Please Let It Stop by Jacqueline Gold Read Free Book Online Page A

ahead of me in getting my dad to listen to my party plan idea. Our father–daughter relationship was an awkward one and he also kept his distance at work. One night I stayed late in the hope that he would be alone in the office he shared with another board member, David Tizzard. I waited and waited but David clearly wasn’t going anywhere so I just went in and told them my idea – badly. I rambled on far too much, but somewhere along the line I managed to get the general thought across. I told them about the parties I’d already held, the potential demand from women and how it would expand our retail business. Halfway through my monologue, Dad stood up and looked at me thoughtfully for several seconds. Many years later he told me that it was a very special moment for him as he felt proud and realised then that I had the makings of a businesswoman. Eventually he suggested that I go away and think about it, and make a presentation to the board.
    I had a week to pull it all together. I had no idea where to start so I just made notes until I thought I’d nailed what I had to say. Then I typed it up and practised reading it out several times in front of Tony who said it sounded good. Over the years I have discovered that I am quite a lateralthinker and problem solver; even my friends have pointed out I will not offer only one solution to their problem but usually two or three.
    The day of the presentation dawned and my nerves were already working overtime. They were all sitting in the boardroom as I nervously stepped inside: Dad, Uncle Ralph, John Gibbins, David Tizzard, Ray Unadkat and Ron Coleman. My father told them I had an idea and I shakily took the floor with my two humble pieces of paper. I told them about the women I’d met. I described how we could take the product from our shop range and use the catalogues from the mail order side so that additional investment would be minimal. I explained how women would be recruited as party organisers and they would in turn recruit from among their guests, which would begin to expand the operation. There would be incentives all the way down the line.
    Ron Coleman looked at me and then said, ‘I don’t care what you say, women aren’t interested in sex.’ I was stunned, particularly when nobody disagreed with him – not even Dad. Now, when you’re faced with a statement like that you either allow yourself to be put off by it or you just ignore it and hold your line. I was the seller and I had to convince the board that I had something worth buying. Getting angry would not have helped my cause. My father was particularly tough on me. I know he did it because he didn’t want to show any bias towards me. He was also anxious to make sureI knew what I was doing. Dad now tells me that as he watched me he became very emotional inside and began to realise that even though he didn’t have the son he thought he needed to succeed him, he now had me instead.
    The board questioned me for about an hour and I realised how it must feel to be cross-examined in a courtroom. My emotions were more those of frustration than anything else. I believed strongly in the party plan concept and I just wanted others to see it. But right at that moment they weren’t giving me too much to feel positive about.
    Eventually, and much to my relief, I was dismissed from the board meeting. I returned to my office and the waiting began. The decision was slow in coming. It was only a couple of days but it may as well have been months. Finally I was informed that I had the board’s approval to establish the party plan concept in line with my proposal, which meant using the existing facilities. They also agreed that I could place an advertisement in the
Evening Standard
once a week for one month to recruit women as party organisers. Depending on the response, the board would then review the position. I was over the moon. There was a huge task ahead but I’d taken the first step.
    The
Evening Standard
had all