International Women's Day
To celebrate International Women's Day, I thought I would make it all about ME today!!
I'm Julia, Clive's wife (or better half perhaps??!!). We have been married now for 31 years and have three beautiful grown up 'little' girls.
When I left school, I studied for a childcare qualification. I then worked for social services with families and under-fives for about 8 years. After that I worked in the Homeless Shelter in Peterborough. Both jobs were very demanding, hard work but extremely rewarding and I loved them.
I was very involved in helping Clive to set up and run Nene Jag Specialists Ltd in 1993 and then in 1995 I took the plunge and had a total change of career to work with him full time in the business. This was a massive step as I knew nothing about business and even less about cars. So, the last 25 years have been a steep learning curve and I now know a little bit more about cars and a little bit more about business.
My role involves greeting customers, answering the phone, dealing with queries, pricing, ordering parts, invoicing, accounts, social media and marketing. The most important part of my job is to discuss a customer's Jaguar with them, understand what work they need, to explain what work may be required and answer any queries they may have.
To be a woman in a dominantly male environment brings another dimension to my role. Encouragingly though I have seen an improvement over the last 25 years. At first people were perhaps quite reluctant to speak to a female about their cars and I had to work hard to be accepted as more than just someone who answered the phone and made tea. As my knowledge of Jaguars improved, then my confidence developed, and I was able to answer more queries and discuss more in depth about Jaguars. This has led to a more conducive and rewarding working environment.
I love my job as I love people, I have been fortunate to meet some lovely people over the years. It also helps that I love Jaguars. It is a fabulous marque with some beautiful cars and I am truly privileged to be able to experience them day in, day out.
Every working day I learn something more, every working day my comfort zone is stretched, every working day brings more problems to solve, every working days brings rewards and every working day I am pleased and proud to be a business woman and every working day I appreciate being in a job that I love, meeting great people everyday and getting the chance to drive fabulous cars.
SO to all you women out there, don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, relish the challenges, be determined and you will succeed. The rewards will be worth all your efforts. Above all keep your enthusiasm, your sparkle and your hopes and dreams alive.
Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.
by Henry Ford