Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Everybody, Simon Halliday here. Welcome to the latest edition of Haller's playbook.
In a year of endless sport where it just keeps coming and it's so exciting, we're in the middle of the Women's Rugby World Cup. South Africans have just got back to the top of world rugby, the Champions League starting. I mean what else do you want? It just goes on and on and on. And I'm simply delighted to welcome someone who's seen sport from all sorts of different angles from so many years.
Jill Douglas MBE, who was awarded that for her services to sport and charity in 2022 and goes back in time for her marvelous presentation of various sports.
So I think before we start I want to say thank you for the support of Mass Group Multi Asset Solutions who involved in such a current piece of the marketplace, whether it be the gold market, foreign exchange, digital currencies, all of these things are super relevant in today's market. As if you look outside of sport and into the world of finance, which we try and do a little bit, it is as almost as interesting in its own way. So thank you to Mass Group.
So Jill, before we get going and sort of look back at some, discuss some really interesting topics, how's your summer been? How are you enjoying all this sport?
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Well, it's been a wonderful summer. We've had so much sunshine so we can't complain about the weather for once.
But yeah, a magnificent summer of sport whether it's been the lionesses success in the Europeans and then to see the Red Roses, you know, do so well so far in this Rugby World Cup.
But I love the summer. I, I went to Henley for the first time. I love Royal Ascot. I loved watching the tennis so yeah. But it was also an interesting summer for me because we didn't have any major events so I normally I'd be doing maybe a, an Olympics or a Commonwealth Games or a big multi sport European championships with the BBC but we didn't have any of those big events this summer. So I've been able to kind of pick and choose and really enjoy being a spectator and getting along to some live sport but also watching some of the great broadcast over the, over the course of the summer.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Well listen that, that kind of raises a really interesting point for someone that we're also used to seeing on the screens talking, talking about and commentating on sport that you're seeing.
How different is it when as you say you get to go along to these things versus feeling you've got to say certain things about the Sport, is it completely different kind of perspective, isn't it? How do you kind of come to terms with that?
[00:02:56] Speaker A: I'm a bit of a sports Billy, so I like. I love all sports and I watch pretty much anything and the whole family do. We sit down and watch the darts together. You know, we, we've got our opinions on the football. We, you know, we're big Liverpool fans in this house. So I. It's very difficult to watch broadcast sport without putting yourself in the shoes of the broadcaster, I. E. Either the presenter or the person that's doing the interviews. I'm inevitably thinking what I'd be doing in that situation and understanding some of the challenges that come with live sport broadcasting. But inevitably at the same time the sport is central to everything and so you get dragged into the drama of what you're watching.
And I am a pretty good spectator. So I go to a lot of live sport. I watch rugby a lot. I go down to Cheltenham Tigers where I'm president, my local rugby club and I also go to King's Home to watch Gloucester play. I'm a big Gloucester fan and I love my horse racing and I haven't really worked in horse racing as a broadcaster.
I did work right at the beginning of my career for a local newspaper and I used to cover the racing and the point to points and stuff. But racing really is my. The one sport where I just can switch off and just really enjoy the sport for what it is. And it's magnificent and majestic and gorgeous and it's a wonderful friendly environment for me and. And I live very close to Cheltenham Racecourse so I can get swept up in the emotion and the drama of what's happening without having to think about how I'm going to articulate that and share that with an audience.
But I have to say some of the amazing things that I get to do as a broadcaster.
Central to all of it is just how you link that live sport experience with the people who are watching at home and how important it is to make that bridge and to make them feel included and part of what I'm experiencing rather than excluding, excluded. So that you don't want it to be exclusive, you want it to be.
You want to be giving them a gateway into the. The wonderful live sport that we're enjoying.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: I think it's a really interesting point that, that and as a massive spectator of sport as well, I've done a little bit of very amateurish commentating in my time. But you know, when we listen to people talk to us from the Screen, you know, we're always wondering why they're saying what they're saying. And to have that passion and sort of underlying feeling for the sport, I think is really important because you go back in time, I think I'm right in saying, correct me if I'm wrong, that it was 1997, was it, that you made your first sort of rugby union debut on screen? I think I've referred back to the history books for this, but it was a long time ago if you were an aspirant broadcaster or commentator. And I guess one of the things in sport at the moment, so much of it and it's growing so fast, everyone, you know, there's gonna be a lot of space and growth probably for that, that piece of the, of the functionality. So, you know, people coming to talk about ex player or someone who's got background, you know how when you look back and to anyone who wants to get into this, what did you. What actually got you thinking, I want to do this. I want to actually commentate on a sport or multiple sports to an audience.
