being Honoured as Freeman of the Worshipful company of Bakers of London in 2014. In 2012 she was made a CBE for services to culinary arts. The impression of Mary Berry is that despite becoming one of the UK’s best-known cooks and publishing more than 75 books, home and family has always been a priority for her, and her approach to cooking reflects this. Her reputation is for coming up with practical, healthy recipes which all the family can enjoy.
AFL TU TIENDA DE BRICOLAJE
The wood experts
SPECIALISTS: AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje offers a comprehensive range of wood, associated products and building materials, as well as designing and installing tailor-made kitchens. expert carpenters based in the company workshop who produce beautiful bespoke doors, windows and furniture exactly to client specifications. A particular area of expertise is tailor-made kitchens. AFL Tu Tienda
de Bricolaje designs unique, quality kitchens to suit any home and any budget, carrying out the complete installation from start to finish.
Clients are able to consult the AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje team to establish exactly what the best options would be and to deal with any queries, with English speakers on hand to ensure British clients receive a high level of service. AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje provides detailed, free quotes, offering a noobligation, on-site visit as part of the service. Clients are then given a number of different priced options based on the team’s expert knowledge, AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje even providing clients with
computer generated images of what the final result would look like. The AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje shop has been open since 2017, and such is its success it has just recently moved to a smart new premises on the right-hand side of the main road leading into Albox town coming in from the Arboleas direction. The shop is a relatively recent enterprise, but the AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje carpenters have been in the trade for many, many years, starting out as young apprentices and now several decades on they are highly experienced, skilled craftsmen.
AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje Carretera Baza- Huercal-Overa, Km 72, Albox Tel: 722 376 675 Email: afltienda@gmail.com
WOMEN IN BUSINESS LORENA MATEO MUÑOZ is a prime example of a young woman who successfully juggles various different aspects of her life, and who never shies away from taking on new challenges. Lorena is very much the public face of family business AFL Tu Tienda de Bricolaje in Albox. Her husband and brother-inlaw are expert carpenters, and when they launched the company specialising in all things wood 18 months ago, it was Lorena who took on overseeing and managing the business end. It was quite a change of direction for her, Lorena having worked in nursing before that. Lorena said she had a great deal to learn to begin with, and admits it was a lot of hard work. But she learnt fast, sorting out suppliers, managing staff and organising quotes and orders, and she is the first point of contact for customers. As someone who is always keen to study new subjects (she actually studied law at university), and
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LORENA MATEO RUÑOZ - AFL TU TIENDA DE BRICOLAJE
Up for a challenge
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MULTITASKER: Lorena successfully juggles running a business, family life and studying.
Huge satisfaction from everything she has achieved.
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who always strives to do everything to the best of her ability, Lorena diligently applied herself to acquiring the kind of new skills which would be useful to the business, taking courses in information technology, business administration, and even carpentry. She also soon realised that having your own business means long hours and a lot of responsibility, but says she gets huge satisfaction from everything she has achieved, loves being her own boss, and thoroughly enjoys the contact with all different kinds of people. As well as being a business woman Lorena is also a mother to three children, the youngest just eight years old, and incredibly is currently studying teaching: studying is she says her “me time,” something she does purely for herself. Managing to strike a happy balance between family, work and personal development, Lorena is unquestionably a model modern Spanish woman.
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Inspiring role model OLYMPIC gymnast Simone Biles is a sporting phenomenon. The diminutive 21-year-old force of nature is the most decorated American gymnast ever and the third most decorated female gymnast in history. She is often described as the greatest gymnast of all time, and is widely regarded as an outstanding role model for young women. Biles really shot to world fame at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when she became the individual allround, vault and floor gold medallist. Then after an extended break, she triumphed at last year’s World Gymnastics Championships, becoming the first gymnast in three decades to win a medal in all six women’s events, and taking her total world championship gold medal tally to a record-breaking 14.
