Lessons on balancing the business and home, from Anya Hindmarch

1. Why you should get children involved

“We are worrying about work and staring at our screens the whole time. We are seeing emails from Hong Kong or Tokyo, or seeing problems with production, or with HR. It is all incoming and if you are not careful, that can bleed into daily management with your family. There was a lovely time a few weeks ago when I was dealing with R&D issues over the phone and the children were listening too. “You need an afternoon off, I can see you have had a really tough day,” one of them told me at the end of the call. it. They were involved and understanding. Children are really smart and they get it. Share and involve them and don’t keep it to yourself.”

Also read: Anya Hindmarch: ‘Emotion is a female superpower’

2. Always cut yourself some slack

“My mother used to make my school lunches with little details like chives with a tiny bow. Sometimes I feel bad that I can’t be that way. But we have to be kind to ourselves as we would to our friends. ‘You have just delivered a whole fashion show, cut yourself some slack,’ I’d tell a friend. But you don’t often tend to speak to yourself that way. We are part of this transition generation for women. I am now working as hard as my father worked for sure but I have the example of how my mother ran the family in my head. And it is unrealistic [to be good at both].”

3. Keep anger out of the workplace

“If anything upsets you, rather than act in the moment, park it and sleep on it. Revisit it in a more measured way. It’s amazing how many people don’t behave in that way and it can be very destructive in the workplace. I try very hard in my company to lead by example. Trust me, I’m far from perfect.”

The Pont Street store with hand-painted windows
 
| Photo Credit: @anyahindmarch