I’m a mother f irst and a boss second, says Burberry chief
ONE of Britain’s top female bosses yesterday warned other working mothers that ‘you can’t do it all’ – even though she gets up for work at 4.35am every day.
Angela Ahrendts, the high-flying chief executive of Burberry, said: ‘It is one of the most important parts of my job showing that you can’t do it all.’
The 53-year-old laid bare the compromises she makes to balance her job with her home life with three teenage children.
She described herself as having ‘ three jobs’, as a wife, mother and chief executive of the fashion label.
On most days, Mrs Ahrendts gets up – without an alarm clock – at 4.35am. She insists that she gets a headache if she sleeps for more than six hours. It is, she said, ‘my inspirational time, my time to find peace, to watch the sun rise’, which makes her into ‘a better executive every morning, calmer and nicer’.
She added that she regularly declines sought-after invitations, such as the opportunity to go to the Oscars ceremony, because family is more important.
Mrs Ahrendts, who is married to her childhood sweetheart, Gregg, tries to limit herself to one night out a week, and also to make sure that she is home by Friday night when she is travelling.
She said: ‘It is my job to set an example. We have a lot of working women here [at Burberry] and I always tell them they are mothers first.
‘Those children are their legacy and they have partners and that’s a big obligation . . . I’ve never gone to the Oscars because I can’t afford another week away.’
She added: ‘It is not more important than my husband. It is not more important than my kids. It is not more important than Burberry right now.
‘ Those are choices that everybody makes. I’m here to run Burberry and I’m here to be a really great wife to my husband. And we have three amazing teens so that’s three really big jobs.
‘I don’t want to be a great chief executive without being a great mum and a great wife.’
Her comments may reassure working mothers who feel forced to make tough choices between pursuing more senior roles at work and spending time with their families.
Mrs Ahrendts is one of a handful of female chief executives in Britain. The American joined Burberry in Jan-
‘Choices that everybody makes’
uary 2006, and became chief executive six months later.
Last year, she was the highest paid chief executive of any FTSE 100 company, the first woman to top that elite league table, with a total pay package of £16.9million.
While her basic salary was £1million, the largest chunk came from selling £11.9million of her shares in the firm, built up over several years. Her pay has dropped to £3.3million, including a basic salary of £1million and a bonus of £1.5million, according to the company’s latest annual report.
It is an extraordinary rise for a woman from the remote town of New Palestine, Indiana, which has a population of 2,000.
As one of six children growing up in cramped conditions, the young Mrs Ahrendts used any small space she could to express her creativity.
Her older sister Carrie once said: ‘There wasn’t much privacy. So, when she was ten, Angela took over the little space below the stairwell, the place where you put the coats.
‘She installed black lights and put in shelves, where she lit candles she’d hand- dipped. It was famous in the neighbourhood. Everyone came to see Angela’s place.’
British brand Burberry, which has its headquarters in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, was founded in 1856.