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HE outlook is looking very sunny for Olive Proper-
ties. The estate agency has just had its busiest year in its 12 years of doing business in the local property sector, having successfully weathered the turbulent times experienced by the sector following the financial crash of 2008. The fact that Olive Properties is not just a highly professional company with many years’ experience, but also very much part of the community, is one of the reasons why business is booming. Olive Properties specialises in inland properties in areas like Bedar, Lubrin, and further afield, and the family behind the company - Joanne and Tim Desmond - are themselves long-term local residents. Anyone buying or selling a property away from
This young woman’s dedication and determination is inspiring, the fact that she had to battle the pain of a kidney stone during the world championships clearly indicative of her mindset of not letting any obstacle get in her way. “This stone can wait… doing it for my team,” she Tweeted from a hospital bed 24 hours before the championships began. Her life has not been without other kinds of challenges. Her mother suffered from alcohol and drug addictions, and was unable to care for Biles and her t h r e e o t h e r children,
Her life has not been without other kinds of challenges. while her father, who had his own addictions, has not been a presence in his daughter’s life. She was in and out of foster care when she was a child, her maternal grandparents officially adopting her in 2003. A l w a y s bouncing with energy, she first gave gymnastics a go when she was
six, her instructors quickly realising she had a special talent, and in 2011 her gymnastics career began at the Almerican Classic in Houston. At the beginning of last year Biles released a statement revealing she had been sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics national team doctor, Larry Nassar. She and fellow Larry Nassar victims were awarded 2018’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award. In 2016, Biles was chosen as one of BBC’s 100 Women and was one of the finalists for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, and in 2018 she was a BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominee. Not a bad list of achievements for someone so young!
SIMONE BILES: Is a sporting phenomenon.
OLIVE PROPERTIES
All in the detail
OLIVE PROPERTIES: Will ensure the entire sale process goes as smoothly and as quickly as possible. the coast in a village or rural location can trust that Olive Properties
is the ideal estate agency to choose, not least because Joanne and Tim know inland
Almeria inside out. What’s more, Joanne and Tim have a genuine passion for the region and all the
Olive Properties C/Llanos (next to the Miramar restaurant), Bedar 607 705 085/687 938 466 • www.olivehouse-es.com
properties they have on their books. For the Desmonds it’s all about the details when
it comes to their business, and going the extra mile for each and every one of their clients. Home-hunters are guided every step of the way, to make finding the perfect property an enjoyable and stress-free experience, backed up by an exceptional after-sales service. Anyone with a property to sell can have the confidence that with Olive Properties they will be in safe and very capable hands. They ensure each property is marketed to the widest possible pool of multinational potential buyers, always keeping vendors up-to-date with progress, dealing with all the necessary paperwork, and ensuring the entire sale process goes as smoothly and as quickly as possible. Olive Properties has offices in both Bedar and Lubrin, the latter manned part-time. Opening hours are 10am to 3.30pm, but appointments can be made to best suit the client.
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
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JOANNE DESMOND - OLIVE PROPERTIES
Believe in yourself JOANNE DESMOND is a woman who believes in going the extra mile. The co-owner of Bedarbased estate agency Olive Properties, Joanne not only goes out of her way to provide the best possible service to all the company clients, she’s always thinking about how to improve the company and continue to build on the company success. Joanne and husband Tim first launched their enterprise 12 years ago, and despite the challenges of the economic crash of 2008 and the battering the local property market took, Olive Property successfully weathered the storm, and business is now very much on the up. This success is in no small part due to Joanne’s work ethic, but also to her professional background, extensive experience in the local property sector, and above all else, her genuine passion for
the area in which her family has settled. Mother to two children, Joanne has always managed to strike a balance between work and family, and clearly thoroughly enjoys life and the challenges it presents. Self-employed for most of her career, Joanne started out with an excellent grounding with a university degree in business studies, going on to develop her skills in the service sector in restaurant management in Wales and Greece before moving into the property sector. Holidays in Almeria led to the decision to relocate the family permanently to the area they had fallen in love with, and they’ve never looked back. Initially Joanne worked as an agent for a Bedar estate agency and then one on the coast, before deciding to establish her own company specialising in inland properties. Today Olive Properties
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Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to take a risk.
