Biography of Emma

Emma's work ethic was installed in her by her parents and wider family who all worked, with the exception of her Nana who had a large family to take care of.

Living in Rye Harbour, Emma began her working life delivering newspapers for the local shop and the post office, now gone, on her bike, accompanied by her dog. 

Whilst at college training in hairdressing she also worked in the hospitality trade.

Emma then moved to Bournemouth and went into retail. She worked her way up into management for companies as diverse as Next and Pizza Hut. She didn't feel that being a woman held her back but that men were paid a higher salary for the same jobs. She also said that when she worked in retail, before going into management, all her managers were men. 

Emma returned to Rye and became manager at Herald & Heart, working surrounded by some beautiful and artisitic millinery. Here she is able to use her management skills and develop her creative side. She has been learning millinery techniques one day a week for the past eight years. Despite the art of hat making changing, Herald & Heart still use traditional methods in making their hats, preserving old skills.

Emma loves dealing with the great variety of customers and gets real enjoyment from her job. She says she tries not to take her work home with her. She advises youngsters in school to work hard and not be frightened of hard work.

Audio of interview with Emma