0:00:09 > 0:00:14Today, I'm meeting one of Britain's best known businesswomen.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17She's been dubbed the first lady of football.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25When she was 23, Karren Brady
0:00:25 > 0:00:29took charge of Birmingham City Football Club.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31This is where I sit down here with my fellow directors.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35I was 23 years old, and I was desperate to look at least 25.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42She's been awarded a CBE for her services to Women in Business
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and Entrepreneurship,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47and also she sits at Lord Sugar's right hand in the boardroom.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Can I just say something? It is outrageous the way you're behaving.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge is a Conservative Life Peer.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59She's also Vice-Chairman of West Ham United
0:00:59 > 0:01:03and successfully led its bid to move into the Olympic Stadium.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07And here is where our West Ham statue will be located...
0:01:07 > 0:01:12But Karren Brady's extraordinary success hasn't come trouble-free.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14In 2006, she had a terrifying wake-up call
0:01:14 > 0:01:18when she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It meant she had to undergo major surgery.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24She normally is in control - she was not in control then.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27She was terrified but she just faced it.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Karren Brady is undoubtedly a steely businesswoman.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33But she's also a working mother and a Catholic.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35She doesn't push her belief on anybody
0:01:35 > 0:01:37but it's definitely in the heart.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41There's a great comfort from having a strong religious belief.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43I want to find out how
0:01:43 > 0:01:46she juggles those competing demands with her
0:01:46 > 0:01:47home life and her career.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Karren Rita Brady was born on 4th April, 1969,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08to mum, Rita, and dad, Terry.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11She had one older brother - Darren.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14She was very adventurous...
0:02:14 > 0:02:19Obviously naughty at the terrible twos, but overall
0:02:19 > 0:02:22a very nice and well-behaved child.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24She was never a problem, as far as I was concerned.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27She was probably Daddy's girl, that's why.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32The family lived in north London and Karren's dad was keen for them
0:02:32 > 0:02:34to do better.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37We were born in Edmonton in a place called Mitchell Road,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40which was by no stretch of the imagination,
0:02:40 > 0:02:45a salubrious sort of upbringing or a wealthy home, but my father as
0:02:45 > 0:02:48he started to do well, we started to move and we went from
0:02:48 > 0:02:51a three-bedroom house to a four-bedroom house
0:02:51 > 0:02:53to a five-bedroom house.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Things started to improve for us, but my father always
0:02:56 > 0:02:59installed into my brother and I,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04the ability that you only in life get out what you put in. I was very
0:03:04 > 0:03:06opinionated from a very young age.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09I was always in trouble, always speaking my mind.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14Erm, I would imagine I was what I, as a parent now, would say
0:03:14 > 0:03:15a bit of a handful.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Did you give your parents some backchat?
0:03:18 > 0:03:21I don't think it was so much backchat because I think I was
0:03:21 > 0:03:26quite frightened of my dad, but I always thought I was right.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29One of your grandmothers, you went cleaning with, didn't you?
0:03:29 > 0:03:30Yeah, Nanny Nina.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33She was always around Nanny Nina.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Yeah, they used to go every weekend, her brother and her.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Nanny Nina was a very house proud lady and she was
0:03:41 > 0:03:45always doing cleaning, and whenever Karren was around her she always
0:03:45 > 0:03:48used to help her. This is Karren, of course, she is excellent.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Everything is in size in the cupboards -
0:03:51 > 0:03:53big cans, smaller cans, small.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55All lined up. All the books all together.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58I remember her showing me how to clean, and she used to,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01you know, really put her back into it, and she used to
0:04:01 > 0:04:02light the fires in the office.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06And I remember going with her and I think it started to shape me
0:04:06 > 0:04:10that hard work is it doesn't matter what you do,
0:04:10 > 0:04:11as long as you work hard,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14but there are some smarter ways in which to work harder,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and I remember thinking,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19"When I grow up, I am going to work in the office.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21"I'm not going to clean the office."
0:04:24 > 0:04:27First, Karren had to complete her schooling.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29She was enrolled at Poles Convent -
0:04:29 > 0:04:33a Catholic boarding school in Hertfordshire.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37We are Catholics - practising Catholics. I am quite regular at
0:04:37 > 0:04:40- going to church. I find...- Yeah.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43I find it's very relaxing, very soothing.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46- RITA:- I went to a Catholic school and my mother went to
0:04:46 > 0:04:49a Catholic school, so it's just been passed down.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Let us pray.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Karren, of course, when she was at Poles Convent,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57had religious lessons every day.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59It was a very strict regime on those things.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04The convent we were at is now some very beautiful five-star hotel,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and whenever I go back. people say, "This was your school?!"
0:05:07 > 0:05:10I say, "No, trust me, it was not like this when we were there!"
0:05:10 > 0:05:14- You were taught by the nuns. - Yes, Faithful Companions of Jesus.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16And are you a faithful companion of Jesus?
0:05:16 > 0:05:19I am a faithful companion of Jesus.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23I probably wasn't when I was 12 or 13, when I was in the convent,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27but I think having a spiritual side means that you
0:05:27 > 0:05:30live your life with an open heart.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34And you embrace things that are difficult, you want people to
0:05:34 > 0:05:37do well. My grandmother had a motto that you should never
0:05:37 > 0:05:40look down on people unless you are helping them up.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43And I think that's a very spiritual way of living.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45And God did move in a mysterious way
0:05:45 > 0:05:48when you were late home from school one day.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51There's a tiny little town called Ware, and we used to go down
0:05:51 > 0:05:54there on a Saturday cos there was nothing else to do
0:05:54 > 0:05:56because we really were in the middle of nowhere,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58and we were always late back.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02And I remember we were going back and I said, "Look, I'll say
0:06:02 > 0:06:05"I tripped up and hurt my ankle," so I sort of limped into school
0:06:05 > 0:06:08and I said, "Oh, it took us ages to get back cos I hurt my ankle."
0:06:08 > 0:06:11And the nuns said, "Well, we'd better take you to the hospital."
0:06:11 > 0:06:13I said, "No, I'm sure it'll be fine."
0:06:13 > 0:06:15They said, "No, we'll go to the hospital."
0:06:15 > 0:06:17So they took me to the hospital and I had an X-ray
0:06:17 > 0:06:19and he said I'd broken my ankle.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- So I spent the entire evening... - You hadn't even tripped.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23I hadn't even tripped.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26I'm sure there was some poor person was told to go home,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29"Your X-rays are fine," and they had a broken ankle,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31and I came back to school in a wheelchair,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34and a cast on my foot and my friends were like, "What happened?"
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and I said, "Well, they said I'd broken my ankle."
0:06:37 > 0:06:42And it really was a case of God works in mysterious ways.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48When she wasn't in school, Karren followed her father's example
0:06:48 > 0:06:52and tried her hand at a few business ventures of her own.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55- She put an advert in the window... - In the front window of our house.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58- ..doing nails and massages.- Yes.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Hoping that people would go by and see it, and come in,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02and pay her for it.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05My brother and I were always very entrepreneurial.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07We had little car-washing businesses,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11and all sorts of other crazy things to try and get some extra
0:07:11 > 0:07:14pocket money for things that we wanted.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Your very first job, I think, was as a Saturday girl in a hairdresser's.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- That's right, yes. - A lot of people have done that.- Yes.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22MUSIC: Uptown Girl by Billy Joel
0:07:22 > 0:07:24You went in and thought,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27"Well, there's an awful lot that needs improving here."
0:07:27 > 0:07:29# Uptown girl... #
0:07:29 > 0:07:33They had quite an odd system of how you booked people in
0:07:33 > 0:07:34and I could see inefficiencies,
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and I just streamlined the system.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41And I'd pick things up very quickly, so I was cashing up,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44I was doing the till, I was doing the books,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I was making the appointments, I was making the calls,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51but I liked it. I liked the fact that I could do something
0:07:51 > 0:07:53and I could do something useful, and I could do it well.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56When you start finding things that you're good at,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58your confidence starts to...