Was that a deliberate.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: No, it was, it was completely unconscious. So I was a print journalist and then a news broadcaster. And that's really. That was my interest, news particularly, and had no interest in working in television. I wanted to be a print journalist and work in newspapers. But by accident or by fortune, I ended up, first of all being a producer in television news and then was asked if I fancied being a reporter. So I was on the road every day filming stories, doing interviews, and then I ended up in the studio presenting the news.
But I always put my hand up for the sports stories because I really enjoyed sport. And, you know, I played a lot of sport, I watched a lot of sport. I came from the Scottish borders where rugby was a huge sport, as was horse racing. So, you know, I always volunteered to do the sports stories. And as a result of that, I presented a program before 1997. So I was a child Hallows. I was a child really.
And I was presenting a program called the Union and the League up in border television land, because it's a big heart heartland of rugby league. So we had Graham Moss was the expert on rugby league and Keith Macklin for a little bit, the late great Keith Macklin. And I was the rugby union person. And we presented this little show and I used to go out and do the interviews and then we'd present the show in the studio. And then BBC Scotland then asked me to go and screen test for a rugby special. And I took on rugby special in 1997, which was really put the cat amongst the pigeons. It was very, very controversial to have a woman presenting Rugby Special. I have to say, however, I loved it and it was a fabulous opportunity. And from there I started working for network BBC doing touchline reporting at, like, autumn internationals and as it was the five nations, and that was the beginning of it. And I do remember the conversation when I was offered the role with BBC Scotland to become a sports presenter, slash reporter, broadcaster.
And there was opportunities to work in radio and in television, and I had to sort of make that big career choice. Do I continue to try and have a foot in both camps and continue with my news broadcasting, or do I go all in in sport?
And at that time, there was very few women working in sport. And I just, I thought, I'm passionate about this, I enjoy it. And also, news was hard. You know, I. I did a lot of big trials, big, really hard stories. You know, it was. Sometimes it was really tough and it had a massive effect on me at times. And I thought, sport, I love sport. And it's a. It's joyful at times and. And, you know, it just felt like the right time for me to.
To really focus on sports. So it wasn't that I had had a great career plan and then it just snowballed after that. And, you know, every time a new opportunity came along, I grabbed it. And what I would say, if anybody's kind of thinking about moving into it, my advice is don't be too narrow in your thinking. Don't think, I want to be a football commentator or I want to be a, you know, a rugby reporter, or I want to work in tennis or golf.
My advice is if you just try as many different sports and try a bit like when you're encouraging your kids to take up sport, you know, you want them to experience everything. And as a broadcaster, I just put my hand up every time an opportunity came along. Put yourself outside your comfort zone, build your air miles and your confidence, and then eventually you begin to hone your skills in particular areas. But my advice is always try lots of different things because it really, it served me very well being able to and being recognized as somebody who would have a go at whether it would be at the Commonwealth Games. Oh, Jill, can you cover the lawn balls? I'd be like, yeah, absolutely, I'll do that. Or, oh, we've got. We need somebody at the gymnastics. Yeah, I can do that.
You know, I'd scurry away and find somebody who knew a lot more about the sport than I did, but it just gave you confidence. And I'm a great advocate of that. And cycling has been a huge part of my career and. And I knew a little bit about cycling. I've learned an enormous amount and I still continue to learn every time I pick up the microphone.
But again, that just came through. Volunteering or putting my hand up for an opportunity.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: And it's. I think it's of great advice.
And you have covered a breadth of sports. And I do want to come back to the Olympics at some point, but I just. As you, as you rightly said in those early days that to be a woman commentator was quite unusual and groundbreaking. Now it is not. And so you have absolutely broken that mold. And over a period of time, that's changed massively and for the better. I always remember my sister gave me the best bit of rugby observation I've ever heard. When 3/4 way through a match, she said, sam, you know that, that the really quick guy on the wing, why doesn't anyone ever give him the ball?
Because it was quite muddy. Everyone was covered in mud, but not the winger who was pristine.
I said, you've just asked a question that we spend our entire time questioning. And it took her about half an hour to work it out.
But of course, that growth has now been matched by the on field. And you mentioned a few, and I look back at the time to the Solheim cup, for example, the performance of the lionesses. But the euros in general, just what interest it's gathered. And so many examples of this. And I had to smile when England rugby were frustrated by the Scottish women in that match recently. And I thought, well, I've been on an English rugby team constantly frustrated by playing at Scotland, one of the great old rivalries.
