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Woman of the Month

Woman Of The Month - Barbara Wilson

Barbara Wilson was born in Lancaster in the north of England and as a family they moved several times around England, ending up in Sheffield. She would describe her childhood as happy and secure, although Barbara was often described as serious and bookish! One of her early memories was walking in a bluebell wood next to her early home which is probably why she now finds bluebell woods so magical. Barbara can remember as a child being inspired to listen to music by tales her father told around great classical music pieces. She has also developed a lasting love of reading and photography both of which together with music are important parts of Barbara's life now.

At the age of 18 Barbara left home and went to college which she admits flunked owing to getting involved in student union politics! She then started her career in personnel management in Birmingham and by her mid twenties became personnel manager for a jeans manufacturer who were suppliers to Marks and Spencer. Being thrown in at the deep end was a great learning experience. Barbara then completed a degree in Psychology as a mature student with the Open University and from there continued her studies onto an MBA. This was in a parallel to moving into teaching management and organisational behaviour in higher education in Croydon where she lived until moving to France.

Barbara moved to France 21 years ago with her partner Roger, who she has since married, and her daughter, Emma, who was 7 at the time. They were part of a large group who came over with Texas Instruments and expected to stay for two years. Having settled in Roquefort les Pins, they decided to stay when the two years was up.

Barbara had already started to do some freelance management training and so set up her own business to develop this. This was not easy task as her French was limited and the admin issues were a challenge, however eventually she got to do some really interesting management development work throughout Europe. She also continued to teach at local business schools and with the Open University on their MBA programme. This took Barbara to Ethiopia and Russia as well as different parts of Europe.

One of the early steps Barbara took in France was to co-create a network for English speaking business women as a support for women like herself. This eventually developed into what is now the Nice Professional women’s network and she is proud to have been their first president.

Barbara was also incredibly proud of how her daughter settled in the area and went on to study in France getting her Master’s degree from Science Po in politics (in French). She is totally bi-lingual and working in a challenging environment in Brussels. Barbara believes that children are so adaptive when encouraged and although it was tough at times for her, the experience of living and studying in France has been a very positive one.

In 2000 Barbara started to work with the Open University as their Business school representative in France and to a large extent this eventually became almost a full time role.

This role has now ended and she is moving on to continue to develop her coaching and training work. Barbara trained as a coach in 2000 and has continued to coach. In addition she developed and runs creativity workshops which include creative techniques to enable change - this is something Barbara is really passionate about, as is working to support personal development.

It seemed a natural fit this year to take on a license to offer RenewYou training for women in France and Barbara will be running the first one in Sophia Antipolis on 15 September (See here). She had developed a management training course for women in the UK and ran this for many years, seeing the real benefits that women get from being in a training which supports their development, and encourages them to become more confident people as well as leaders.

When reflecting Barbara admits that the last 21 years had been at times like a roller coaster ride with highs and lows, however she is in a very different place than she would have been had she stayed in the UK. Barbara loves living in France; in the south as well as Paris where she visits often. She feels very fortunate to be able to continue to help people in their development as well as getting a great deal of enjoyment developing her own interests such as photography.

Renew You Workshop

We asked Barbara our famous 5 questions and this is what she told us:

1) What makes you smile?

My daughter Emma, relaxing with friends and family, swimming in the pool, a beautiful sunset!

2) What or who inspires you?

What inspires me is the beauty of the world around me. One of my early memories is of bluebell woods which I love but get very little sight of now sadly. I love walking by the sea, watching the sunset. Who inspires me? I am inspired by everyday heroes and people who overcome adversity to become better people. Finally I would have to add music in this list. Sometimes a line will stay in my mind and become inspiring, such as John Lennon’s ‘Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans!’

3) Do you believe in gut instincts?

Yes, I use it to test out my more rational decision making!

4) Your three essential things if you were stuck on a dessert island would be what?

My MP3 player (music is so important to me), a notepad to write in (and pen of course), and I would like to say that the third would have to be a book although there are too many to chose from, I may select War and Peace which I bought many years ago and have never read, however it would probably be a face cream!!

5) If you are planning a day/night out, what do you enjoy doing the most?

For a night out, a visit to the theatre or a concert followed by a delicious meal with my husband. A perfect day would also include wandering the streets of Paris, visiting an exhibition, stopping for an apero....

www.barbara-wilson.com

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Saturday, 1 August 2015    Section: Woman of the Month
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