0:07:58 > 0:08:02increase and you start to realise actually that you do add value
0:08:02 > 0:08:05and you are important to the organisation, and I was lucky enough
0:08:05 > 0:08:09to learn very young that actually the skills that I had,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11the enthusiasm I had, the determination I had,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13all of those were key things.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18At 18, Karren decided university wasn't for her.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21I remember her saying to me, "Dad, I don't want to sit somewhere
0:08:21 > 0:08:23"and live on Pot Noodles every night.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27"I'd rather get out in the world and make something of myself."
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Karren landed a job with top advertising firm Saatchi and Saatchi.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39And then worked in sales for LBC Radio.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41I think my starting salary when I left Saatchi's
0:08:41 > 0:08:44and went to there was £9,000 a year.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48So it was quite low-paid work.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50So, had you left home at this stage?
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Yes, I'd left home. I left home at 18, yes.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- And you were living in a flat share or something?- Yeah.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59In Enfield so, erm, it had no heating, I remember that.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01And it's interesting, people say to me,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03"What were your ambitions when you were younger?"
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Well, one was to have heating...
0:09:05 > 0:09:07and then it was to have a car,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10so things - ambitions - sort of build up.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Anyway, my job was to sell radio advertising on LBC.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18'You're listening to LBC Radio, here on 97.3 FM.'
0:09:20 > 0:09:23- 'Charles is calling us from Watford. Good morning.'- 'Good morning.'
0:09:23 > 0:09:27I was given between 4:00am and 5:00am, that was my time slot
0:09:27 > 0:09:29to sell advertising, so it was very difficult and it involved
0:09:29 > 0:09:32a lot of, you know, knocking on doors and...
0:09:32 > 0:09:35And they gave me a whole list of big companies
0:09:35 > 0:09:37that had never advertised on the radio
0:09:37 > 0:09:39because I guess they thought,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42well, you know, you can't do any damage to these clients.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Karren picked one of the companies on the list, Sport Newspapers,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52and went to see its boss, David Sullivan.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54I got through to his office, and I got his address,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56and I went to see him and...
0:09:56 > 0:09:58- Without an appointment? - Without an appointment.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02And I parked at his office, and I waited for him for many hours,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and, in the end, his secretary said, "Look, he'll give you ten minutes
0:10:05 > 0:10:08"because you've been waiting so long."
0:10:08 > 0:10:11I said to him, "Look, spend some money on advertising,
0:10:11 > 0:10:12"and if sales go up, pay for it,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14"and if they don't, you don't have to pay."
0:10:14 > 0:10:16And he said, "OK, that sounds reasonable to me."
0:10:16 > 0:10:19We shook hands and I remember driving back to the office thinking,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22"Oh, I've made this sale." and then thinking, "Maybe not."
0:10:22 > 0:10:23THEY LAUGH
0:10:23 > 0:10:25I was thinking, "Well, what's the worst that can happen?
0:10:25 > 0:10:27"I can get another job."
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Anyway, sales did go up, and within about eight months,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35he was the largest advertiser on the radio in the country.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39And, by the way, I was on a very high level of commission
0:10:39 > 0:10:41which was brilliant for me.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Which took your £9,000 up to where?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48- About £40,000.- Wow!- Yeah.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50I was ambitious and I...
0:10:50 > 0:10:53It annoys me when people confuse ambition with ruthlessness
0:10:53 > 0:10:55because they're two very different things,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58but I was ambitious, I was determined,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01and I also had an enormous amount of integrity which I think
0:11:01 > 0:11:05was from coming and being, you know, being in a convent for so long.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08When you're starting your life's journey,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10when you're thinking about your spirituality,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12it's all about core values, I think.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15And core values are your principals,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17they sort of make you who you are,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21they're the reason you do things the way you do them.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27What Karren's core values helped her achieve certainly impressed
0:11:27 > 0:11:29the Sports Newspaper boss.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34Before long, he'd taken Karren on as a marketing executive.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37And she soon had another proposition for David Sullivan
0:11:37 > 0:11:39and business partner David Gold.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I saw a little advert in the newspaper
0:11:42 > 0:11:45and this advert said "Football club for sale."
0:11:45 > 0:11:47And I thought, "God, that's interesting."
0:11:47 > 0:11:48So I phoned up and...
0:11:48 > 0:11:50What was it that was interesting about that?
0:11:50 > 0:11:52I just thought it was interesting
0:11:52 > 0:11:53that a football club could be for sale
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and the Premier League had just started which was causing, you know...
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Even I'd heard of the Premier League
0:11:58 > 0:12:00and I wasn't a particularly big football supporter.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04So I phoned up and I got the details, and I went to my chairman,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06and I said, "There's this football club for sale.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09"You buy it and I'll run it."
0:12:09 > 0:12:13And he said, "Football?! Very male-dominated.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15"You'll have to be twice as good as the men
0:12:15 > 0:12:17"to be thought of as even half as good."
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I said, "Well, luckily, that's not difficult."
0:12:20 > 0:12:21FERN LAUGHS
0:12:21 > 0:12:24And he said, "Go on, then, we'll give it a go."
0:12:24 > 0:12:25And that was on the Friday.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28And on the Monday, we owned a football club and I...
0:12:28 > 0:12:30- Birmingham City.- Birmingham City.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33- TV PRESENTER:- 'Birmingham City is not a very successful football club.'
0:12:33 > 0:12:34The place was a dump.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38It was... The ground was falling apart.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41'Off the field and behind the scenes, the situation has been no better.'
0:12:41 > 0:12:43I think the average gate was probably about
0:12:43 > 0:12:456,000 or 7,000 people.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48'By the beginning of 1993, the club was ownerless,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51'facing bankruptcy and relegation from the First Division.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56'At that moment appeared an unlikely knight in shining armour -
0:12:56 > 0:13:00'the proprietor of the Sunday Sport, David Sullivan.'
0:13:00 > 0:13:02- DAVID SULLIVAN:- I've always wanted to have a football team.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Why? I think for the new challenge, the new thrill.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11And I suppose I'm a frustrated sportsman who never was good enough
0:13:11 > 0:13:15so the next best thing is to own a sports team, or a boxer,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17or something like that.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21'Sullivan's first move was to appoint his marketing director,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23'Karren Brady, to run the club.'
0:13:23 > 0:13:25I knew we'd get stick
0:13:25 > 0:13:27but I had total confidence in it.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30If I was putting in some blonde bimbo front woman
0:13:30 > 0:13:33who really couldn't do anything, then I'd be very nervous.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35But I knew she could do the job.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40I also believe Karren is a saleswoman par excellence
0:13:40 > 0:13:45and she was probably the best person in our organisation to do the job.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I realised how badly the club was run...
0:13:48 > 0:13:55and the depth of how badly that was run was almost incomprehensible.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57But that was the beauty of the club.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Because it was run so badly, we felt we could really do something
0:14:01 > 0:14:03and that's when we decided to go ahead with it.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05I was 23 years old
0:14:05 > 0:14:08and I was desperate to look at least 25,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10so I went into this press conference,
0:14:10 > 0:14:11there was about 200 press there,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15and I had big hair, big shoulder pads, big earrings,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and I did this very serious presentation of all these things
0:14:18 > 0:14:21I was going to do with my football club, very, very serious,
0:14:21 > 0:14:22and I remember when I finished,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24I said to the press, "Any questions?"
0:14:24 > 0:14:27A little hand went up, and I said, "Yes, sir?"
0:14:27 > 0:14:30And he said, "What are your vital statistics?"
0:14:30 > 0:14:32THEY CHUCKLE
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Ah, I thought here we go so...