And we've come an awful long way, haven't we? I mean, how excited are you to have seen that and, you know, talk a little bit about the growth of women's sport generally, because it is on a huge growth pattern. I mean, you must be so excited to see that.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. And I've been a judge on the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the year awards.
Oh, 25, 26, 27 years, a very long time. And to see the way it's moved on over the course of almost three decades is unrecognizable.
The Sunday Times, I have to say, has always been a huge advocate for women's sport. And. And I've met broadcasters over the years who have done their very best to support women's sport. But to see how we've moved on in the last few years is remarkable from a broadcasting point of view. I was very lucky when I started. You know, one of my great friends, Hazel Irvin, you know, was very encouraging. Sue Barker, you know, Clare Boulding's been a great friend and colleague over the years, as is Gabby Logan. Gabby Kelly Cates and I, you know, are best muckers and, you know, have had a lot of fun over the years together. And so we've got a really good strong and, you know, there's countless others now. You know, Sonia McLachlan does a brilliant job as well. There's so many now women operating in that space.
But now what we're seeing is more and more women's sport coming on into the broadcast arena as well. And sometimes it has to be a bit of a loss leader because, you know, maybe we don't attract the huge numbers, or certainly didn't attract the huge numbers of viewers for some of the women's sports, but that's growing. And if you look at the numbers for the Euros particularly were phenomenal. And this Rugby World cup is really smashing all records, both for spectators turning up at matches, but also for eyes on the matches from a broadcast point of view.
Sometimes you've got to take a leap of faith as a broadcaster to. To showcase these amazing sports, whether it be netball at the Commonwealth Games, which is always a huge favorite, whether it's hockey at the Olympics, whether it's rowing, whatever it might be, because young girls cannot get involved in sport if they can't see women and girls doing it. You need to see it to believe it's possible.
And so that's where I take some responsibility as a young broadcaster, feeling as though I had to be at the vanguard, if you like, of other women coming into the role.
And I'd like to think I've, you know, been able to encourage other women and girls to become involved in sport in all manner of ways, whether it be participation or in broadcasts or whatever, or you getting involved in the administration of sport. You have to see women in these roles. And it's the same in business and particularly in financial services.
You need to see women achieving and thriving and being given opportunities in order for you to think that's a role. For me, that's a journey that I might like to be on. That's an environment that demonstrates to me that there is an opportunity there and we've still a way to go and we should never.
We can't, at the end of this summer, sit back and say, well, haven't we done well? Wasn't that amazing? Right on with the next thing. We have to keep that momentum going, and I'm fearful that we. We will pat ourselves in the back and go off and say, well, didn't we do well there?
And I think one of the really significant things is women for quite a long time have been really grateful for everything that they've been allowed to do. And I mean this, you know, whether it be, you know, when you watch the. The Red Roses, when they're invited to come and showcase some of the partnerships through English rugby or whatever it might be, and they're almost great. You're grateful. Yes, it's great to be grateful.
We need to start feeling almost entitled. You know, men have been entitled for a very long time, and I think sometimes we. We are a little bit too grateful, and I think it's getting that balance right.
So I think we need to make sure that we don't rest on our laurels. We keep pushing, keep pushing, and we keep having these amazing role models that will encourage more and more young girls and young boys, I should say, into sport, but also making sure that we are visible. Because I keep saying it, you have to see it, to believe it and to be able to then embrace it and do it.
[00:16:28] Speaker B: I think there's one. Before we leave rugby, and I want to come back to something that has often been thrown at the women's game, particularly in the light of the dominance of the Red Roses. And I was particularly delighted to see that amazing win by the Springbok women against Italy and the fact they would 10 all halftime with the Black Ferns. And this is a team that's come from nowhere, really.
They're pre amateur and people have talked about mismatches. And to my mind, I go back to the Rugby World Cups, men's Rugby World Cups, where the All Blacks beat Japan by 140 points.
The year we won the World cup in 2003, we beat Georgia, I think, by 115 points in the pool match.
Mismatches happen everywhere.
And. And all this is in the next World Cup. You're going to get a host more competitive women's teams, aren't we? So this is just part of the growth pattern. I mean, I believe that it has to be.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: It has to be, you know, Brazil coming in, playing in their first World Cup, South Africa really showing that they can be a force.