covers not just Bedar and Lubrin, but also as far as Almeria and Baza, and has cemented its position at the heart of the Bedar area community, both Joanne and Tim highly respected by their business peers. Based on her own experience, Joanne says the best advice she would give to any woman considering starting their own business is to believe in themselves and not be afraid to take a risk. Clearly in Joanne’s case this is a philosophy which has paid off!
JOANNE DESMOND: Is a woman who believes in going the extra mile.
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Making science history CHEMICAL engineer Frances Arnold made science history in 2018, becoming only the fifth woman ever to win the Nobel Prize for chemistry. The 62-year-old American professor of chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology was awarded the prize for her directed evolution method to engineer enzymes with improved and or novel functions. Frances Arnold has had a highly distinguished career, receiving a number of prestigious awards, including the US National Medal for Technology and Innovation in 2013, which was presented to her by President Obama. She is also one of only a handful of people to have been named in the three US National Academies of Engineering, Science and
Medicine. She is certainly a fantastic role model for young women considering a career in science, and yet she did herself flirt with the idea of going in a completely different professional direction. She studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, concentrating on research into solar energy, but she also took classes in subjects like economics, Russian, and Italian, and wondered about moving in the direction of international affairs. In the end she did take an engineering and scientific path, focusing first on developing sustainable sources of energy, then later gaining a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California-Berkeley, and at the
Breaking down science barriers
FRANCES ARNOLD: A fantastic role model for young women considering a career in science. same time developing a particular interest in biochemistry. Over the years Frances Arnold has held an impressive list of university posts, and has served on the boards of important advisory boards. She is the co-inventor of over 40 US patents, and of course her research is regarded as pioneering by the scientific community. Her outstanding profes-
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
sional achievements come despite overcoming a series of challenges in her personal life. She is a widow twice over, and one of her three children died in a car accident. She is also a breast cancer survivor. Incredibly she has found time in her very full life to pursue a variety of adrenalin-inducing leisure pursuits, among them scuba diving and skiing.
WHILE there has been progress in gender equality in many professional fields in recent years, one area which seems to remain very much a male domain is science. Men are still significantly more likely to study the sciences than women in many countries in the world, and globally less than 30 per cent of scientific researchers are female. Nevertheless, efforts are being made to encourage girls to consider pursuing a career in science and to get more woman working in scientific fields. “We need to encourage and support girls and women to achieve their full potential as scientific researchers and innovators,” United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has said. February 11 was the UNESCO International Day of Women and Girls in Science to raise awareness about this particular gender gap. The UN uses the day to serve as a reminder that the science and technology communities need to harness as much talent as possible, attracting new ideas, perspectives and creativity, diversifying research, and that women should have full and equal access to and participation in science.
ALMERIA PROPERTY INVESTMENTS
API prides itself on the extensive range of services it provides both buyers and sellers, ensuring the process of acquiring or selling a property is smooth and stress-free.