0:14:35 > 0:14:39That was my sort of... my birth into football.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42She's hard, she's tough, please welcome Karren Brady!
0:14:42 > 0:14:44CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:14:44 > 0:14:47David Sullivan, my partner, said,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51"I think Karren would make a great CEO."
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I was a bit surprised, you know,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and I recall the Birmingham City fans really believing
0:14:56 > 0:14:58that this was a gimmick.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01What was this very attractive young woman
0:15:01 > 0:15:04coming to run Birmingham City Football Club?
0:15:04 > 0:15:06APPLAUSE
0:15:06 > 0:15:08THEY CHANT
0:15:11 > 0:15:13I think, as players,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15we were more interested in, probably, her looks
0:15:15 > 0:15:16than anything else...
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Typical men talk, as you would expect, you know,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22an attractive young lady coming into a football atmosphere,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25but she soon turned that around.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29You know, there used to be traditions amongst football clubs
0:15:29 > 0:15:30that ladies, women -
0:15:30 > 0:15:33wives, for example - weren't allowed in the boardroom.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34Can you believe that?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37The wives had to go and sit somewhere else.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40And she said, "Well, excuse me, I'm a director of the club,
0:15:40 > 0:15:41"so I'm coming in here."
0:15:41 > 0:15:43and they started to realise
0:15:43 > 0:15:46you're dealing with a bit of a tough cookie there, in Karren.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49When I went to the games with her, or went to the office,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51you know, to watch her,
0:15:51 > 0:15:53right away, she was just equal.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56I've saved you a place upstairs in the Director's Box. All right?
0:15:56 > 0:15:59She just had everyone on their toes, doing their job.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03And there she was, on the front pages of the local newspapers,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05almost on a daily basis.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Well, of course that raised the profile of the football club,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12which was what was in our minds, that's what we wanted.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16You weren't averse to selling yourself quite sexily at the time -
0:16:16 > 0:16:20in your football strip, and being hoisted onto footballers' shoulders.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21Behave yourself!
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Was that just a business decision - did you think, "Sex sells,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26"I need to sell this football club, I'll do it."
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Erm, I don't know - I think at 23,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32when a photographer says to you, "Hold this scarf,"
0:16:32 > 0:16:35or do this, or do that, you just sort of do it,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38and you don't really realise any implications from it.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I mean, nothing I've ever done I have ever been ashamed of -
0:16:40 > 0:16:41that's for sure.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45I work extremely hard, and sometimes 13 hours a day,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and when you're putting in that sort of effort,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50and you're doing very well, and you're reaping the rewards,
0:16:50 > 0:16:55it's very hard when people say, "Oh, yeah, she's just the bimbo,"
0:16:55 > 0:16:58or, "She's just the girlfriend, and that's how she's got the job."
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Look, you know, of all the people you will ever meet,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I am the biggest feminist and the biggest believer in equality,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08but there was nothing inequal about me posing with a...
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I think a scarf - I don't think it was anything more!
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- I saw a picture of you in shorts... - A football?
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- ..and the strip, the kit.- Oh, that's when we launched the new kit.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18- Yes.- We did that for our local charity thing.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21We've brought you your kit. So you wear it for training -
0:17:21 > 0:17:23and if you don't wear it, you'll be fined by Terry.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- Fiver. A fiver every go... - For each item you're not wearing.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29I enjoyed it - I had a lot of fun doing it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33I mean, I was 23 years old, I was a single, young woman
0:17:33 > 0:17:36running a business... and I was loving it,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38I loved everything about it.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42There was always a question of, "Have we done the right thing?"
0:17:42 > 0:17:47when...when the media tried to turn her into a kind of "girlie,"
0:17:47 > 0:17:51and then suddenly she emerged from that period
0:17:51 > 0:17:54realising that, in a way, they were using her,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58and, then, once she realised that, she began to use them.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02She was there for about six months,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06and she said, "Come up, I'm doing an open day,"
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and people were having photographs.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13She's giving out autographs, and interviews, and...
0:18:13 > 0:18:15We just stood on the sideline of the pitch,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- and we just couldn't believe... - It was just mad.
0:18:18 > 0:18:19She was like a celebrity.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25It still was a brave decision to put a 23-year-old girl in charge
0:18:25 > 0:18:27of every aspect of the football club.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Wherever you turned, you had people saying, "Are you sure?"
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Over a number of months, you could see this change of mood
0:18:36 > 0:18:38as they began to realise
0:18:38 > 0:18:40that this was a woman of substance.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Neither David nor I could have dealt with, you know,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45the day-to-day running of the football club -
0:18:45 > 0:18:49we were running our own businesses 150 miles away.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52It became very clear that we had nothing to worry about.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56What I found was so interesting is you had no interest in football,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00- as you said, you could see it as a business opportunity.- Yes.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02So, if you went into a shop,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04it would be the things you were selling,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06but you are selling footballers.
0:19:06 > 0:19:13When your assets, all your assets, and all your value is in people,
0:19:13 > 0:19:19running a business with a good core and a good culture is vital.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21You know, I had an 18-year-old.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24The 18-year-old will work in the ticket office
0:19:24 > 0:19:30and the most he or she can earn is probably...£15,000 a year,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33and then I've got an 18-year-old who occasionally plays a football match,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and he could earn £15,000 a week.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42How do you make both of those 18-year-olds
0:19:42 > 0:19:47feel valued to the company when their pay is so different.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49And that's the trick of a football club -
0:19:49 > 0:19:53it's about everyone doing everything within their skill set
0:19:53 > 0:19:55to make the business a success.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- He's got to lose some weight, hasn't he?- He's like that all the time!
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'And they realise that without one another,
0:20:01 > 0:20:02'there's no harmony,'
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and they all start to respect one another,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07and what people create in the business.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09And that's about creating good culture.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Later on today, you're going for your fitting
0:20:11 > 0:20:12for your blazers and flannels.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16'I mean, running a business is about having vision,'
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and very often it's a vision that only you can see.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22There's two choices and you need to make a choice which
0:20:22 > 0:20:25you want now, and, obviously, everyone's going to have the same.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26And getting other people to see it -
0:20:26 > 0:20:28and not only getting them to see it,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30but getting them to believe it,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and then getting them to help you deliver it.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36It's important to the club that we turn up as a team
0:20:36 > 0:20:37looking like a team.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40I mean, last year, when we used to go to away games
0:20:40 > 0:20:42everyone used to wear different clothing,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45jeans - some had jeans on, some had suits on.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49You know, it's easier to identify them when they wear the club badge.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52And really good leadership, whether in life or in business,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55is all about managing people's hearts and minds.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58And the minds thing is about communication...
0:20:58 > 0:20:59- Karren?- Yeah.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Some of the footballers said they'd rather wear a tracksuit.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Well, tough titty.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07..and the hearts thing is about giving people passion
0:21:07 > 0:21:11and a respect - a desire to want to come to work -
0:21:11 > 0:21:14and often organisations that are the most successful
0:21:14 > 0:21:17have that type of ethos right at the heart of them.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19You see, you've made that sound so simple.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Dave, are you in your bath?
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Can I call you straight back? Thanks.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Karren's self-belief and hard work paid off.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30When she'd arrived at Birmingham City, the club was in administration.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33In her first year, it made a trading profit.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35..everything else they should pay for on departure.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38We shouldn't even have to spend time bothering about it.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43When we went there, we had average gates of below 6,000.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46The board - but driven by Karren -
0:21:46 > 0:21:49she ended up with gates of 30,000.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53A huge, huge success story.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56I mean, you see young footballers coming through at the age of 16, 17,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58someone like Wayne Rooney,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00and you think, "Wow, how does he do it?"
0:22:00 > 0:22:02and Karren did that in the business world.