You will get mismatches, as you say, quite rightly. We've seen it in the growth of professional men's game. You know, the professional women's game is in its infancy and so what we need to give women a chance to do is compete at the highest level more regularly. Now, whether we do that through international competitions, I believe we need to do it through club competitions or franchises. However we want to do it because it's not easy to bring together a Samoan team because they're team, their players are spread so globally. It's easier for the Red Roses because most of their players are playing in PWR and in the English system, because that's the strongest system in the world. But until we get other nations playing, and that means by mixing all these amazing players up into super teams, getting them playing more regularly, we won't see the game develop. So we're at a really interesting tipping point, I think, for the women's game. And there is interest and there will be investment, but we need to harness that. We need to harness the power of this World cup and push forward and we shouldn't be too disheartened by mismatches. You will have mismatches in every sport, wherever it might be. If you want it to be a global competition. You know, I work in snooker. There's 128 players in the. On the. You know, there's 100 whoever number of players come and play in competitions and you will get whitewashes. You will see the top 16 in the world whitewash players who are ranked 120 in the world.
But in order for it to be an open competition, you have to have that. It's like golf, it's like any competition, you're going to have people at different levels. So we shouldn't be worried about that. We should just see it as the next stage as we move forward with the game.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: Well said. I think before we move, I wanted to switch sports and just you. You referenced a couple of times Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. I mean, that's a completely different challenge, isn't it? It's multiple sports. I never thought I could be so excited about curling and seeing all these people ice furiously to try and alter the.
The direction of. Of.
What was it? The, the. What do they call it? The curling stone. Yeah, that's right. So, yeah, it shows my ignorance. But how much of a challenge is that? If you're going to go and do research on all the different Olympic sports to be able to do this or do you make it up or a bit of or.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: I tell you what, it's a really interesting question because if for me, when I go to the Olympics. I kind of pretty much know what I'm going to be doing. I'm going to be covering the cycling, whether it be road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking.
The last few Olympics. And since it came into the Olympics, I've been involved in the rugby coverage, the Rugby Sevens, and I've also covered the hockey a couple of times.
But generally speaking, I've got a pretty good idea before I arrive what I'm going to be involved in. If. But I've also been a presenter, a studio presenter at the Olympics, where you are in the studio and it's just you come on air and you have four hours and you are covering whatever sport is thrown at you and you need to then really, you need to have a.
A much broader sense of what's going on. And yes, that involves a lot of research and there are subs that help you with that and involves lots of reading and you need to be able to take in a huge amount of information and work out what the salient points are. You work with excellent producers, so you are, you know, people do hold your hand and help you with that.
For me, when I was going into this last Olympics in France, which, may I say, was just one of the best experiences ever, it was the Rugby World cup in France was enormous fun and a brilliant, brilliant competition. And then the Olympics following hot on its heels, were they just staged a magnificent Olympics. I loved every minute of it.
And before we went there, I was. And I thought I was going to be doing some equestrian, so maybe some dressage.
I knew I'd be doing the cycling, so I had all my cycling notes and so I steeped myself in my notes and I read lots of different things and, you know, you sort of remember a lot of things and you've built up quite a lot of knowledge from six Olympics and from all the other competitions that you've covered. But for something like dressage, where I don't normally cover that, I would do a little bit extra work.
And then when I got to the Olympics, suddenly something changed. And I'd spent all this time and I wasn't doing it after all. I was, oh, actually, can you go and do the hockey?
And so I'm like, oh, I haven't actually done my homework for hockey. It was like being told you were doing, I don't know, gc, GCSE or gse, whatever it's called. It's like doing your A level history and then suddenly told the day you turn up. Actually, no, you're not. You're not Doing A level history today, your exam's on geography. So you're like, ah. So I would sort of dig away and go, and number one rule, find somebody who knows about this. Find somebody who knows more about you than you and about this subject. And inevitably, everybody knows more about a subject than me. So I would just go and find somebody and say, what is the relevance today? Can you just run me through some of the key characters?
So, yeah, it can be a little bit of seat of your pants stuff, but for the big moments, when you are standing in Velodrome and Jason Kenny's about to win his seventh gold medal, do you need to know what you're talking? You need to know the questions to ask. And you're not.
You're not reading your notes off the back of a fag packet.
You've done the homework.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: And you. I mean, some commentators, I mean, very, very few has to be said, have gone down in history. You know, they think it's all over.
It is now, you know, which is one of those great moments in time.
And that's 1966, isn't it? And the Coleman balls and all of that good stuff. You know, Bill McLaren in rugby often came up with sort of memorable comments.
