Reflecting on Debbie Hewitt’s Masterclass
Ifejuola is a final year undergraduate student at Durham University, where she is studying Combined Honours in Social Sciences. Beyond her degree, Ifejuola holds various roles including that of Partnerships and Engagement’s Intern at Durham Institute of Medical Humanities; elected Liberation Officer within the Durham Student Union; and Social Media and Communications officer for the African and Caribbean Society. She is passionate about politics and promoting positive change within her own communities and wider society. She thus hopes that her participation in the Patchwork Masterclass Programme will help her to build a strong foundation and platform for promoting such change now, and the in the future.
On behalf of myself, the other attendees and the staff at Patchwork, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Debbie Hewitt for taking the time to speak with us and share such valuable insights.
Debbie Hewitt is a trailblazer, who throughout her career has made waves and driven change in traditionally male-dominated spaces. She has broken barriers, becoming the first female CEO of RAC plc. in its 125-year history, and the first female Chair of the Football Association (FA) in its 157-year existence. Hewitt began her career in retail and has held various roles since. Alongside her current role at the FA, she is the Non-Executive Chair of Visa Europe, Chair of Compare the Market Limited
Nomination Committee and Non-Executive Chair of Compare the Market Limited and Group. Hewitt is kept very busy, balancing the demands of these various positions. Whilst she has always been very ambitious and driven, it was not until after being made redundant that she began this portfolio-style approach to her career. Candidly, she revealed that it was an inability to secure one fixed role that spurred this transition but reflected that it had been transformative for her, allowing her to gain varied experience.
I believe we can learn a lot from this. In today’s precarious world and the challenging labour market/economy that our generation faces, this is significant. We need to maintain our ambition and persevere. Whilst we are likely to face challenges, we should try our best to maintain our resilience and strive for the success we know we are capable of. Beyond this, it shows that we do not have to pigeonhole ourselves and stay fixed to one sector. There is often pressure for us to pick one industry/role and “stick to it” but Hewitt’s extensive “portfolio-career” shows us that this doesn’t have to be the case. Personally, as someone who has so many passions and interests, it is reassuring to know that I do not have to limit myself. University has allowed me to explore my interests and gain varied experiences. However, I have had difficulty in narrowing my options when considering my next steps. So, to hear Debbie Hewitt actively encourage gaining experience in different industries (and to see her success in this) has been both heartening and inspiring.
Hewitt shared anecdotes from her role as Chair of the FA (and as a passionate Liverpool supporter), emphasising the transformative power of football. She noted how she has seen football bring communities together (both locally, nationally and even internationally), change lives, and give other people second chances. Whilst many people may see football as just a game, Hewitt stressed how it can be so much more. Reflecting on this, it made me think about how we may use our own passions to drive positive change in our communities. Whilst politics is and will continue to be a powerful arena to enact change, it is not the only one.
With success comes great scrutiny. The FA is a very public organisation, and this has opened Hewitt up to a more intense level of criticism. However, being a woman within this space complicates this further and has mounted additional pressures on her. As a woman she is subject to higher expectations and is burdened with the pressure/fear of not “letting other women down”. During the masterclass, she shared with us how she deals with this pressure and the methods she has developed to deal with the all too familiar impostor syndrome.
- Be yourself
If people are going to reject you, they may as well reject you for you, rather than who you are pretending to be. Be aware of both your strengths and weaknesses and use these to your advantage. The more comfortable you are with yourself, the less impact external criticism will have. Rather than taking it personally, it will allow you to use the valid criticisms to improve. - The power of the mind
Our minds are powerful and sometimes blur reality. Rather than telling yourself negative “stories”, harness the power of the brain to be positive and tell yourself “YOU CAN” - Surround yourself with allies
In any space – whether this is at university, the workplace or in your personal life – find the people that will support you. You will benefit from having allies who will support and encourage you, but also be honest and “tell you how it is”.
I, like many fellow Patchworkers, when starting my career will be entering unfamiliar spaces that likely will not reflect me. Whilst Hewitt’s experiences do not entirely reflect my own, they act as a reminder that when stepping into these spaces I need to be confident, take up space and bring my full self. There will be people to support me, but I will need to be own biggest cheerleader. My ultimate takeaway from this masterclass is to be ambitious and strive for success but not compromise myself to achieve this. Whilst we may not all be avid football fans, there is something we can all learn from Debbie Hewitt’s insights.