Buying and selling in safe hands HE outlook is looking very sunny for Olive Properties. The estate agency has just had its busiest year in its 12 years of doing business in the local property sector, having successfully weathered the turbulent times experienced by the sector following the financial crash of 2008. The fact that Olive Properties is not just a highly professional company with many years’ experience, but also very much part of the community, is one of the reasons why business is booming. Olive Properties specialises in inland properties in areas like Bedar, Lubrin, and further afield, and the family behind the company - Joanne and
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Tim Desmond - are themselves long-term local residents. Anyone buying or selling a property away from the coast in a village or rural location can trust that Olive Properties is the ideal estate agency to choose, not least because Joanne and Tim know inland Almeria inside out. What’s more, Joanne and Tim have a genuine passion for the region and all the properties they have on their books. For the Desmonds it’s all about the details when it comes to their business, and going the extra mile for each and every one of their clients. Home-hunters are guided every step of the way, to make finding the perfect property an enjoyable and stress-free experi-
ence, backed up by an exceptional after-sales service. Anyone with a property to sell can have the confidence that with Olive Properties they will be in safe and very capable hands. They ensure each property is marketed to the widest possible pool of multinational potential buyers, always keeping vendors up-to-date with progress, dealing with all the necessary paperwork, and ensuring the entire sale process goes as smoothly and as quickly as possible. Olive Properties has offices in both Bedar and Lubrin, the latter manned part-time. Opening hours are 10am to 3.30pm, but appointments can be made to best suit the client.
EXTRA MILE: API offers buyers and sellers a full range of top services.
API Almeria Property Investments Ronda de las Buganvillas, nº 42, 04621 Vera Playa Office: 950 460 874 Mobiles: 666 260 792/670 596 085 info@almeriapropertyinvestments.com • www.almeriapropertyinvestments.com www.facebook.com/woneninalmeria • www.facebook.com/Almeriawoningen
For sellers: • EPC certificates (obligatory for all sales) • Professional property evaluations • Extensive photographic report to catch potential buyers’ attention • Maximum exposure on the most important Spanish and foreign property portals to reach the widest possible market For buyers: • Insurance advice • Property financing solutions • Interiors: advice on furnishing and décor • Foreign exchange service • Complete building works: from architect to site supervision Multilingual: API can help clients in fluent English, Spanish, French, German and Dutch
WOMEN IN BUSINESS CO-OWNER of the API Almeria Property Investments estate agency, Ann Depovere is a woman who knows how to turn dreams into reality. Not only has she helped countless clients sell their properties or acquire their perfect home on the Almeria coast, she has through hard work, determination and initiative created a business which she can be rightly proud of. Ann’s resounding success in the local property sector follows a varied and interesting career path, along which she has acquired all the invaluable skills which make her such an outstanding estate agent. Originally from Antwerp in Belgium, Ann started her professional life as a secondary school language teacher - she is fluent in no less than five languages! Looking for a new challenge, Ann then moved into the world of high finance, working for a bank on the Belgian stock market, building up a useful understanding of money and markets. The move to Spain nearly two decades ago came when her Spanish-born building engineer husband was offered a job in Marbella as a project manager. From the Costa del Sol they then relocated to this area and
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ANN DEPOVERE - API ALMERIA PROPERTY INVESTMENTS
Turning dreams into reality
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Achieve anything you want if you put all your effort into it.
founded their own business, bringing up their young family and building a full and happy life here. Ann’s dream was to work in the property sector, first focusing on interiors and now with her own estate agency concentrated on offering top-notch services to property vendors and buyers. Her first step was to study interior design, adding yet another string to her professional bow, the couple then starting their own business, DecoHouse, offering services including home staging for property sellers. One contact led to another, and an offer to apply her exten-
SKILLS: Ann’s career path has equipped her with invaluable skills.
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sive skills to buying and selling properties with a Vera Playabased international estate agency came up, Ann proving to be an absolute natural: competent, intelligent, reliable and a real people person. Her six years as an agent with the company allowed her not only to learn everything there is to know about property sales in Almeria, it also meant she built up an extensive knowledge of the area in which API specialises: the coastal zone running from San Juan to Mojacar - an insider knowledge she shares with clients on the company’s highly informative Facebook pages. Ann relished her change in career direction, and pursued her ambition to be a top estate agent with enthusiasm, proving, Ann says, “you can achieve anything you want if you put all your efforts into it.” Ann loves having her own company, despite the challenges and demands this inevitably brings with it. Above all else, Ann loves being able to run the business the way she believes best, secure in the knowledge that they are taking care of all their clients to the absolute best of their abilities.
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS