Sarah Cartledge

How do you take care of yourself and your mental health?

I aim to do a lunch time walk of 30 mins every day and often within that have a catch up with a friend either in person or on the phone.?The combined benefit of fresh air and also either having a conversation to either vent any frustrations or to completely switch your brain from work provides a great reset for the afternoon.?I’m a big advocate for small amounts of regular exercise being important too, with an ‘office’ job and indeed with no commute when working from home it’s so easy just to sit in the same position all day – the human body wasn’t built for that!

How should women support other women in the workplace?

I’m not sure this is the correct question– everyone should be supporting everyone else!?I’m a pretty open person and have a lot of quite open conversations with various colleagues.?We spend a lot of our time at work and form some valuable relationships there so support is a natural part of that.??

What advice would you give the up and coming generation of female leaders.

Make sure you stick to your own values and principles, if you feel you have to be or act a certain way to make progress in your career then I would question whether it’s an organisation you really want to be in.?Also be prepared to have to make some tough decisions around family life (should you want one) and work life – it’s not easy, but it is possible to navigate through and achieve a balance that works for you (and everyone’s ‘right answer’ is different)!

What do you love about being a woman?

Difficult to say as I’m just me!?I guess I like the fact that I have an important role as a mum and I’ve had the privilege of bringing two amazing human beings in to the world as well as having had a good career to date.?I like that I have quite a naturally organised brain as that often helps at work (and I feel that trait is primarily a female one – open to challenge but everyone is entitle to their opinion!)