Jo Fairley

GREEN & BLACK’S CO-FOUNDER, SPEAKER AND LEADING ENTREPRENEUR

  • Biography
  • Inspirational Speaker
  • Testimonials
  • Media
    • Consulting/Writing
    • Wonder Woman
  • Charity
  • Contact

Jo Fairley writes regularly for Telegraph Online, among her media portfolio. Here are some of the articles she's written about women and business and/or entrepreneurialism, appearing under the ‘Wonder Women’ experts section. Simply click on the article title below to read. Others can be sourced at the Telegraph.   

Why you should think about women's achievements today (your own included)

Construction needs to ditch its macho image and nail the gender imbalance fast

Women do need to man-up and stop using the word 'just'

High-achieving women have these 6 personality traits. Do you?

Mark Zuckerberg is right - personal goals are great. So what should you be striving for?

My Bizhub: Inspiring Entrepreneurs: an interview with Green & Black’s co-founder Jo Fairley

Digital detox baths: are we finally ready to be cleansed of our tech addiction?

How to have a sense of humour in the office (even when everything's gone wrong)
 

TWITTER

  • Josephine Fairley
    RT @actionhappiness: You are not in competition with anyone else. You are enough, just as you are https://t.co/6GEdSBVULY
    about a week ago
  • Josephine Fairley
    Well THIS was super-fun. kikki.k founder kristinakikkik and I could have talked for an entire day but it distilled… https://t.co/cO8jil2c7I
    about a month ago

