Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously - with Mia Drennan
Down-to-earth EY UK Winning Women Entrepreneur Of The Year Mia Drennan left school with two ‘O’ levels, but has gone on to found a business worth over a billion pounds.
She tells us her fascinating story of working her way up from a temp job, through the city, to New York where she got passed over for promotion. It gave her the impetus to set up a business in the UK, where she got a taste for being an entrepreneur.
After the crash in 2011, she spotted a gap in the market helping businesses get their money back. With only £6,000 of capital she knocked on a lot of doors and soon her business GLAS took off. She now has over 500 people working for her.
She says she’s a bit like Madonna and keeps re-inventing herself. She’s much more strategic these days, rather than being in the day to day running of the business. She says for her it’s about leadership and giving people the confidence to do the best they can. Her life sounds like a movie, buzzing between Davos and Monaco, but it's lonely at the top. She's found mixing with other entrepreneurs going through the same thing a great comfort. It’s led her to launch a podcast The Lonely Female Founder Podcast to share their stories. A petrol-head since being a child, F1 and motor racing remains her hobby outside of work and she shows us her prized signed orange McClaren baseball cap. She also has a beautiful letter from Sir Kir Starmer wishing her luck for the European Entrepreneur awards. She says that being near and on water as much as possible, calms her and she loves her dogs. She says it’s important to remember that every day above ground is a good day. Find out more about Mia https://www.linkedin.com/in/miadrennan/
And on Insta @mia_founder