Are you aware when you're commentating on something of such import, what you say could end up being a strap line? And is there. Give me first answer that one. Cause I'd love to hear if there are moments in time where you kind of were aware of that. Secondly, give me one of your funniest, craziest commentating moments when you sort of said, did I really just say that? Or. Or perhaps you never had that, but I'm sure you did well off cuts.
[00:24:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I don't commentate. So when the sport is live, Simon Brotherton is the cycling commentator. When the sport is live, Nick Mullins is usually the rugby commentator. I'm usually the person waiting to talk to the athletes when they come off the field of play. So I'm either doing the flash interviews or I'm in the studio or standing beside the pitch with a couple of guests about to interpret what we've just seen. So I might be standing with Brian o' Driscoll or, you know, whoever it might be, Andy Nicholl talking about what we've just seen and trying to pull it apart. Or I'm. Or I'm waiting to do an interview with somebody who's been involved in that match or race or event.
So you're never going to hear me saying it's the world, you know, he's dropped the goal like Robbo did, you know, in Sydney, when he drops the world, when Tony Wilkinson wins the World cup, you're never gonna hear me saying that. So what you might hear is my interview afterwards.
And so you are very conscious of that and you want to get it right. And sometimes it's the simplest questions evoke the best answers.
And so the one thing I would say is when you, when those big moments come along and you're standing there with see a Kolisi on the side of the pitch in Yokohama and he's the first man of color to lift that World cup, and you know the impact that this is going to have, not just on his sport, but as on his nation.
And you know, you've been building up to it before the match. You've watched his performance in the game.
You understand in some regards the significance of, of what you've just seen.
It can be quite an intimidating moment. But what you have to remember is I've got all these air miles on the clock. So this is, you know, I'm in this position because I have delivered on big moments. That's why I've been trusted with this microphone. So you go back into kind of, I am going to trust myself to do the right thing here.
I don't have a list of questions. Nobody's feeding questions in my ear. You are literally in the moment and they say, we're going to get you live. Jill, do you think you can grab Siya Khaleesi? I'm like, I think I can. He's walking past me now. It's a leap of faith. You grab him and you've got this incredible gallery producer, editors, directors who say, go to Jill.
Be quiet. Mark in the studio, throw to Jill. And then you just get this opportunity to start filling that time and you just trust your instincts.
But you have to understand the context of what you've just seen and, and hopefully hear some incredible comments from your guest. And my View. And I say this to young journalists now who talk to me about doing live reporting.
Don't worry too much about the question. If people remember the question, it's, you know, you want to be remembering these amazing gold dust answers. You know, we all remember Steve Redgrave saying, if anybody ever sees me in a boat, you know, but he went back and did it again.
Yeah, it's about the answer. And what you're trying to do is elicit the best response and give these incredible people who've just competed at the highest level, whether they've won or they lost. You give them a platform to share that emotion and that moment with the most important people, either their family and friends at home or the wider audience. And you're literally just facilitating that. And as soon as you start thinking you're doing anything else other than holding the mic, you're in all sorts of trouble. So I think just try and make it really simple and clear and give people the opportunity, but you need to know who they are and maybe know a little bit their background and understand the context of what you've seen.
But, you know, to be with Chris Hoy through all of his Olympics, to have seen him win all his gold medals, I've seen Jason win all of his gold medals, Laura win all her gold medals, you know, what an absolute privilege, what an incredible thing to do, you know, just twice, stand on the touchline with Siya Kolisi after he's won the World cup, to multiple times, be there. When you've seen extraordinary things happen, whether it's Tom Pidcock at the mountain bikes, when he's crying out below his sunglasses, it's just. It's an extraordinary privilege.
And I think you just want to make sure you get it right. And I think sometimes you're thrown into a situation where something really awful's happened and they come to you live and you're trying to explain what it might be, whether it's been a bad crash in the velodrome or, you know, an injury or whatever it might be, and it's just keeping. And that's where the news kind of skills come in, I think.
So, yeah.
It's something I think you can't learn overnight. And I think when you are put into the big, big moments, you've got to trust your instincts and trust all of the experience that you've fortunately been able to gather over the years.
I have cocked it up on more than one occasion. Make no mistake. None of us get it all right, we're all human.
But I think the big moments that I look back on, where things have been quite funny or whatever, would be Ruby Tuohy in Yokohama at the Olympics. We were behind closed doors. It was a very difficult working environment in Japan for the Olympics in Tokyo and the Rugby Sevens, we did the most amazing. She did the most amazing interview with me and I absolutely adore Ruby Tui. I think she's just fantastic. And I asked her a question and she just went off on one and it went absolutely viral. And everybody said, oh, you're the girl that did that. Amazing interview with Ruby Tui. And I thought I didn't really do very much other than give her an opportunity to speak.
