Sum up what you do at News UK in the shortest sentence possible.

I help my Editor-in-Chief run Fabulous magazine, which involves the conception and approval of ideas, editing copy, signing off page proofs, recruiting new team members, managing brand extensions, the list goes on!

Lay a bit of context on that?

I’ve been at News UK for a decade and have had three different jobs on the magazine. This one’s my favourite by far, not least because I get to do it with my trusty sidekick – my job share partner, Gayle. We agree on most things but we also have different skillsets and experiences, too. We learn from each other.

What attracted you to the role in the first place?

When I arrived at Fabulous in 2010 as Lifestyle Editor, I was very ambitious about getting into a management position on the magazine and worked really hard to convince my bosses that I could handle more responsibility. I’ve always thought the Deputy role on a magazine is the one you want. You get to make decisions but you are very much focused on the daily production routine, which I love. In contrast, as the Editor of any mag you’re pulled in a million different directions, meaning you’re often pulled away from the every-day mag production work – the line editing, the picture approvals – the things you went into the job for in the first place.

What’s the most interesting/challenging part of your job?

The most interesting part is finding and then telling the stories. Everyone’s got a story and I would listen to them all given the time, which is why I adore my job.

Managing people is the most challenging. It’s an underrated skill – vital but certainly not easy.

What are the three most important things on your working agenda today?

Writing this for you! Reading the final version of the issue before we send it to print this afternoon. And checking that the Fabulous Beauty Awards 2020 is all in hand.

Why do you want to be a part of the News UK mentorship programme and who is your ideal mentee?

I was a mentor at university nearly 20 years ago and since then have volunteered as a Listener at Samaritans and as a Befriender at Good Gym. I love talking to people. And if I can help them navigate their career more effectively by doing so, all the better. I had coaching after coming back to work after my second child and I found it invaluable. No ideal mentee here – I’ll take on anyone!

Last book, film, binge watch and sounds you consumed?

I rarely read anything other than masses of newspaper and magazine articles, but I did love Cilka’s Journey, the followup to The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It’s never not shocking to remember what happened.

I binge-watched the BBC’s Normal People on iPlayer like everyone else in the whole world it seems. I didn’t love it. I had my fill of tortured, navel-gazing relationships 20 years ago!

At the moment, I am telling everyone to listen to Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail podcast episode with Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer for Google X and author of Solve for Happy. His take on how to deal with the uncertainty that coronavirus has brought to our lives is supremely refreshing and reassuring. The recording should be prescribed by GPs.

Who is your role model? And why?

My Dad. He worked in a match factory and had a milk round from the age of 7 to support his mother who was largely a single mum. He was the first in his family to go to university and ended up working in the City as a Chartered Accountant and later as a Senior Lecturer at a university. Plus he held the record for the fastest mile in Ireland in the 1960s and was also the Middlesex Mile Champion! He had a trial for the European Athletics Championships but couldn’t afford the airfare back to Ireland. Most heroically to my mind is the fact that he devoted a lot of his life to charity work – visiting the sick and elderly, doing the accounts for the local cash-strapped museum, distributing grants to impoverished local families and working as a school governor at three different schools over 20 years. He always told me I could do anything. I could make some fairy cakes and he’d tell me how proud he was of me.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

Kate Winslet, please.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Ask yourself why you want that promotion and then ask yourself these questions: what will you lose by taking it? What will you gain by taking it? Don’t just climb the ladder for the sake of a new title and a bigger salary. Sometimes you’re in the right job.

What one bit of advice would you give to someone wanting to do your job?

Keep an eye on the details but also know when to think big.

Tell us something not many people know about you?

I crashed into an off-duty police officer’s car during my first driving test.