0:22:02 > 0:22:03You have to be confident,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07you have to be damn good at what you do, and that's what she is.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12But Karren's single-minded focus on work didn't go unchallenged.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14She was a long way from home for the first time,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18in a new environment, a new industry, a new world to learn.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22I think the biggest thing that came out of that was she met Paul.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25We kept meeting at all these different public appearances
0:22:25 > 0:22:30and became friends, and then it turned into what it turned into.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33You're 23, running a football club,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35earning a decent wage -
0:22:35 > 0:22:39- no real time for proper boyfriends and social life.- Mm-hm.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Still first one in, last one out at work.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45And yet love has this way of getting in through the cracks.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50He was...erm, had come from Canada, I'd come up from London,
0:22:50 > 0:22:51we didn't know anyone,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54and, every evening, there was some sort of, I don't know...
0:22:54 > 0:22:59local school thing, local supporter group thing,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and, very often, because neither of us had anything else to do,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05we found ourselves going to these events together,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07and we became friends.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08I was petrified, you know,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10I was worried about what people would think,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12and tried to keep it as secretive as possible, but...
0:23:12 > 0:23:15it was only a matter of time before everybody found out.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21In a way, I sort of disapproved, you know?
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I didn't know Paul other than a footballer,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25and I just thought, "Is that classy?
0:23:25 > 0:23:27"Is that the right thing to do?"
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Of course, once I'd met him, I thought he was the most charming...
0:23:30 > 0:23:32You know, cos most footballers aren't.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35- I think I've got a good story for you.- 'Oh, right. What is it?'
0:23:35 > 0:23:39It's basically a story of how Karren Brady is having an affair
0:23:39 > 0:23:42with Paul Peschisolido, one of the players.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Do you want to take some pictures?
0:23:44 > 0:23:45'Is the footballer married, or...?'
0:23:45 > 0:23:48No, no, they're not married - neither of them are married.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Well, here we are - I'll read you the intro.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51It goes, "Sultry soccer boss
0:23:51 > 0:23:54"Karren Brady was as sick as a parrot last night
0:23:54 > 0:23:57"after it was revealed she had scored with her club's
0:23:57 > 0:23:58"ace centre forward.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01"Curvy Karren is said to be obsessed with the £1 million rated
0:24:01 > 0:24:02"Paul Peschisolido."
0:24:02 > 0:24:04- It's all right, isn't it?- 'Yeah.'
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Basically, we want about 8K for this story."
0:24:08 > 0:24:11- RITA:- Well, he's good looking! - TERRY:- He's good looking!
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Good footballer, as well, I might add.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And...I knew straight away that he was...
0:24:17 > 0:24:20- he was the man.- A genuine guy.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21When did it get beyond friends?
0:24:21 > 0:24:24When did you know, "Actually, this is a decent man."
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Pretty quickly!
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Yes, I would say pretty quickly.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Erm...and, I mean, we were...
0:24:30 > 0:24:34we were married within... I think about 18 months.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36You were both very young, as well, when you look back.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Yeah, I was...26, and he must have been 25.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44# Once upon a time there was light in my life... #
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Karren and Paul were married in June 1995.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52# Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart. #
0:24:52 > 0:24:55It's almost yin and yang. It's a perfect...perfect match.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57They're very different...
0:24:57 > 0:24:59but that's what makes things work.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02They complement each other, they work with each other.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- Most importantly, they love each other.- Mm.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08We support each other
0:25:08 > 0:25:12regardless of, you know, whose career is flourishing,
0:25:12 > 0:25:13or who's doing what.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16We're just, you know, very supportive of each other,
0:25:16 > 0:25:17and we have a very close-knit family
0:25:17 > 0:25:21that we all...look after one another and love one another,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25and just make it work, you know? That's all you can do.
0:25:25 > 0:25:26Some men wouldn't be able to handle
0:25:26 > 0:25:30having their wives in a stronger position than them.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32How does Paul deal with that?
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Or, in fact, a wife earning, perhaps, more money than him?
0:25:34 > 0:25:39In our early days, Paul earned far more money than I did,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43and, you know, careers go sort of around in cycles,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and maybe I'm doing better than he did now,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50but...money is not important to us.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53It never has been, it's never been a driver.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I mean, I know some women who have separate bank accounts
0:25:56 > 0:25:57from their husband,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59and they have their money, and they have their money.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01I find that completely bizarre -
0:26:01 > 0:26:03everything we have built, we have built together.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Money doesn't define us, it never has,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09and, you know, he...
0:26:09 > 0:26:14There are things he is very strong on, and I go along with,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and there's things I am very strong on that he goes along with,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19but it's all about the give-and-take,
0:26:19 > 0:26:24and it's much more important to laugh than it is to worry, I think.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Does he share your Catholic religion?
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Yes, he does.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31He comes from a very strong Catholic family,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and his religious beliefs are right at the core
0:26:34 > 0:26:35of everything he does.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41I was delighted to find out that Karren was Catholic as well,
0:26:41 > 0:26:42cos I don't think...
0:26:42 > 0:26:45In England, I'm not sure whether it's as common as it is
0:26:45 > 0:26:49for my upbringing, which is Italian upbringing.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51- SUZANNE:- She doesn't push her belief on anybody,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53but it's definitely in her heart.
0:26:53 > 0:26:54And I would say that Paul is the same.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56You know, they've got some...
0:26:56 > 0:26:58you know, they think alike in that way.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Faith is certainly something that we've always had,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04it's something that we try to...
0:27:04 > 0:27:06We don't shout it from the rooftops.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09but I think it's very important to have, and...
0:27:09 > 0:27:11it's just there.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15What I love about doing these interviews
0:27:15 > 0:27:19- is to acknowledge the fact that we believe God exists...- Mm-hm.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23..and why should it be such an unusual thing
0:27:23 > 0:27:26to meet someone and talk about their belief in God?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29I think religion and the things that you believe in
0:27:29 > 0:27:32are very personal things, and very private things,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36but, in the main, most religions have the same beliefs,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39which is be kind to other people, be compassionate,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41live your life with an open heart, be honest.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43And I think those are great values.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46They're great values whether you're religious or not religious.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51There is a great comfort from having a strong religious belief.
0:27:51 > 0:27:58That...everything happens for a reason, and that...
0:27:58 > 0:28:03you know, your compassion and the way you deal with things...
0:28:03 > 0:28:06makes you a complete soul, I think, which...
0:28:06 > 0:28:09I think it's a good way to live your life.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15A year after their marriage, Karren and Paul had their daughter,
0:28:15 > 0:28:16Sophia.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Paolo was born in 1998.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25But having children
0:28:25 > 0:28:29didn't mean Karren was going to slow down at work.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32She had the baby at 12 o'clock, and was back at work at 1 o'clock -
0:28:32 > 0:28:33I'm exaggerating, of course.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36She had the baby and went almost straight back to work -
0:28:36 > 0:28:38- we frowned upon that, didn't we, at the time?- Yeah.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41- PAUL:- I think she says she perhaps wishes she spent a bit more time
0:28:41 > 0:28:44at home after she had our... after we had Sophia.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47But, you know, you've got someone who is making fresh food
0:28:47 > 0:28:50for the baby, at the same time juggling the phone, trying to work.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53She was at home, and she might as well have been in the office,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55- the amount of time the phones were going.- Yeah.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57She was on a roll with getting things organised at the club
0:28:57 > 0:29:00at that time, and so she took the decision,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03- best to get in there before it starts to go wrong.- Yeah.
0:29:03 > 0:29:04When you had your daughter,
0:29:04 > 0:29:06you made headlines by going back to work
0:29:06 > 0:29:08within... Was it three days, or something?
0:29:08 > 0:29:09- It was pretty quick.- Yeah.- I mean...
0:29:09 > 0:29:13You know, it's interesting - 19 years ago,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16phrases like "work-life balance," "flexible working,"
0:29:16 > 0:29:17they just didn't exist.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Erm, and I was running a business, I was starting it from scratch,
0:29:21 > 0:29:23I felt I had a responsibility...