And another one that makes me chuckle still. And I still have people wherever I go to bike races all over the world, people will say, oh, you're the Mark Cavendish girl. Because I was standing, broadcasting live. And Mark Cavendish, cheeky monkey that he is, it was the end of an event and he was riding past me along the barriers and he was a. By then, global cycling superstar, had won, you know, all these amazing stages in the Tour de France. He was a world champion and he cycled past me and then he. I couldn't see him, but you can see me. Cycles back and he puts his hand in the bar and goes, it's Jill Douglas. You're a legend on the telly. We love what you do in the telly, Jill. And it was hysterical. It was live on the BBC. And I just thought, who is this nutter? And it was Cav, and it was just clipped up. And still people talk to me about Cav. And he has given me some of the best moments on tv, him and Bradley Wiggins, just. You never knew what you were gonna get. It could be quite amusing at times.
But those are two that people still remember and talk about.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: I think you've listed a whole stream of sort of a list that we'd all kind of give our right teeth to, sort of to say hello to, spend time with. You say it's been a huge privilege to do that, but of course, using that in other forums. And you've got a role with Gallaghers, and you've talked to me about seminars and meetings you have with senior people from industry.
And I guess you use a lot of this as a reference point. Tell us a little bit about that and how you bring the skills that you've got through that sporting lens and the business of sport, because it is into the business world, because that's a vital connect and people want to hear from you in terms of what that experience was and how you dealt with that pressure and what else? I mean, how does that kind of.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the work with Gallagher has. The work with Gallagher has been really interesting.
I've worked in the Lloyds insurance market for 12, 13 years with a couple of different brokers.
Initially, I went in to help with some brand and marketing because marketing, to me is telling good stories and understanding what your key messaging is and taking in a lot of information and then producing the story that you're trying to tell and what it is you're trying to, how you're trying to reach people.
And so somebody who worked in insurance, who had their own laws, brokers, recognized that in me and said, can you come and look at what we're trying to say and how we're trying to articulate our story and can you help us with that? And as a journalist and as a writer, um, you can see quite clearly and I'm very. You work with language all the time and visuals and, and how things look and how things feel. And so I helped with that and then I worked with and moved on and worked with another broker. Then I let stopped for a bit and then I went back in with Gallagher and have worked really closely with their partnerships team. So how you get the best out of the relationships you build with big sponsors. So whether you know how Gallagher engaged with Prem Rugby, you know, how we maximize that, what we're trying to achieve through that relationship, both sides of the table.
And then I also work a little bit in business development, so that's being able to articulate what you're trying to say to potential prospects, clients, existing colleagues. And then I work internally with the business quite a lot when I'm talk to colleagues about IND and personal development and I do some mentoring.
So it's really varied my role. You know, no two days are the same really.
And I do lots and lots of events, so I host lots of panel discussions.
And I went up to airmic, which is a huge insurance conference held every couple of years. I was up in Liverpool this summer talking to six CEOs from across the insurance sector about Captives, which is a form of insurance.
And I was sitting there thinking, this is a long way from standing in a velodrome talking about the individual pursuit, or standing in the studio with Stephen Hendry and Neil Foulds talking about Ronnie o'. Sullivan. But actually it's not that different at all because really what you're trying to do is give people the chance to talk about something that the audience is interested in and teasing out those stories and understanding how to make a conversation flow between a host of people.
So those skills as a broadcaster really do help in that side of my life and also having the confidence in boardrooms to not to be intimidated, because nothing intimidates you once you've been in a live broadcast environment with an erratic or unpredictable athlete and guest. You know, I think nothing's going to phase you after that. So I think the skills that you learn in sports broadcasting and some of the challenges in sport are very similar to business. You Know that yourself, Simon. It's, you know, building teams, strong leadership, recognizing a common goal, articulating what that goal might be, getting people to buy into it. All of these things happen in teams, business teams, across the world, every day. And that's something that we see through the lens, the lens of sport. And so it's very, very transferable. And I always knew that. I always said my skills are very transferable and I really enjoy being put into an environment with people perhaps talking about subjects that I'm not necessarily hugely familiar with, but I'm genuinely interested. And I think that comes through. I think if you're genuinely interested and then you suddenly start pulling apart what they're talking about, you know, I wouldn't like to say how many times I've hosted at the Cheltenham Literature Festival or Stratford or wherever and you're talking to people who might be discussing, gosh, it could be anything, you know, it could be business related, it could be political, it could be geopolitical, but actually it's just letting them tell their story and asking the right questions and having a really fluid conversation and sometimes just asking the simple questions. Because people in the audience, I kind of think I'm their voice. So you want to, you try not to be too smart, you want to ask the questions the audience want to ask.
