Inspirational women...

In my role as editor-in-chief at Good Housekeeping, it’s my privilege and joy to bring you interviews and stories from people I think you’ll find interesting and who might open your eyes to something new or different. I love it when we’re sharing ideas as a team and one of our writers tells us about a woman they’ve discovered who demands our attention because of her achievements, or because she’s triumphed in the face of adversity. In a recent meeting, when we were talking about those who have made the world a happier, healthier and safer place for our Women Who Lead piece (page 44), an old friend of mine suddenly popped into my head and I realised I just had to introduce her to you.

Mary Williams and I were young journalists working in the trade press when she suffered the most awful series of life events, losing her mother and then, only a few years later, her boyfriend in terrible and, ultimately preventable, road traffic accidents. I have a very clear memory of sitting on a train with Mary when she talked to me about how she was thinking of giving up journalism to start a charity to campaign for better road safety. Mary’s energy, passion and determination were breathtaking – she was a force of nature compared with the rest of us twentysomethings – and I had no hesitation in telling her to go for it! How fantastic then, that a quarter of a century later, she has made Brake the foremost road safety charity worldwide, undoubtedly saving thousands of lives along the way. I was so touched when Mary told our interviewer that, of all the articles she’s ever done, this one means more to her than any other because Good Housekeeping was her mother’s favourite magazine. How very proud her mum would be.

Friendship is vital to us as women, and we celebrate it with some heartwarming reader stories in our feature about female friendship

(page 66). And it’s something our fabulous cover star Alex Jones also talks about (page 14) – in particular, inviting her girlfriends over for a joyous kitchen disco! With Alex’s sunny disposition and positivity, I can’t think of anyone better to front a magazine to welcome us to spring.

If you are trying to do your bit for the environment, do turn to our Green Beauty Hotlist (page 74) for our brilliantly researched feature, which will allow you to shop for products with your conscience intact.