0:29:23 > 0:29:28And I wish someone had told me a career lasts a lifetime,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30because I didn't realise that,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32and I thought, you know, I had to go to work,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36I had to look after my child, and I...I became completely exhausted
0:29:36 > 0:29:40from being up all night with her, and going to work all day.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Anyone who works and has children and says it's easy
0:29:43 > 0:29:46is either a liar, or certainly doing it better than I am.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49It's incredibly hard to fit everybody in,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53and all of us will tell you the last person on the list is yourself.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57It's a torturous experience, trying to have a family.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59You know, you read about these women that have it all -
0:29:59 > 0:30:01no-one has it all.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04- Everyone is compromising something somewhere.- Yeah.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08You, like me, Fern, have spent your whole life juggling...
0:30:08 > 0:30:13sports day, board meeting, nativity play, board meeting,
0:30:13 > 0:30:14parents evening, board meeting.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17And you never know where you should be,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21and when you're at one, you think you should be at the other.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25And I came to the conclusion that I can only do what I can do,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27and, actually, the best title for me
0:30:27 > 0:30:31wasn't CEO, wasn't chairman, wasn't anything -
0:30:31 > 0:30:32it was working mother,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35because, actually, my children and my work
0:30:35 > 0:30:38were the two most important things in my life,
0:30:38 > 0:30:40and I wasn't prepared to give up either.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43So, forget the guilt that we all feel.
0:30:43 > 0:30:44Definitely.
0:30:44 > 0:30:51Guilt is a baggage that you can't ever escape from.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54You just have to learn how to distribute it more evenly,
0:30:54 > 0:30:57and it becomes easier to carry around.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04In 1997, Birmingham City was floated on the stock market.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06- REPORTER:- 'Off-pitch, Birmingham's management
0:31:06 > 0:31:08'are hoping the club's flotation
0:31:08 > 0:31:12'will bring in enough money to fulfil their ambitions.'
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Being the youngest managing director of a public limited company
0:31:15 > 0:31:19is a great achievement of mine, and something I hold with great respect,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21and something that I take very seriously.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24- COMMENTATOR:- '..sends in the cross. And there's the chance.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26'There's Harding, in the net!'
0:31:26 > 0:31:3212 years later, the club would be sold for £82 million.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35She was again instrumental
0:31:35 > 0:31:37in the sale of Birmingham City Football Club,
0:31:37 > 0:31:41which, arguably, can be put down as one of the great sales
0:31:41 > 0:31:44of a football club in the history of the Football League,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46or, indeed, the Premier League.
0:31:46 > 0:31:47It was a fantastic deal,
0:31:47 > 0:31:52and she'd built up this First Lady Of Football image
0:31:52 > 0:31:54because of her success at Birmingham City.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00But Karren's success may never have happened.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04Only a few years earlier, in 2006,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07doctors diagnosed a life-threatening condition.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10You never take a day off work sick, you're never ill, you're strong -
0:32:10 > 0:32:13you would go to work even if you weren't feeling very well.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18- But then, one day, you did wake up all blotchy and swollen and...- Yes.
0:32:18 > 0:32:19..very unwell.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Yes, well, I wasn't so much unwell.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25I looked as though I had had a fight Mike Tyson!
0:32:25 > 0:32:28I was all swollen, I had all these blotches all over me,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31and my husband said to me, "We have to take you to A & E,"
0:32:31 > 0:32:32and they took me straight in,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34and I'd had some allergic reaction to something,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37and I decided to go for a full medical.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41So, a medical that would literally check every aspect of my health
0:32:41 > 0:32:45from top to bottom, to get to the bottom of what I was allergic to.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48And it turned out I wasn't allergic to anything
0:32:48 > 0:32:50but I did have a brain aneurysm.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51- REPORTER:- 'What is an aneurysm?
0:32:51 > 0:32:55'Well, it's a weakening of the artery wall that then balloons out.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57'This one has been photographed just as it ruptured.'
0:32:57 > 0:32:59And I remember the doctor phoning me
0:32:59 > 0:33:02and him saying, "Oh, I'm sorry to have to tell you,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04"you have a brain aneurysm," and I had no idea what it was.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08And I said, "Oh... What's that?"
0:33:08 > 0:33:11And he said, "Oh, well, it's a blood vessel on the brain,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14"and you'll need to go and see a brain specialist,"
0:33:14 > 0:33:16and I said, "Oh, OK," I said, erm...
0:33:16 > 0:33:19Would he be able to make the appointment for me?
0:33:19 > 0:33:20and he said, "Yes,"
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and I said, "OK, I'll give you some dates in the next few weeks,"
0:33:23 > 0:33:25and he said, "No, you need to go tomorrow."
0:33:25 > 0:33:27I said, "I need to go tomorrow?"
0:33:27 > 0:33:29I said, "I'm not going to die by tomorrow, am I?"
0:33:29 > 0:33:33and he said, "No, you don't understand, this is very serious."
0:33:33 > 0:33:37I think it was a scary time for... everyone.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40She was very calm, but the first time, I would say,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44I ever saw her unsure of herself, and scared.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48She normally is in control. She was not in control then.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Machines and other people were in control of her life.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52I think Karren can fix anything.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55That...that you... There is never any "No,"
0:33:55 > 0:33:57but she couldn't fix herself. She couldn't change it.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00She just faced it.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03You know, she was terrified, but, again, she didn't show it.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08And she used to almost cry in her bed of a night,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10thinking that she may never recover from this,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13and see her daughter get married, or her son grow up,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16and that lingered with her for a long while.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18You know, someone who has never been sick,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22to get caught up in the medical world is...
0:34:22 > 0:34:24You know, it was difficult for me,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26because you have to make the choices.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29So, which kind of surgery do you have,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31where do you have it, who does it?
0:34:31 > 0:34:34You become an expert on something you...24 hours before,
0:34:34 > 0:34:35you didn't know anything about it.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37And, also, the first time ever, I should think,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39that you were no longer in control of yourself.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Well, that's right.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45And, erm, one person was saying to me, "Have the surgery,"
0:34:45 > 0:34:48and another person was saying to me, "Have a coil fitted,"
0:34:48 > 0:34:50which is a non-invasive way of dealing with it.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Erm...and they sort of pitch to you what they think you ought to do,
0:34:54 > 0:34:58and I said, "Look, you're asking me - I don't know.
0:34:58 > 0:34:59"Pitch to each other,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02"and then when you've come up with a unanimous decision
0:35:02 > 0:35:03"of what I should do, I'll have that."
0:35:03 > 0:35:06And they said, "Right you're going to have it coiled." And I said,
0:35:06 > 0:35:10- "Fine."- 'Tiny platinum coils are fed up the catheter into the aneurysm.'
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Once the aneurysm is filled with coils,
0:35:13 > 0:35:14we finish the procedure.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18'And the result? Dark coloured blood flowing round the brain but not into
0:35:18 > 0:35:22'the aneurysm itself, because that's been filled with platinum coils.'
0:35:22 > 0:35:25For someone who's always said they're fearless - you have no fear -
0:35:25 > 0:35:29that must have given you a taste of what fear is.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33I understand how people, when that happens to them,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36you realise how short life is, and sometimes you want to
0:35:36 > 0:35:39change your life. You want to give up your job, you want to
0:35:39 > 0:35:42travel the world, you want to get a divorce, you want to do
0:35:42 > 0:35:46things that, you know, you have always wanted to do and never done.
0:35:46 > 0:35:52Erm, for me, it just made me realise that I love my life,
0:35:52 > 0:35:56and I wanted to keep doing it for as long as was possible,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01and the hardest thing for me was not my life
0:36:01 > 0:36:04but the fact that I might not be around for my children's lives.