INSTAGRAM

🥪 SWIPE FOR SANDWICHES OF GREAT EPICNESS! A few months ago I listened to a hilarious podcast from @honeyandco featuring Max Halley a.k.a. @lunchluncheon talking about the art of the sandwich and his book Max’s Sandwich Shop, named after, um, Max’s Sandwich Shop (in Crouch Hill). He reckoned the restaurant world had turned its attention to everything except the sarnie, so Max set out to do that. I bought a copy of the book & liked it so much I bought another for #marssams with the promise we’d go there together. 🥪 Last night we did & I had unquestionably the most outrageously good #sarnie of my life - made with a spring roll filling (among much other deliciousness). As Max has identified, it’s ALL ABOUT CRUNCH. (Which is why every fast-food sandwich tastes better with a layer of crisps added.) In a live re-enactment of Man -v-Food and with much recourse to the roll of kitchen paper handily placed on each table, we valiantly ate kimchi, deep-fried cheese & jalapeño balls, our VAST sarnies (actually Mars will be having the half-sandwich that defeated me for breakfast, if he remembers to get it out of his football kitbag). 🥪 Max made us roar with laughter and it is an altogether joyous, scrumptious and very silly place to eat. (NB The Suggestions Box is a #shredder !) If we’d been in any doubt, the delivery of the bill in a duck casserole clinched it - and do read the billboard outside. ‘More fell out of my sandwich than I get in a Pret.’ 🥪 It’s a heck of a long way from anywhere (never mind Hastings), but (as Max would say) f***ing just go, will you? We’ll certainly be back - though next time I’ll wear my Pac-a-Mac...
🥪 SWIPE FOR SANDWICHES OF GREAT EPICNESS! A few months ago I listened to a hilarious podcast from @honeyandco featuring Max Halley a.k.a. @lunchluncheon talking about the art of the sandwich and his book Max’s Sandwich Shop, named after, um, Max’s Sandwich Shop (in Crouch Hill). He reckoned the restaurant world had turned its attention to everything except the sarnie, so Max set out to do that. I bought a copy of the book & liked it so much I bought another for #marssams with the promise we’d go there together. 🥪 Last night we did & I had unquestionably the most outrageously good #sarnie of my life - made with a spring roll filling (among much other deliciousness). As Max has identified, it’s ALL ABOUT CRUNCH. (Which is why every fast-food sandwich tastes better with a layer of crisps added.) In a live re-enactment of Man -v-Food and with much recourse to the roll of kitchen paper handily placed on each table, we valiantly ate kimchi, deep-fried cheese & jalapeño balls, our VAST sarnies (actually Mars will be having the half-sandwich that defeated me for breakfast, if he remembers to get it out of his football kitbag). 🥪 Max made us roar with laughter and it is an altogether joyous, scrumptious and very silly place to eat. (NB The Suggestions Box is a #shredder !) If we’d been in any doubt, the delivery of the bill in a duck casserole clinched it - and do read the billboard outside. ‘More fell out of my sandwich than I get in a Pret.’ 🥪 It’s a heck of a long way from anywhere (never mind Hastings), but (as Max would say) f***ing just go, will you? We’ll certainly be back - though next time I’ll wear my Pac-a-Mac...
So I am somehow married to one of THOSE men who get weird looks because they’re wearing shorts in February when everyone else is in puffa jackets... But I ❤️ him anyway
So I am somehow married to one of THOSE men who get weird looks because they’re wearing shorts in February when everyone else is in puffa jackets... But I ❤️ him anyway
The most beautiful #flowers I have ever seen @dior La Maison Dior just-for-one-night takeover of 38 Grosvenor Square tonight... @byappointmentonlydesign you excelled yourselves... @diorparfums
The most beautiful #flowers I have ever seen @dior La Maison Dior just-for-one-night takeover of 38 Grosvenor Square tonight... @byappointmentonlydesign you excelled yourselves... @diorparfums
#thesetwo @carsonparkinfairley #willpottinger #dayout #margate #turnercontemporary and fab lunch @hantverkfound followed by #icecream #itsthelaw #familyouting
#thesetwo @carsonparkinfairley #willpottinger #dayout #margate #turnercontemporary and fab lunch @hantverkfound followed by #icecream #itsthelaw #familyouting
I’ve entered. Will you? LINK IN BIO #Repost @raretealady with @get_repost ・・・ Please would you do me a massive favour and post this picture? I’d be so grateful. Help me let everyone know about this amazing event, and get a chance to come. Please could you also paste the link from my bio into your bio. It takes you to the page where you can donate £5 to @rarecharity to get the chance to come to tea @claridgeshotel made by @richardhartbaker and @chefmnail and @reneredzepinoma and me. hosted by @xander.armstrong There is an option to donate £10 to win 2 tickets. The more times you donate the more chances to win. It will be epic. And even if you don’t win you’ll be supporting educational scholarships in tea communities. Please, please, please
