This week my Meets interview is a little different. It’s a little special and here’s why. On Monday 6th July 2023 the latest “top list” to hit the business press focuses on women in business. Management Today name the top 35 women in business in the UK under the age of 35. It’s an award that is now in its 15th year, celebrate high-achieving women in business under the age of 35.
For this week’s Meets interview, I interviewed one of the women named on this prestigious list. That woman is Rachel Montague-Ebbs and yes that’s right, that’s me! Woop! Sorry for the little dance in the chair moment there and I am not here to blow my own trumpet. I am just truly honoured to be featured with other amazing women who make the list. I’m talking entrepreneurs, designers, lawyers, bankers and senior civil servants. Past winners include Martha Lane Fox, Elisabeth Murdoch and Stella McCartney and I am so proud to be a within the Management Today 35 Women Under 35 list.
For at least two years out of the five that Presents: Business of Style has been in existence, I hid behind the persona. Not many people knew who ‘’ really was. I didn’t really do photo shoots, I wasn’t on instagram taking selfies and I was keeping my business life completely separate to my fashion blogging, fashion writer, editor-in-chief life.
My Twitter feed is purely fashion, sometimes the occasional #worktrip picture but never talking about my day job. It is fascinating to be named one of Management Today’s 35 Women Under 35 and I have achieved a lot in my career in the fruit industry. As well as blogging here, at the Huffington Post, being a Brand Ambassador for two major retailers and featuring on BBC radio; I am also the Supply Chain Director and Financial Controller of three fruit companies.
I have worked in various roles in the soft fruit industry (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries etc) since 2005. I used to describe my role to friends when I was in international procurement as like the “Man from Del Monte”. I used to travel the world, meeting suppliers, talking about their berries and choosing what to import. Since then I have developed the Supply Chain aspect of the business, help set up a new business in Spain and I now sit on the board of three companies within the same group.
Some may call me a superwoman. Others ask how I do it. I just simply don’t sleep much and I am very organised. The two industries I work in have never really crossed (apart from in the main image of this post, free strawberries!) I love both as much as each other. Fashion is a hobby that has become almost a part time career but fruit gives me the thrill of seeing results, allows me to have the drive to succeed with projects and is always changing, you never know what might happen next. Blogging can be a lonely experience, whilst I work with an amazing team with my day job. I have the best of both worlds and I love it.
This isn’t the normal Meets interview with my standard questions. I’ll save that for another time. But what does the future hold? Another ten years in an industry that has been challenging, informing, fun and exciting? A progression into the fashion industry that I reckon would give me just as much bang for it’s buck?