0:36:04 > 0:36:09And that terrified me, that's the one thing that kept me
0:36:09 > 0:36:11awake at night - that I would miss out,
0:36:11 > 0:36:14that someone else would be advising them
0:36:14 > 0:36:18and helping them, and doing things with them that I should be doing.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22And that's the fear.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24It was a very tough, trying time...
0:36:24 > 0:36:26For all of us it was.
0:36:26 > 0:36:27..for all of us.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31But for her to go through this horrendous operation
0:36:31 > 0:36:34which was life-threatening. Well, we were all praying at that stage.
0:36:34 > 0:36:35All of us.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Birmingham City boss Karren Brady is preparing for an operation
0:36:43 > 0:36:47tomorrow afternoon on her brain to cure an aneurysm,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50a swelling of an artery, that could prove fatal if left untreated.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54In those few days waiting for the operation, how present was God?
0:36:54 > 0:37:00Well, God's always present in my life but all I asked God for
0:37:00 > 0:37:03was the ability to see my kids grow up and that's...
0:37:03 > 0:37:06And just to give me the strength to carry through,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08and it was interesting when I went down for my surgery,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12I refused to be wheeled down. I wanted to wanted to walk
0:37:12 > 0:37:15towards the operation,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18and I remember walking towards it,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22and the person who was in...
0:37:22 > 0:37:24There was like a screen...
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Cos they do a lot of this on imagery and there was
0:37:26 > 0:37:29a person... There was a big operating table
0:37:29 > 0:37:33and there was a person behind the screen eating a sandwich!
0:37:33 > 0:37:35And I remember thinking,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38"The last thing I'm going to see is someone eating a sandwich."
0:37:38 > 0:37:39Like, life goes on,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43you're just a number in these things. It was funny.
0:37:43 > 0:37:44THEY LAUGH
0:37:44 > 0:37:46And how many hours of surgery is that?
0:37:46 > 0:37:50Oh, five or six. Yeah, it's quite a delicate operation.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53My doctor said I had the best possible result.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55I don't go for the checkups which I know is awful
0:37:55 > 0:37:59but I want to live my life. I don't want to think about it any more.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01I think it's a great leveller of life
0:38:01 > 0:38:05when your own life is in threat, to come through it, come out
0:38:05 > 0:38:08the other side and to get on with your life must give you a different
0:38:08 > 0:38:10perspective of life straight away.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12It changes everybody's life when you
0:38:12 > 0:38:17suddenly realise how vulnerable we all are.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20I think after having the aneurysm
0:38:20 > 0:38:25everything under that is, you know, nothing.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27SINGING
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Which football team is singing this chant?
0:38:30 > 0:38:33- Ms Brady.- Is it Coventry? - It is, well done.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38How does she do it? Let's find out from Karren Brady.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Ladies and gentlemen, Karren Brady.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46Karren's public profile in football and business had led to
0:38:46 > 0:38:49a number of television appearances over the years.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51Were you a football fan as a...?
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Yeah, I was... Well, I am an Arsenal fan.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56BOOING
0:38:56 > 0:39:00As usual, I will value your comments.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Alan Sugar brought her in to grill the finalists on his popular
0:39:03 > 0:39:05TV show, The Apprentice.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09- So, what are you fantastic at? - Sales.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11In business, people do let you down, so how do you cope with that?
0:39:11 > 0:39:13Please make sure it doesn't happen again.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15What if they don't listen to you?
0:39:15 > 0:39:16I would stop doing business with them.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Karren proved her mettle.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21She would do a fantastic job for you
0:39:21 > 0:39:24and if you don't give her a job, I will.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28- What do you think, Margaret?- I'm still waiting for the explosion.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33And, so, when Lord Sugar's regular sidekick Margaret Mountford
0:39:33 > 0:39:37announced she was leaving the show in 2009, Karren got the call.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41The gentlemen will be followed by a new addition to my boardroom,
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Karren Brady. Karren was the youngest ever managing director
0:39:46 > 0:39:48of a public limited company.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51It was a total no-brainer that Karren would be
0:39:51 > 0:39:53the first person I would ask.
0:39:53 > 0:39:54Alan Sugar's decision to
0:39:54 > 0:39:58bring in Karren Brady on to The Apprentice was a coup de grace.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02That was a brilliant move because it's such a natural fit.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09It takes everyone's input to make one thing happen.
0:40:09 > 0:40:10Do you believe what you're saying?
0:40:10 > 0:40:12Can you hear what you're saying?
0:40:12 > 0:40:13I thought it was just me!
0:40:13 > 0:40:15She's straightforward.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19She says what she feels and she doesn't take any nonsense.
0:40:19 > 0:40:2142 at £13.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24Margin is king in this task.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26I only wish they recognised it.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29She's fair. She gives everybody a chance.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32But, you know, she doesn't suffer fools gladly, either.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- Where have you retailed them at £45? - We haven't.- You haven't.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38So you can't say it's a recommended retail price because you haven't
0:40:38 > 0:40:42retailed them at that price. So take it down because it's misleading.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45She is a natural at it, as you can see from the programmes.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Our job is, you know... is to be honest.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50So we take no sides, we offer no advice.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52We are not mentors.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54We are not there to be sounding boards.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58We observe. And in The Apprentice, there's no retakes,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02there's no set ups, there's no script, there's no nothing.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05Everything you see is everything that happens.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09So our job is to help him come to the right conclusions by just
0:41:09 > 0:41:12being honest and factual about what we see.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16I haven't seen anything from you. Neither have my two colleagues.
0:41:16 > 0:41:17You're fired.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20- Man!- Dan, you're fired.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24- You don't know who's going to be fired?- Never.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26Does Lord Sugar know who he's going to fire?
0:41:27 > 0:41:29I don't know, actually.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33I think he... You know, half of the show is about the task,
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and half of the show is about how people handle
0:41:35 > 0:41:39themselves in the boardroom, and that's the part that is
0:41:39 > 0:41:45his domain and depending on, you know, how honest you are and how
0:41:45 > 0:41:49you take responsibility for things depends on what he does.
0:41:49 > 0:41:50That was the boys' team, wasn't it?
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Cos they were arguing like a bunch of old washerwomen.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56It was like that throughout the entire process.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58I love watching you because when you're watching them,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01you're rolling your eyes and scribbling something down
0:42:01 > 0:42:03and then you have to dob them in to Lord Sugar.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07- I know, the ultimate grass. - Yeah, yeah, ultimate grass.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Let me tell you, keep a very close eye on Natasha
0:42:10 > 0:42:13because she comes in here, she talks the talk.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15I think he sold the lowest amount in the market.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17I saw a lot of finger pointing and arm folding
0:42:17 > 0:42:21- and not a lot of doing, I'm afraid. - Hm.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23She can see sometimes
0:42:23 > 0:42:26herself in these young ladies on the opposite side
0:42:26 > 0:42:31and I can see by her face when she is looking at some of these people.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34"I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have said that."
0:42:34 > 0:42:38What Karren does say demonstrates her passion for other
0:42:38 > 0:42:42women to become as successful in business as she has.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45There's that famous episode where, I think there were women,
0:42:45 > 0:42:48kind of, bickering in the boardroom.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50BICKERING
0:42:53 > 0:42:56She was quite angry then, I think, you know.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57BICKERING CONTINUES
0:42:59 > 0:43:01- Can I just say something?- Yeah.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06You are representing businesswomen today, one of which I am,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10and I have to say, it's outrageous the way you're behaving.
0:43:10 > 0:43:1275% of my management team is women,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16and I've never come across anything like this.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18She said, "Remember who you're representing."