I’ve entered. Will you? LINK IN BIO #Repost @raretealady with @get_repost ・・・ Please would you do me a massive favour and post this picture? I’d be so grateful. Help me let everyone know about this amazing event, and get a chance to come. Please could you also paste the link from my bio into your bio. It takes you to the page where you can donate £5 to @rarecharity to get the chance to come to tea @claridgeshotel made by @richardhartbaker and @chefmnail and @reneredzepinoma and me. hosted by @xander.armstrong There is an option to donate £10 to win 2 tickets. The more times you donate the more chances to win. It will be epic. And even if you don’t win you’ll be supporting educational scholarships in tea communities. Please, please, please
Oh this was so #cool ! Sound healer Russell Penn @lucybellgallery opening of her tree-themed #exhibition ‘Arboretum’ last night, advertising the show with an iPad showing one of the photos, illuminated inside a see-thru backpack... #onlyinhastings (or rather, #stleonardsonsea ...) #photography #privateview
Oh this was so #cool ! Sound healer Russell Penn @lucybellgallery opening of her tree-themed #exhibition ‘Arboretum’ last night, advertising the show with an iPad showing one of the photos, illuminated inside a see-thru backpack... #onlyinhastings (or rather, #stleonardsonsea ...) #photography #privateview
Maybe just a TEENY bit ambitious to make my first-ever soufflé on a week night for @craigsams #valentinesday2019 dinner à deux... Promptly put an oven mitt thumbprint in it but it came out pretty darned tasty... (Swiss ruby chard picked this morning from the garden, if you’re wondering. The batter was a very exciting Valentine-appropriate pink but alas it came out green when baked... Salad almost all from the greenhouse - buttercrunch, endive, frisée and a bit of Ocado radicchio) #romanceisnotdead #foodoflove #homegrown #homecooking #thingswedoforlove #colorsofinstagram #❤️
Maybe just a TEENY bit ambitious to make my first-ever soufflé on a week night for @craigsams #valentinesday2019 dinner à deux... Promptly put an oven mitt thumbprint in it but it came out pretty darned tasty... (Swiss ruby chard picked this morning from the garden, if you’re wondering. The batter was a very exciting Valentine-appropriate pink but alas it came out green when baked... Salad almost all from the greenhouse - buttercrunch, endive, frisée and a bit of Ocado radicchio) #romanceisnotdead #foodoflove #homegrown #homecooking #thingswedoforlove #colorsofinstagram #❤️
Pretty much everyone who was there had already posted a similar #insta of the magnificent @maitrechoux eclairs and @rareteacompany brews at yesterday’s belated @theperfumesociety and @beautybibleofficial #christmas tea graciously hosted by @lornamckay1 yesterday. I cannot tell you how much more relaxed everyone is celebrating Christmas in #February. (Gave us something to look forward to.) Thanks for coming @sarahamstacey @jennysemple @oioivictoria @beyondpale @hettiejones @carsonparkinfairley and other non-Instagrammers Teresa & Dave (who ferried my vintage china from Hastings...) Swipe to see Hettie modelling a gold lip from the icing on her eclair! #vintagechina #everythingstopsfortea
Pretty much everyone who was there had already posted a similar #insta of the magnificent @maitrechoux eclairs and @rareteacompany brews at yesterday’s belated @theperfumesociety and @beautybibleofficial #christmas tea graciously hosted by @lornamckay1 yesterday. I cannot tell you how much more relaxed everyone is celebrating Christmas in #February. (Gave us something to look forward to.) Thanks for coming @sarahamstacey @jennysemple @oioivictoria @beyondpale @hettiejones @carsonparkinfairley and other non-Instagrammers Teresa & Dave (who ferried my vintage china from Hastings...) Swipe to see Hettie modelling a gold lip from the icing on her eclair! #vintagechina #everythingstopsfortea
#nofilter - just really bright! #camelliaseason #inmygarden
#nofilter - just really bright! #camelliaseason #inmygarden
Making the most of #sevilleoranges season with @nigelslater Orange, Lemon & Ginger Marmalade and the fabulous Vin d’Orange from @sallyclarkeltd - only I’d forgotten how flipping long marmalade takes to prepare and chopping and squeezing 2 kilos of oranges took me three hours! Worth it, though. (And all those fruit acids have given me super-soft hands!) #homemade #preserves
