Work hard to be judged for what you do, not for your gender

The new finance director at an enterprising Ipswich company says she "would rather be celebrated as a person that does a great job than as a woman who does a great job".   

Lisa Jillett has recently joined Frugalpac, which creates and supplies recycled paper-based products, to help with its development. 

The company recently launched the Frugal Bottle – the world’s first and only commercially available paper bottle for wines, spirits and olive oils.   

Ms Jillett said: “Frugalpac is a young company with a small but growing team of 28 people working closely together to succeed, this necessitates that much of my work is hands-on, but I enjoy learning a business from the bottom up.”   

Ms Jillett has been building her career working for various companies, starting as an accountant and then being promoted to financial director. 

As far as Ms Jillett remembers, she always wanted to be an accountant. 

“I had a love of maths and numbers from an early age. At secondary school when discussions about careers started, I heard that accountants worked with numbers and I latched onto that, probably without any real understanding of what an accountant actually did.

“My first job was at a small company and as it grew, I grew, rising to the position of finance director. 

“I enjoy being in smaller or medium-sized businesses with big ideas where I can see the effect I have.” 

Ms Jillet’s career taught her that very often women in senior positions are viewed differently to men. 

She said: “I have experienced this, and the gender pay gap is real. However, I would rather be celebrated as a person that does a great job than as a woman who does a great job.   

“I don’t always see highlighting women in positions of power as positive as it seeks to further identify us as different.” 

Working in a variety of organisations exposed Ms Jillett to different tasks and taught her not to be afraid to challenge herself.   

Ms Jillett said that the secret of her success is to “work hard and be true to yourself and your values; be prepared to stand up and call out anything I know to be wrong or unfair.”