Fritha is the founder of Secret Pillow Project, which unfolds women’s power worldwide through making and selling. The project runs production and empowerment workshops and promises a trade for the produce at a fairer than fairer price. Involvement in the project is low risk and seen as a first step on the journey to financial independence. Secret Pillow Project works only with groups of women who face serve challenges to realising their personal power.
I Am Driven By | I am driven by my constant astonishment at how unfair our world is. I simply don’t believe it has to be this way. Secret Pillow Project is one of the ways I will live out my dream to live in a fairer world as it will a) re-allocate resources b) give those resources to the people who are most capable of using them wisely and for the benefit of others, women.
Principles I Live By | I think they change with experience, age and they depend on what roles you are having to play in your life. Currently my 2 principles are 1. You are only as good as your last job 2. Don’t believe anything that anyone tells you, do whatever you need to do to make up your own mind.
The Characteristics Of Success | When I was at school I suffered from dyslexia, and still do to an extent. I could not participate in lessons in the same way as my peers. I knew I thought differently, I knew I was different and I knew I always had to create my own way to find out the answers. From this experience I learnt how to persist, I developed a deep-rooted trust and respect for myself and my abilities and I developed an acceptance and later confidence in making mistakes and being “incorrect’.
A Key Talent | Critical to my success in everything I do is my emotional intelligence; I consider it my greatest strength. From a young age I knew I wasn’t academically brilliant but I did recognise I had a great level of intelligence and understanding of the world around me. Through my disability of dyslexia I honed my observation and listening skills and these helped informed this ‘intelligence’ that I was discovering I had. It was only after I left school that I realised that other forms of intelligence were wildly recognised and celebrated and this is when I was able label the intelligence I had as emotional intelligence.
Therefore, my advice to anyone reading this is to research the different forms of intelligence and recognise where you sit and then find out what ways you can develop. My other piece of advice is don’t accept the judgement of others, be our own judge.
How I Use My Mind | I believe in the power of dreams. Dream as much as you possibility can and then find yourself a coach that can help you harness the power of your dream and support you to explore and ultimately commit to ways to making it happen.
Dealing With Doubt | Haha, I repeat the mantra of the Secret Pillow Project. It is called The 7 Secrets to Entrepreneurship. Here is it…
- Believe in yourself
- Pretend until you can
- Persist, persist, and persist
- Support yourself and one another
- Think, think and think again
- Trust your creative instinct
- Take pride in everything you do
The Best Advice I’ve Received | The CEO of Save the Children, Jasmine Whitbread, is somebody that I greatly admire. I used to work at the charity as a fundraiser. I remember reading an article about her success. She said that she always makes sure she gets enough sleep. I have adopted that from her.
Performing At My Peak | As a trained performance coach I know how to support somebody to maintain their peak performance, it is slightly different when you support yourself to do the same. I have employed 3 people to help me, my PA, my butler and my healer. When I say employed, I kind of mean, I have created them. They don’t exist; they are sort of my alter egos. Their roles are self-explanatory and they work in partnership. They are the ones that decide what takes priority – working, organising or resting. It is not all peaceful though, they sometimes end up in terrible rows, but sense always prevails and they are pretty good at achieving the balance that enables me to stay as close to my peak as possible.
On Inspiring Others | I invite people to join me only after meeting them. If I am struck by somebody I tend to go very quiet as I observe them, listen to them and try to feel who they are. Basically I use my intuition. Great people stay with me because I motivate and empower them. I give my complete trust to them and their decisions, I ask them to try stuff out, make mistakes. I don’t want those great people to be with me for long. I always want them to grow beyond me and become as great as they possibility can.
The Legacy I Would Like To Leave | Somebody once said to me that if they could bottle my spirit, positivity and energy and sell it, they would become a billionaire. I certainly don’t want these to benefit just one person, I want them to benefit everyone. I want my legacy to be that I inspired people to be the best they can be and not accept things as they are.