Making the most of #sevilleoranges season with @nigelslater Orange, Lemon & Ginger Marmalade and the fabulous Vin d’Orange from @sallyclarkeltd - only I’d forgotten how flipping long marmalade takes to prepare and chopping and squeezing 2 kilos of oranges took me three hours! Worth it, though. (And all those fruit acids have given me super-soft hands!) #homemade #preserves
#nofilter - what a difference a day makes... #thecalmafterthestorm #crispmorning
#nofilter - what a difference a day makes... #thecalmafterthestorm #crispmorning
My date yesterday - Melisande #babyccino @fika.coffee.44
My date yesterday - Melisande #babyccino @fika.coffee.44
Welcome to the land of broken and lonely @chanel earrings. This morning I very satisfyingly tidied my #costumejewellery drawer (the only kind I have). Most of these were given to me by my friend Paula in the 1980s. Almost all of them lost their twin during various high-jinks and adventures. Every time I tidy them I think: I should do something with these - but what? They’re mostly too heavy for Christmas tree decorations. Suggestions, please... I can’t possibly throw them away. They remind me of so many Christmases and birthdays (and general shenanigans) with my hilarious accomplice...
Welcome to the land of broken and lonely @chanel earrings. This morning I very satisfyingly tidied my #costumejewellery drawer (the only kind I have). Most of these were given to me by my friend Paula in the 1980s. Almost all of them lost their twin during various high-jinks and adventures. Every time I tidy them I think: I should do something with these - but what? They’re mostly too heavy for Christmas tree decorations. Suggestions, please... I can’t possibly throw them away. They remind me of so many Christmases and birthdays (and general shenanigans) with my hilarious accomplice...
And so it all begins again, with #february Gold daffs... The light shifted today, too, and became a bit more spring-like #itscoming #inmygarden #nofilter
And so it all begins again, with #february Gold daffs... The light shifted today, too, and became a bit more spring-like #itscoming #inmygarden #nofilter
#tbt to last Thursday morning on the last day of our holiday at #oneandonlyroyalmirage ... One of the lovely smily chefs, Subin, had been trying to persuade me to eat his #pancakes and I kept saying, ‘On the last day, Subin, on the last day...’ (We love the Arabic breakfasts - enough to keep going till dinnertime.) And this is what he made for me... Thank you Subin (& Hassan, Eby, Nadjim, Jobim, Sherin, Kevin, Joseph, Rio, Teresa, Quennie, Mehdi, Kumara, Anjesh, Lakshan and Primal...)
#tbt to last Thursday morning on the last day of our holiday at #oneandonlyroyalmirage ... One of the lovely smily chefs, Subin, had been trying to persuade me to eat his #pancakes and I kept saying, ‘On the last day, Subin, on the last day...’ (We love the Arabic breakfasts - enough to keep going till dinnertime.) And this is what he made for me... Thank you Subin (& Hassan, Eby, Nadjim, Jobim, Sherin, Kevin, Joseph, Rio, Teresa, Quennie, Mehdi, Kumara, Anjesh, Lakshan and Primal...)
Discovered a whole load of brilliant merchandise based around the upliftingly cheery #illustrations of clever @Emily coxhead (founder and creator of @thehappynewspaper ) at springfair2019 yesterday. I think we all need one of these in our lives...
Discovered a whole load of brilliant merchandise based around the upliftingly cheery #illustrations of clever @Emily coxhead (founder and creator of @thehappynewspaper ) at springfair2019 yesterday. I think we all need one of these in our lives...
Oh! There I am! Great day at #springfair2019 talking about how brands can (and need to) embrace sustainability and strong values #greenandblacks #ilovemyjob
Oh! There I am! Great day at #springfair2019 talking about how brands can (and need to) embrace sustainability and strong values #greenandblacks #ilovemyjob
Unprepossessing to look at but a few sprigs of sarcacocca are enough to scent a whole room with their honeyed beauty... One of my favourite #frangrant plants #gardening
Unprepossessing to look at but a few sprigs of sarcacocca are enough to scent a whole room with their honeyed beauty... One of my favourite #frangrant plants #gardening
It’s not very often this pretty little #chandelier gets its chance to shine properly, but thanks to low winter light it’s having its twinkly moment in the sun (& pointing out to me a patch of ceiling that could do with repainting!) #nofilter
It’s not very often this pretty little #chandelier gets its chance to shine properly, but thanks to low winter light it’s having its twinkly moment in the sun (& pointing out to me a patch of ceiling that could do with repainting!) #nofilter
