Interviews

Interview with Michelle McDowell

September 14, 2017 // 0 Comments

‘Engineering offers all the opportunities anyone could possibly want – to women as well as men,’ explains Michelle McDowell MBE, the first woman to be made president of ACE (The Association for Consultancy and Engineering). In its 100+ year [...]

Interview with Elspeth Beard

August 21, 2017 // 0 Comments

At the age of twenty-three, Elspeth Beard became the first woman to motorcycle around the world. 35,000 miles with just a tent, some tools, her savings and a ton of determination, she reveals what she learnt about herself on the road. You don’t [...]

Interview with Flight Lieutenant Leanne Martin

April 20, 2017 // 0 Comments

Leanne Martin is the RAF’s First Woman to become Improvised Explosive Device Disposal qualified. Physically and mentally demanding, Leanne’s expertise lies in dealing with potentially explosive devices within the context of international [...]

Interview with Chris Duffin

February 22, 2017 // 0 Comments

Chris Duffin was the First Woman Governor Grade at HMP Strangeways, the notorious, category-B male prison. She talks to First Women about what she learnt on the job from prisoners, peers and the public reaction to her posting. ‘When I started at [...]

Interview with Deta Hedman

January 21, 2017 // 0 Comments

Currently ranked World Number 2 by the World Darts Federation and the First Woman to beat a male player in a major televised darts tournament, Deta Hedman AKA ‘The Dark Destroyer’ explains how to stay cool when a male competitor ‘fist pumps in [...]

Interview with Bishop Libby Lane

December 14, 2016 // 0 Comments

On the 26th January, 2015, Elizabeth Jane Holden became the first woman Bishop of the Church of England. Her consecration came more than 20 years after women were permitted to become priests. The Archbishop of Canterbury heralded the moment as ‘a [...]

Interview with Pauline Clare

November 13, 2016 // 0 Comments

Across Britain, the number of female police officers is on the rise, but women still only constitute about 30% of the UK police force. Pauline Clare, Britain’s first female Chief Constable shares the life lessons she has learned on her journey to [...]

Interview with Alison de Burgh

October 14, 2016 // 0 Comments

The First Woman to become a stage and screen fight director, Alison de Burgh is no stranger to bows, knives and swords. She shares with First Women her journey to her first which, it seems, was no less of a battle… I think men guard the status quo [...]

Interview with Katy Cropper

July 4, 2016 // 0 Comments

The First Woman to win ‘One Man and His Dog’ – in the face of ‘competition, small-mindedness and having been put down by most men in the dog running world all my life.’ ‘When I was invited to participate in One Man and His Dog, I thought [...]

Interview with Hilary Mantel

June 3, 2016 // 0 Comments

‘If you go into your creative work trying to make something happen, the work may not cooperate with you,’ explains Dame Hilary Mantel, first woman to win the Man Booker prize consecutively for her novels, ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring up the [...]