Coffee with Sunita Shroff
Sunita Shroff
Human rights activist, TV presenter and President at AWBS International Women’s Club, organiser of Christmas Fayres and events
Age 48
Coffees at White City House, 101 Wood Lane, W12 7FR
Describe your career path in two or three sentences including any twist or turns ending with where you are now and where you see your future.
I was brought up in Greece ( I am half Irish and half Indian). I came over to England when I was 16 and moved to the Midlands. In terms of a career, I desperately wanted to go to drama school and be an actress but it was far too expensive so I started working in advertising sales in the Midlands. Later, I moved to London and got a job at Harrods. I stayed there for 5 or 6 years and then I got a job in property in Knightsbridge.
I still had this yearning to do acting and presenting but I couldn’t see how until I finally got a break and became a television property presenter. I loved presenting but it was very unstable and insecure and it’s not great for the ego to be honest or the bank account.
I stayed in television until I got pregnant. I became pregnant later on in life and I just thought, right, I am going to do this. So, I moved out to Windsor and of course my career changed completely. I tried to return to television and take the baby with me, attached to the breast, but that wasn’t going to happen.
And I thought you know what I don’t have that yearning any more, I just want to look after my baby and get through this motherhood bit so I put presenting on hold. As a new mother in a new city, I was looking for like-minded, supportive women and so I joined AWBS International Women’s Club. We are 300 ladies from all walks of life and every age group — it is the most incredible thing I have ever been apart of. It’s been a life changing.
Early on I joined their board and started booking their speaker series and that evolved into organising fundraising events. Through AWBS, I got the fundraising bug and now I raise thousands of pounds for lots of different charities, including local schools, Parkinson's UK and international charities like You Can Free Us who are an anti-human trafficking agency. I learned all my fundraising and event organisational skills from AWBS. It is absolutely marvellous, I love it!
I also do my own Christmas and May Fairs and cherry pick the registered charity to support. It makes me feel like I am living with purpose. I still earn a little money from presenting, doing corporate videos and stuff. And I make money from my flat in London that bought with my presenting money and now let out. I earn a little bit from the fairs, just enough to cover my costs and that’s about it. I think if you can at least find something you are good at and enjoy, that is half the battle. Then you need to try and get paid for doing what you love.
What decision / experience proved to be the most helpful to your career?
AWBS has been helpful to my career, definitely. I haven’t left television altogether but with menopause and its effect on my memory and all that sort of thing, I have had to learn new skills. Through AWBS I learned how to fundraise and stage events and it all happened very naturally.
Because, I volunteer, people can’t really complain that much so you have room to breathe and make some mistakes. Volunteering has really allowed me to experiment and grow, unbelievably so… so that is the biggest change moving from presenting to fundraising and having a baby was the catalyst.
What do you think are the most important qualities for sustaining a fulfilling career(s) as you grow older?
Keep your energy levels up. Eat well, sleep, exercise, practise praise and remain grateful! Stay abreast of the modern world and how folks communicate and network and don’t worry about asking how to do it if you’re unsure. Keep confident, you didn’t get this far without a sprinkle of fabulousness! Finally, remember we have experience and maturity and that’s a wonderful commodity!
What advice would you give your 20-year old self knowing what you do now?
Don’t take anything for granted. Knuckle down and don’t be so frivolous. It feels like a second ago that I was 20 years old and now I am 48 turning 49! If I was 20 again, I would take things a little bit more seriously and cultivate my contacts. I think of all of the opportunities that were presented to me that I didn’t take advantage of — I wasn’t being arrogant or ungrateful, I just didn’t realise, I thought that this was the norm and that there would always be more opportunities coming my way.
What do you think is the biggest challenge people face when making a career re-entry or re-invention in later life?
If you are re-entering the workforce, you have got to have a USP. Our experience is our USP and it is the one thing I don’t think youth has. I think age is wonderful and should be celebrated as it is in other countries. I think people hiring sometimes think ‘She wants to come back to work and she is how old? Oh, she will be so expensive!’ Sometimes you might need to take a dip in salary, if you can to get a foot in the door and prove yourself. I think that is the only way, isn’t it? I don’t know.
What do you think the opportunities are for people wanting to work in their 50s and 60s and beyond.
In the fundraising world there are plenty of opportunities because I feel that age gives you more compassion and wisdom plus you have a great network. The network I have now, I have grown and cultivated and nurtured it. I love social media for that reason. But it is very hard to get people to invest in you. So sometimes it is about creating your own opportunities.
What is your top tip for staying relevant in today’s job market.
Don’t be shy, just don’t be shy. Have that coffee, pick up that phone, write a letter, send an email. What is the worst thing that is going to happen, that they ignore your email? So what, drop them another line in three months time. Don’t be shy. You have to put yourself out there because they are not going to come knocking on your door out in suburbia. Grab the bull by the horns. I do think there is a place for women 50-plus definitely, there are roles and opportunities out there for us but you can’t be shy.
Recommendation: Favourite book to read, podcast to listen or website to browse while drinking coffee?
Dr David Hamilton. He is a beautiful Scottish man and he saved me. I had just had my child and I was going through postnatal anxiety — I had moved out of London, my career collapsed and, and, and…. I was looking up motivational, inspirational speakers on the internet and after a lot of searching, I found Dr David Hamilton.
He is a motivational, inspirational speaker. He was doing a talk near me so I went along to see him and it was life changing. I don’t like hocus pocus stuff, I like factual stuff and he is factual — he talks about the effects of love and kindness on the body and how it diffuses anxiety. His ideas are beautifully laid out in his books. After hearing him speak I started on the path to pure unadulterated positivity.