So, yeah, and it has worked, it has transferred really well. I, I still think I haven't quite found my corporate place yet. I still think, I still think I get pigeonholed a little bit and it does slightly frustrate me. I get pigeonholed in two ways. People say, we didn't ask you to do that because you're so busy.
And I think, well, I'll decide how busy I am. So they, you know, they think I'm a busy person because I wear lots of hats. I always say, ask me anyway, I'll, I'll tell you how busy I am. So I get pigeonholed because people assume that you're flat out busy all the time, which everybody's got an element of busyness in their lives. And the other thing is people think that really all I do is ask questions and host and things, whereas I think I'd rather be in the decision making room sometimes and the planning of these things rather than just being shipped in at the end to do the mic holding.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: I think the transferability, I mean, you just put it brilliantly well. But I think they need to come and find you, Jill, you know, because they, because you have a lot more than that. But sometimes I might Say, having had probably an inverse exposure into the corporate world, it's they who could learn. And corporates should always feel they can learn from effectively. Something that's a lot more immediate pressure than probably they've got. You know, they've got boardroom pressure, they've got decision pressure. But the immediacy of it isn't always there, which, of course it is in your role and the athletes that you're talking to. Absolutely fascinating.
I wanted to. I mentioned at the top of the show that you've been awarded the MBE for services to sport and charity. And just to cover off something that is dear to both of us, you know, in 2017, you were appointed as the CEO of my name's Doddy Foundation. And sad though the Doddy is no longer with us. You know, how much has that impacted your life over the last.
Obviously, you're not that anymore, but, you know, for a long period of time, you were the face of that charity alongside Doddy and Kenny and others. And I've had some involvement. We both knew Doddy and. Yeah, I mean, just tell us a little bit about that, because that's the bigger purpose of a lot of stuff, isn't it?
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
But it has a profound effect on my life, the lives of Doddy's family and friends, because he was one of my best friends. He was my husband's best friend. He was best man at our wedding, he was godfather to our son. He was somebody that we spent a huge amount of time with and somebody that we thought we'd continue to have in our lives, you know, into our old age. And so the number one effect it's had on our lives is that he's no longer with us. And to see somebody that you love struggle with something like motor neurone disease is incredibly difficult. And to see the way that it affected Kathy and the boys and his family, close family, is difficult. It's really hard. And it's really hard to see somebody who's such an amazingly vibrant person to face their own mortality is really difficult.
The other effect it had on me was to see the way that he faced that with such positivity and determination. And that has had a huge effect on me because, listen, we get dealt bad hands now and again, and sometimes we get disappointed, and sometimes we don't get the opportunities that we think we deserve, and things don't always go well for us.
But if you can face the worst news ever in the way that he did and then you.
It's humbling, really. And so that would be how it's affected me personally from the charity side of it. You know, we established my name's Doddy foundation and it was all hands to the pump. You know, we worked really, really hard to make it successful. We worked really hard to represent Doddy in the best way, in the way that he wanted to shine a light on this terrible disease, to raise the profile of this disease, to talk to people about it. And he was very open and engaging and articulate and candid about the way was affected.
We wanted to raise money to invest in research because we wanted to give people hope because there wasn't enough research, there wasn't enough focus and we wanted to help people, as Doddy said, who were less fortunate than him because they didn't have the network of friends and support, they hadn't had a career in professional rugby. He wanted to use all of those things to benefit people and the MND community. So we established charity, we worked really, really hard. We got incredible support from across all quarters, whether it be from the rugby community, the sporting community, the farming community and beyond, from all corners of the world. And we were very lucky. But I then found myself in a role which I wasn't expecting, however, and I'm now patron of the charity. So I'm still heavily involved and an ambassador for the UK MND Research Institute, which I take very seriously and I'm delighted to be the patron of mnd. So of Mining Study foundation. We work very closely with the other charities, but I did find myself running a team of people, recruiting and running a team of people.
