When she fixes you with her determined gaze, one wouldn't want to disagree with Sarai Bareman - or Dame Sarai Bareman, as she's officially known, honoured for her work in football governance in her home country of New Zealand.
But there's something more you need to know. Sarai Bareman is FIFA's first ever Chief Women's Football Officer, a position she still holds. That's FIFA. The Organisation. The One That Runs The Football World. That FIFA.
We catch up in Morocco, as you do, at the FIFA Under 17 Women's World Cup. I'm a Nepo Mum; our daughter is part of the whole exciting whirl. It dawns upon me, as Sarai and I settle in, that her pathway, this extraordinary opportunity on the world stage, has been made possible in no small part by this woman, the woman whose job it is to help shape the whole shebang of women's football across the world. AND WHO JOINS ME on this Red Card For Mummy podcast. I’m using capitals because it's extraordinary. You HAVE to know her.
No question fazes her. This is a woman who is seriously in the zone. She has tucked a trademark flower behind her ear, almost as a reminder that a woman can enjoy her femininity and be ferocious, all at the same time. That whatever the conditions, this woman will bloom. Her fight is for equal opportunities for women and girls to participate in the game as fully as men and boys. It was Sarai Bareman who developed FIFA's first ever global strategy for women's football, launched in October 2018. Remember, this is a woman who grew up playing football whilst getting changed in the car. I still thought she was lucky. When I grew up, girls didn't play football at all.
It's been almost ten years since Sarai took on the role as FIFA's Chief Women’s Football Officer, in the wake of the great corruption scandal that engulfed the organization in 2015.
Sarai was the only female member of the FIFA reform committee. And it’s hardly surprising that beyond development on the pitch, Sarai Bareman is the Boss Girl Advocate for increased female representation in leadership positions within the organization itself.
" I was an aggressive player, " she smiles, " I also like to talk a lot. And the opposition weren't always so pleased with some of the things that I would say. So I did have a few little altercations now and then, but always in good fun. I still see myself as that same defender. Sometimes a bit aggressive. Still like to talk a lot."
And there's still much to talk about. Women's football has shifted from a largely niche and underfunded sport to ten years later, becoming a major global business commanding record crowds, massive commercial investments and record - breaking broadcast deals.
The 2023 Women's World Cup - the ninth ever in Australia and New Zealand, even broke even for goodness sakes. There are great hopes that the tenth edition, in Brazil next year, will be the first ever to make a healthy profit.
But there's still more to do, in the eyes of Sarai. You'll hear her, unfettered on the RCFM podcast - she is pragmatic that making money in the game matters, and that women's football is only just coming into its own in that regard. And yet she's insistent that being a good social agent and expanding a revenue base are very interconnected. "Decision makers in football - the men- are often led very much by money. And when you can elevate it out of being a social development program into being something that is commercially viable; that can bring more dollars, more bums on seats, more buying power in the household through engaging with women and girls, then you really start to break through and resonate with the idea that all those things are possible because of the social development".
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