0:43:18 > 0:43:21And, you know, that kind of thing is absolutely what she's all about.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Young women out there that want to have an opportunity
0:43:23 > 0:43:27- to do this. You should be an example to them.- Well said.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30She's really, really changed the whole landscape,
0:43:30 > 0:43:32I think, for women in business.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34But she'd be the first person, I think, to say,
0:43:34 > 0:43:35there's still a lot more to do.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38It's really important to her that women,
0:43:38 > 0:43:40who are in that position, bring other women with them.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43And I think she'd like to see more women doing that.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45And you obviously see very clearly, if there is a division,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48between how men work, how women work,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51and is there a difference there?
0:43:51 > 0:43:53Yeah, there very often is. You know,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57everybody who comes into the process now is very entrepreneurial.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00They either have run a business, they're running a business,
0:44:00 > 0:44:02or they want to run a business.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05It's very different to wanting to be an employee.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07So they're very dogged and determined people, and, suddenly,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09when you bring all of these people who think
0:44:09 > 0:44:13they are "the best" at everything, and you bring them together,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16the tensions run very high, and it's...
0:44:16 > 0:44:21The women have, in the past, been worse than the men.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24But they soon learn the ability
0:44:24 > 0:44:29of working as a team, whereas the guys never really learn it.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32It's much more about their personal view
0:44:32 > 0:44:34and the way they want to do things.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44In January 2010, Karren had a new opportunity to demonstrate
0:44:44 > 0:44:46the importance of teamwork.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50Her old bosses sold the Blues and bought the Hammers.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55We always had an eye on West Ham United.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59You know, that was our football club, if you like.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03It was the football club that we always wanted to be part of.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07West Ham was a Premiership team but it was in trouble,
0:45:07 > 0:45:09and not just on the pitch.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12To be honest, we wouldn't buy this club at all if it wasn't West Ham.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15It makes no commercial sense for anyone to buy this club.
0:45:15 > 0:45:21- We bought this as fans, as supporters.- As we signed the papers,
0:45:21 > 0:45:26we were now the new owners of West Ham United.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29It was just a natural thing - where's Karren?
0:45:29 > 0:45:33Karren was made vice chairman of the club.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36This became a much greater challenge for Karren
0:45:36 > 0:45:41because this was a very famous London Premiership club.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Because of her success at Birmingham City
0:45:43 > 0:45:47she arrived there, unquestionably, as the First Lady of football.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I didn't really think that we'd get to have
0:45:50 > 0:45:52much interaction with her, to be honest.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54And the opposite couldn't be more true, really,
0:45:54 > 0:45:56because she's just here everyday,
0:45:56 > 0:45:58really rolled her sleeves up and got stuck in.
0:45:58 > 0:45:59She had a vision.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02She straightaway got to the crux of the issue.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04The club had £100 million worth of debt.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08There was no clear ownership of the problems, there was no
0:46:08 > 0:46:11real teamwork, and I'm not talking about the team work on the pitch,
0:46:11 > 0:46:13the teamwork off the pitch.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16People didn't understand the debt that the club was in,
0:46:16 > 0:46:18they didn't understand how bad things were because
0:46:18 > 0:46:22no-one had thought to share it with the people that worked there.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25It had a real lack of culture, it had no focus.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28When you say "culture," what do you mean?
0:46:28 > 0:46:31It was a very male-dominated environment.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34I mean, there wasn't a single senior woman anywhere within
0:46:34 > 0:46:38the entire organisation and I was horrified that I'd sort of
0:46:38 > 0:46:42almost gone back to the past.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44She literally transformed the place.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46It was a completely different place to work in
0:46:46 > 0:46:48from the minute she arrived.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51- Your customers, of course, are the fans.- Yeah. I mean, football
0:46:51 > 0:46:54is an interesting business because a West Ham supporter
0:46:54 > 0:46:57doesn't wake up and support Spurs, and vice versa,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00but, equally, if they don't feel engaged with the club,
0:47:00 > 0:47:02if they don't feel the club is being run the right way,
0:47:02 > 0:47:07if they don't see the future, you know, looking bright then
0:47:07 > 0:47:10they stop supporting you. So part and parcel of running
0:47:10 > 0:47:13a successful football club is accepting
0:47:13 > 0:47:15it's not Monopoly, it's a responsibility.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21There was one particularly controversial
0:47:21 > 0:47:26proposal for the club which was a challenging sell to the fans.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29It meant moving from their Upton Park stadium,
0:47:29 > 0:47:31home for the club since 1904,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35just a few miles down the road to the London Olympics stadium.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39The Olympic stadium move was, you know, a dream really for West Ham.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41It was a twinkle in the eye.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45When we first arrived, we knew this was a possibility
0:47:45 > 0:47:48but a distant possibility.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52You know, there were just so many problems associated with
0:47:52 > 0:47:56the idea that a football club could go to the Olympic stadium.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02Moving to the Olympic Park was a difficult one for you to sell and
0:48:02 > 0:48:04a difficult one for you to wrestle with.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Well, it was interesting that when
0:48:07 > 0:48:10we initially started talking about it, supporters were anxious
0:48:10 > 0:48:12and nervous, and didn't quite know what it meant.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16But myself and my team sat down and explained every single
0:48:16 > 0:48:18thing to our supporters.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21We needed the fans on board, and Karren slowly
0:48:21 > 0:48:26but steadily changed that whole perception that this was
0:48:26 > 0:48:30going to be great for West Ham United.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36But it wasn't just a case of winning the hearts and minds of the fans.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Tomorrow, two rival London football clubs
0:48:39 > 0:48:41submit their bids to move into the Olympic stadium
0:48:41 > 0:48:43when the games are over.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47West Ham's bid will mean the athletics facilities can remain.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49We're not going to tuck our goalposts under our arm
0:48:49 > 0:48:52and walk over here and play a football match on a Saturday.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55£95 million will be spent on converting the stadium.
0:48:55 > 0:48:56It pitted Karren against
0:48:56 > 0:49:00Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, whose former chairman
0:49:00 > 0:49:03had his own business view on the proposal.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06It's not a proper venue for both football and athletics
0:49:06 > 0:49:09together. It's just a flawed idea.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13There was opposition from other football clubs,
0:49:13 > 0:49:19there was opposition from other interested parties. It was,
0:49:19 > 0:49:24you know, it was a difficult process. Every time we won it,
0:49:24 > 0:49:29they decided to re-run the process, so I think it was
0:49:29 > 0:49:34like being jilted at the altar by Boris Johnson.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40- So... Anyway, we kept going.- We went through three bidding processes.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43It was quite a protracted process.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Um, at times, it was really challenging.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49West Ham Football Club will be calling
0:49:49 > 0:49:51London's Olympic stadium home after they were
0:49:51 > 0:49:54confirmed as the main tenants this morning.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Whilst the stadium already looks impressive, be under no doubt
0:49:59 > 0:50:01that when we move in in 2016
0:50:01 > 0:50:05it will look and feel like the home of West Ham United.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09I won't go into too much detail
0:50:09 > 0:50:12but I don't think they parted with too much of their own money!
0:50:12 > 0:50:16I think a lot of the recent controversy about the deal
0:50:16 > 0:50:19was you seemed to have got it for a bargain.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22If you look at the headlines, you think, "Oh, that's a good deal."
0:50:22 > 0:50:25But if you don't understand the ethos behind it
0:50:25 > 0:50:27and the commitment we have made to it, you don't
0:50:27 > 0:50:32understand how important it is. Because without the football club
0:50:32 > 0:50:35as the anchor tenant, nobody could generate
0:50:35 > 0:50:40the base of which everything else is built on top, and I, for one,
0:50:40 > 0:50:45am very proud that we will have the opportunity to deliver that legacy.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49I am smiling to myself because that was a perfect politician's answer.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51It wasn't meant to be.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53And I know you believe it.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55I do believe it.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58For her to secure that, you know, it's the deal of the century.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01People still come up to me and say, "How has she done that?"
0:51:01 > 0:51:03It really is an amazing achievement.