So having been a trustee, I became CEO and when I left, we're a multi million pound business and that's what I see the charity as a business because you have got revenue streams, you've got investment planning, you've got research strategy to develop, you've got partnerships, you've got a team of people who work for you. You've got to look after and give opportunity to and nurture and encourage and inspire.
So I was running a big team of people with a multi million pain budget and it was quite a, quite a responsibility, you know, as you invest, you know, when you're trusted with people's money, whether you work in the financial services industry or whether you work in charity, you need to be very, very clear about what you're going to do with that money. And you've done all the due diligence and all the checks and balances to make sure you're doing it appropriately, especially when you work in charity. So I did Some extra learning. I went off and studied a little bit more to better understand financial management, even though we had an excellent, excellent cfo.
And I learned an awful lot about building teams. I learned a lot about how people work together. I learned a lot about how to get the best out of people. I learned how to operate in a boardroom with some very challenging people managing up and down.
So all of those things were really interesting. But I still think at the heart of it was my storytelling. And what I think makes my name's Doddy foundation so, so successful is how well we've told our story over the years. And I think when I've been talking to you, seems like I've been talking to you for quite a long time about my career as a broadcaster, as a journalist, as an interviewer, as a host, as a marketeer.
All of those skills funneled into my name's Doddy Foundation. And so it worked really well. And I'd like to continue in that There are things I still like to do in charity. I'd like to get involved in business, manage their charitable relationships, because I've got a huge insight into that now.
So I'd like to help big organizations maximize those partnerships and relationships and understand it's not just about signing up, it's about really living it and understanding the values of those charities. But also it's a two way thing and how to get the most out of the charities as well. Because it has to be very much back and forth. So I think I have a lot more to give in that space. But it has had a huge effect on my life and it's been something that I'm really lucky to have, lucky to have found, despite the fact it came from the very darkest of times.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: I think it's. Look, being able to, to bring all that skill into applying it towards the charitable objective has made a huge impact. And my name's Doddy foundation is. You know, we, Doddy always used to say we want to try and find a world free of mnd. You know, we haven't got there and. But the foundation is moving forward as fast as it can and it's growing exponentially from here. And you were part of that. So I think a very, very interesting point you make about big business and charity because I remember saying to a few big corporates who were supporting rugby, how many people work for you actually were in rugby? Or there's players that you spent all that money on and sponsoring and you proudly put it up there. How many of those do you look after when they're. When their sport is over, you know, you're one injury away, you're one concussion away. Let's not bring that one up. We haven't got time. We're right at the back end of the show. But all of those things people need to take responsibility for. And, you know, you've got such a big voice in that because you've. You've been there amongst and alongside those athletes and you've seen how that transposes and then been at the other end helping a charity, as you have. So it's a fascinating thing. I'm just going to leave us on that one point.
I think we want to take away Jill. I think you and I need to do some more work on that, as I'm sure we will. But.
So we're out of time.
I would love to carry on for a long period because there's so many more questions, but when are we next seeing you on the screens? Is that. Is that determined at the moment? What's. Is there something in the office?
Yeah, I mean, get back into the.
[00:45:59] Speaker A: So the BBC has coverage of the Rugby World cup, the Women's World cup, which was on ITV for the last two rounds. So I have covered the last two Women's World Cups, but because it was on BBC and I do all my rugby for itv, I've just been able to enjoy the World cup with Gallagher, who are one of the partners at the World Cup. So that's been a lot of fun.
But this weekend coming, I am in the BBC studio in Manchester, in Salford, covering the Road Cycling World Championships. It's the time trial on Sunday in. It's in Rwanda. First time the World Road Cycling Championships have been held in Africa, so that's hugely exciting. So I'll be in the studio with my old mucker, Chris Boardman, and then from Monday onwards, I'm in a studio at Cheltenham Racecourse, not covering racing, but we've got the British Open snooker on itv. So I've got snooker coming up and then I'm off to Twickenham, the Allianz Stadium, I should say, on next Saturday for the Women's final.
We've got Gallagher, have got a lot of guests coming along. That should be a lot of fun.
And then I'll be looking forward to the six nations. So it just rolls on. But as I say, I just. I'm very lucky and I still managed to look after two teenagers and a busy husband. So it's. It's. I like to have a few plates spinning, but I'm never happy.
[00:47:22] Speaker B: No idea how you fit all this in. No. Identity. Fit it all in. But. But more power to your elbow. We look forward to seeing on the screens.
Thank you for everything you've done for sport and much more besides. And I think it's a fascinating run through for all of us. And so I'm going to say thank you.
See you soon. And that's it for now from Hatter's playbook.
