What do you think makes you good at what you do?
I’m comfortable with risk, but it’s always calculated.
I’ve always tried to learn as much as possible from the people around me, such as when I shared an office with the chief executive and MD of Pizza Express. I’m a grafter, I definitely always wanted to make money, but at the same time not at the sacrifice of my life.
What I’ve learnt over the years is that there’s lots of people doing similar things and what sets you apart is how you structure a deal or the incentives on offer, such as an equity programme. Early on my accountant told me, “Sarah, it’s not always all about the future. You’ve got to think about today.”
There have been times where I’ve over-extended myself, but my driving force is my desire for freedom. I didn’t want an ordinary life, I didn’t want an average life, I wanted extraordinary.
When did you make your first million?
When I was 29, in partnership with the Clapham House Group, I bought the Bombay Bicycle Club, and expanded it to be the largest chain of Indian restaurants in the UK. Three years later, I sold my share back to the Group for £10m.
I had a 15-month-old and a newborn at that point.
Why did you sell?
I was 32, I was very maternal and really wanted to be a good mum. I knew I couldn’t have this life, where I had long erratic hours, lots of travelling, being away from home, with hundreds of employees.
I knew that I would need to dip in and out of business for a period when my kids were little, so that’s when I started doing more investing, so I was earning and working in a different way.
Life as a working mum is one big compromise, anybody that tells you otherwise is lying. Biologically, we’re not set up for equality, that’s the reality. We must fight harder.
What do you think about quotas to get more women in management?
If you’d asked me 25 years ago, I would have idealistically said “don’t be ridiculous, absolutely not”. You’ve got to always give the best person the right job.
Nowadays, I’m shocked at how little progress we’ve made. We’ve got to use quotas to force through change until it becomes the norm. It’s sad how so many women are underestimated.
I was once told, “We’ll know we’ve made it when there’s as many s— women in the room as there are s— men.”
What was your best personal financial decision?
Round-the-world family backpacking trip in 2016, not because of what I earned, but because of the priceless lessons we learned.
Our kids were between five and 10 at the time. We had a budget of £400 a day for the six of us and that had to include all transport, accommodation, and meals.
The kids learnt to manage a budget and the relative value of money. They realised if we stayed somewhere cheap, they could have a nicer dinner, but if they wanted nicer digs, then we’d cook in.