She’s a mother, publishing power house turned Dragon’s Den star turned TV and radio personality so you would think Norah Casey would be the last person to tell women they can’t have it all.
But, in an interview with the Independent, the recently slimmed down businesswoman says that any woman who thinks she can is fooling herself.
“No. You can’t have it all. A working woman like me has made massive sacrifices. Anyone who thinks it’s easy to miss out on key moments in your child’s life – not be there when they say their first word, or watch them on their sports day because you have a board meeting to go to. . . it’s impossible to have it all.”
And she also believes that she wouldn’t have got where she is today if she had taken more than 12 weeks maternity leave or if she used her sexuality to get her own way in the workplace.
Norah with her Newstalk co-hosts
“I meet women who inappropriately flirt to try and get to the top. I often find myself talking to women who get themselves into very difficult situations because they think that is the way to do it. Especially if they are in a very male and macho environment. They think that the way to get the boss’s attention is to dress inappropriately and use their feminine charms but that is disastrous. It sends out the wrong signals and it certainly doesn’t help with career progression.”
So what is her advice for young women who are trying to get ahead in the workplace, especially if they work in a corporate environment dominited by men?
“The best way for a woman to get ahead is to be herself. Most women are not like Margaret Thatcher and equally they are not sex kittens. If you try to be either the macho male or the flirty female – neither will work.”
