Read an excerpt from If in Doubt, Wash Your Hair: Anya Hindmarch's handbook for budding entrepreneurs

In her introduction to the 2021 book, If in Doubt, Wash Your Hair_, author Anya Hindmarch writes about how someone once said to her that until the age of 50, one is in the process of learning but from then onwards, it’s time to teach. On reaching this halfway mark, the London-based entrepreneur then drives this advice home with her latest book in which she recounts some of her most valuable learnings as a mother, stepmother and globally renowned businesswoman. From describing her foray into making luxury handbags to growing her small business into a huge brand, Hindmarch talks about the challenges along the way, some of the more unsettling lessons and other carefully thought out decisions that helped her forge her own path as a businesswoman._ Through a lighthearted, almost humorous prose, she highlights those practical solutions that helped her navigate a busy and eclectic life and emphasises on the importance of creative thinking and visualisation: making her work an inspiring handbook for budding entrepreneurs. The excerpt that follows features Hindmarch’s insights on building a diverse workforce, the need to employ more women in the organised sector to create role models for future generations and owning a business that employees would want to work for. *** A diverse workforce is vital, both ethically and commercially, but my position on how to achieve this has changed. Most of my career has been in the era of ‘equality for women in the workplace’. It has not been achieved yet – clearly – but until recently I was somewhat skeptical about the various efforts made, and used to say, ‘I don’t want to be put on a board just because I’m wearing a skirt.’ I felt that progress was being made and would continue to be, naturally and organically, as women continued to deliver and prove their worth. I argued against quotas or other measures to ‘force’ change, as it seemed to me that they could undermine women. My mind was changed when I sat on a panel to debate the subject at a bank in the City of London. I  listened to women in finance talking about the advantage men had of being able to walk into a boardroom knowing that their fathers and grandfathers had done the same before them. It was straightforward for these young men to creatively visualise themselves in the same place, able and deserving. Th ese same women talked of endless clubby talk about golf handicaps and cricket amongst the powerful people in the room. It made me realise that there actually is a place for forcing the issue along a bit, for focusing on hiring more women into senior roles, so that our daughters can see role models and join in the conversation. It is not done yet, but there has been progress. Since the Black Lives Matter movement gained such momentum I have thought a lot about how the issues surrounding race in the workplace are not dissimilar to the issues around women in the workplace. In my organisation we have nearly always had a diverse workforce and a diverse management team, including BIPOC, female and gay people in the top jobs. This has not been something I have positively sought out:  it has happened naturally, as I have looked for the right people for the job. I always used to say that I didn’t notice colour, that I just noticed whether someone was kind, smart or talented. I  was corrected, in the nicest possible way, by someone on my team, who pointed out that not noticing someone’s colour was disrespectful. He was right, of course. And the truth is that I do notice colour in the same way that I notice that someone has red hair, blonde hair or freckles, but shortly after that I  notice whether someone is funny, smart or talented, and that is what counts. [caption id=“attachment_9730341” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Anya Hindmarch’s If in Doubt, Wash Your Hair.[/caption] I realise, though, that it is not the same in all organisations, and we could be better even in my own organisation, for example in the imagery we use to advertise our products. There is a lot more work to do. Businesses need to consciously resist the temptation to hire ‘people like them’. We need to realise we are hugely disadvantaged if we do not hire a workforce that represents our customers. We need to ensure a pipeline of good candidates. And we need, perhaps, to force the issue for a bit, to create more role models as we have done for women. That is the uncomfortable bit, because it might mean taking on someone who perhaps is less confident than another candidate. But what do we do when candidates don’t get the job because they aren’t confident, and they aren’t confident because they didn’t get the job? I think it is for employers to crack this vicious circle. Once you have recruited someone, of course, you will then be fully focused on how to keep them. That means you have to be someone people want to work with – it has to be fun and/ or good for their CV – because if you are a small business you will be trying to put all your money back into growing the business. That often means you can’t afford to pay your people the market rate they could command somewhere bigger and slicker and nor can you give them everything they might want, and might deserve, in terms of bonuses and promotions and options. So you have to find a way to make them want to stay with you. You have to deploy your passion and energy and positivity so that they will love the journey and the excitement of building something, they will believe in the business, they will love working with the team. I have come to realise that maybe I worried more than I needed to about this. Very often, as much as the salary and benefits and progression, job satisfaction is about liking your team, and enjoying working together to build something. It’s about:  Am I having fun? Am I proud of what I’m doing? Are we collectively making a difference? Are we reaching our goal?

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The above excerpt from Anya Hindmarch’s If in Doubt, Wash Your Hair has been reproduced here with permission from Bloomsbury Publishing.