0:51:03 > 0:51:09Could you have done it without Karren Brady? I have my doubts.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13When she walks out, really, for that first game to a full stadium,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17in 2016, you know, that should be her moment, cos she's done it.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30Karren had another proud moment last year
0:51:30 > 0:51:34when she was appointed a life peer in the House of Lords.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39I Karren, Baroness Brady, do swear by Almighty God that
0:51:39 > 0:51:42I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to
0:51:42 > 0:51:44Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,
0:51:44 > 0:51:48her heirs and successors according to law, so help me God.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52She was following in the footsteps of her friend,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55fellow entrepreneur and on-screen boss.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00It was my honour and pleasure to actually bring her in.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03It was quite an unusual day, because I was a Labour peer at the time
0:52:03 > 0:52:05and she was a Conservative peer at the time.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09It was a bit like bringing Arsenal bringing Tottenham in.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Or Tottenham bringing West Ham in, so to speak.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15We were in the balcony, and her family,
0:52:15 > 0:52:18and I'm looking down and thinking, "That's my daughter."
0:52:20 > 0:52:23I think my mum and my nan would have been
0:52:23 > 0:52:26so proud of her to know that their granddaughter
0:52:26 > 0:52:28and great granddaughter
0:52:28 > 0:52:30was achieving such
0:52:30 > 0:52:32a great honour in this country.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38To think that she would end up one day as a baroness
0:52:38 > 0:52:41never occurred to me. I should have thought of it.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44I should have thought one day, you know, she will,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47or will she one day end up the Prime Minister?
0:52:47 > 0:52:50I wouldn't bet against it, that's for sure.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52I am proud to be a Conservative peer
0:52:52 > 0:52:55because I'm proud of my party's record on
0:52:55 > 0:52:57women's economic empowerment.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Such an institution needs a bit of shaking up, I think.
0:53:00 > 0:53:01It's an incredible place.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05I mean, it's full of the country's brightest people.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10I mean, you have got scientists, inventors, lawyers, judges,
0:53:10 > 0:53:14other politicians but all of them experts in their field and
0:53:14 > 0:53:17it makes for a...for a very special place.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19How often do you get there?
0:53:19 > 0:53:21I'm on a roster every Monday evening
0:53:21 > 0:53:25so I get to the House on a Monday about four and I stay
0:53:25 > 0:53:28until the roster's off which is often about ten o'clock at night.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33And I go and vote when my whip calls me to vote.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40I'm Karren Brady. Hello.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42I'm a businesswoman.
0:53:42 > 0:53:43Thanks very much.
0:53:43 > 0:53:44I'm a business owner.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46She's absolutely fearless.
0:53:46 > 0:53:47I'm a company director.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50How can you stop her? Why would you want to stop her?
0:53:50 > 0:53:52And I'm a mother of two.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54The kids will always be number one.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56That's for sure.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00The young, entrepreneurial Saturday girl from North London has turned
0:54:00 > 0:54:06her dreams into reality through self-belief, ambition and hard work.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09You are now the brand, Karren Brady, the brand.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12I don't see myself as a brand. I have never, sort of, gone
0:54:12 > 0:54:16out of my way to produce things and sell things in my name.
0:54:16 > 0:54:17I don't do anything like that.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20But I do take my role quite seriously,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23and when you put yourself forward as somebody who champions other
0:54:23 > 0:54:28women, you need to be thinking about that in everything you do
0:54:28 > 0:54:29and everything you say.
0:54:30 > 0:54:37It's become such a huge part of who I am that it's a core value of mine.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42But, you know, real success is largely a part of hanging on.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47I hope when people think about someone who left school at 18,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49who didn't have any particular skill
0:54:49 > 0:54:52other than their ability to work hard, who pushed themselves,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55who took risks, who went outside their comfort zone,
0:54:55 > 0:55:00who never gave up on themselves, and I never let go.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02That's survival.
0:55:02 > 0:55:03Yeah, survival.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07You know, I wish when I was younger I had female role models.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11People that I could look up to, people I could aspire to be,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and I hope I'm a role model to everyone who works for me,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17let alone for people that think, "I wonder
0:55:17 > 0:55:20"if it's possible for me," and I can say it's definitely possible.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24I think she'll always be looking for the next challenge.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29She sets herself the biggest goals that you could possibly imagine
0:55:29 > 0:55:31but, every single time, she smashes it.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35I see a lot of myself in my daughter.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39I come from relatively humble beginnings and have made
0:55:39 > 0:55:44my way in life without a great education but a great faith
0:55:44 > 0:55:48in myself and I'd like to think that my daughter took that road as well.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53Christmas just around the corner.
0:55:53 > 0:55:54What does Christmas mean to you?
0:55:54 > 0:56:01Well, Christmas for me is about thinking about your spirit
0:56:01 > 0:56:02and what you're in touch with.
0:56:02 > 0:56:08And, for me, you know, it's all about family but, obviously,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12I have my family round for dinner every Christmas
0:56:12 > 0:56:16but the guest of honour is always the food.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18- Do you cook?- I DO cook, yeah.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22I love to cook but I can only really cook one thing, which is
0:56:22 > 0:56:24a roast dinner. So it works for me.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27And what about going to church, do you do church?
0:56:27 > 0:56:29Yes, we do, yes, we do, always, yeah.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32I mean, it's interesting that the church is very busy on that
0:56:32 > 0:56:35time of the year, and I think that you ought to almost
0:56:35 > 0:56:38have, like, a season ticket if you go regularly.
0:56:38 > 0:56:39You should be allowed to go in.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42But, no, we live in quite a small village so everybody
0:56:42 > 0:56:47knows everybody. And our monsignor, who is head
0:56:47 > 0:56:50of our church, he often pops into us on Christmas Day for a drink.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53Your best Christmas present ever was what?
0:56:53 > 0:56:56My best Christmas present ever... I could tell you the worst.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59- Tell me.- My husband bought me a frying pan one year.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01He nearly got it over his head.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04It was the last time he ever brought me a practical gift.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07Did she tell you that? That's not true. That's...
0:57:07 > 0:57:10I'm going to tell you that is a complete lie.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15I think I went to an expo and they had this nonstick pan,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18he was doing examples of how he was flipping omelettes and that,
0:57:18 > 0:57:20and I thought it was cool so I just bought it
0:57:20 > 0:57:21but it wasn't a Christmas present.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23She's lying. She wants to make me look bad.
0:57:23 > 0:57:24And the last thing was
0:57:24 > 0:57:27what are you looking forward to next year?
0:57:27 > 0:57:30Well, next year is a huge year because next year we'll move
0:57:30 > 0:57:31to the Olympic stadium,
0:57:31 > 0:57:34and I have to deliver a stadium that everybody is proud of
0:57:34 > 0:57:37so those are the things that sort of keep me awake at night.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41Making sure everything is perfect, everything is how it should be,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45and, obviously, making sure we have a team that's fit to play in it,
0:57:45 > 0:57:49that's worthy of the accolade of having a 54,000 seater stadium,
0:57:49 > 0:57:53so ensuring that the business runs smoothly, the transition
0:57:53 > 0:57:58across to the new stadium goes well, that's my focus for next year.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01Well, I hope that all goes well. Happy Christmas.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Thank you, Fern. Happy Christmas to you, too.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12How refreshing to meet somebody who is as nice as you hope
0:58:12 > 0:58:13they're going to be.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15Karren Brady is a woman's woman
0:58:15 > 0:58:20and she obviously, clearly, is a role model, whether she likes it or not.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23The way she's conducted herself in business
0:58:23 > 0:58:28and the way that her core values lie in home and family and decency.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31And add on to that her religious faith,
0:58:31 > 0:58:33she really is an inspirational woman.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36I hope it inspires you to have a fantastic Christmas
0:58:36 > 0:58:39and a very good New Year.