Home to the MOST delicious and enormous sesame sourdough loaf carried home from Copenhagen’s @hartbageri by my friend @ratetealady - the first buttered slice bettered only by the second slice, fried in lashings more butter at the suggestion of the masterful @richardhartbaker - ‘Imagine it’s a steak’, he said. Never cooked one of those but did my best (and boy was it gooooood...) #homesweethome #bread #thankyou
Home to the MOST delicious and enormous sesame sourdough loaf carried home from Copenhagen’s @hartbageri by my friend @ratetealady - the first buttered slice bettered only by the second slice, fried in lashings more butter at the suggestion of the masterful @richardhartbaker - ‘Imagine it’s a steak’, he said. Never cooked one of those but did my best (and boy was it gooooood...) #homesweethome #bread #thankyou
🥪 SWIPE FOR SANDWICHES OF GREAT EPICNESS! A few months ago I listened to a hilarious podcast from @honeyandco featuring Max Halley a.k.a. @lunchluncheon talking about the art of the sandwich and his book Max’s Sandwich Shop, named after, um, Max’s Sandwich Shop (in Crouch Hill). He reckoned the restaurant world had turned its attention to everything except the sarnie, so Max set out to do that. I bought a copy of the book & liked it so much I bought another for #marssams with the promise we’d go there together. 🥪 Last night we did & I had unquestionably the most outrageously good #sarnie of my life - made with a spring roll filling (among much other deliciousness). As Max has identified, it’s ALL ABOUT CRUNCH. (Which is why every fast-food sandwich tastes better with a layer of crisps added.) In a live re-enactment of Man -v-Food and with much recourse to the roll of kitchen paper handily placed on each table, we valiantly ate kimchi, deep-fried cheese & jalapeño balls, our VAST sarnies (actually Mars will be having the half-sandwich that defeated me for breakfast, if he remembers to get it out of his football kitbag). 🥪 Max made us roar with laughter and it is an altogether joyous, scrumptious and very silly place to eat. (NB The Suggestions Box is a #shredder !) If we’d been in any doubt, the delivery of the bill in a duck casserole clinched it - and do read the billboard outside. ‘More fell out of my sandwich than I get in a Pret.’ 🥪 It’s a heck of a long way from anywhere (never mind Hastings), but (as Max would say) f***ing just go, will you? We’ll certainly be back - though next time I’ll wear my Pac-a-Mac... So I am somehow married to one of THOSE men who get weird looks because they’re wearing shorts in February when everyone else is in puffa jackets... But I ❤️ him anyway The most beautiful #flowers I have ever seen @dior La Maison Dior just-for-one-night takeover of 38 Grosvenor Square tonight... @byappointmentonlydesign you excelled yourselves... @diorparfums #thesetwo @carsonparkinfairley #willpottinger #dayout #margate #turnercontemporary and fab lunch @hantverkfound followed by #icecream #itsthelaw #familyouting I’ve entered. Will you? LINK IN BIO #Repost @raretealady with @get_repost ・・・ Please would you do me a massive favour and post this picture? I’d be so grateful. Help me let everyone know about this amazing event, and get a chance to come. Please could you also paste the link from my bio into your bio. It takes you to the page where you can donate £5 to @rarecharity to get the chance to come to tea @claridgeshotel made by @richardhartbaker and @chefmnail and @reneredzepinoma and me. hosted by @xander.armstrong There is an option to donate £10 to win 2 tickets. The more times you donate the more chances to win. It will be epic. And even if you don’t win you’ll be supporting educational scholarships in tea communities. Please, please, please Oh this was so #cool ! Sound healer Russell Penn @lucybellgallery opening of her tree-themed #exhibition ‘Arboretum’ last night, advertising the show with an iPad showing one of the photos, illuminated inside a see-thru backpack... #onlyinhastings (or rather, #stleonardsonsea ...) #photography #privateview Maybe just a TEENY bit ambitious to make my first-ever soufflé on a week night for @craigsams #valentinesday2019 dinner à deux... Promptly put an oven mitt thumbprint in it but it came out pretty darned tasty... (Swiss ruby chard picked this morning from the garden, if you’re wondering. The batter was a very exciting Valentine-appropriate pink but alas it came out green when baked... Salad almost all from the greenhouse - buttercrunch, endive, frisée and a bit of Ocado radicchio) #romanceisnotdead #foodoflove #homegrown #homecooking #thingswedoforlove #colorsofinstagram #❤️ Pretty much everyone who was there had already posted a similar #insta of the magnificent @maitrechoux eclairs and @rareteacompany brews at yesterday’s belated @theperfumesociety and @beautybibleofficial #christmas tea graciously hosted by @lornamckay1 yesterday. I cannot tell you how much more relaxed everyone is celebrating Christmas in #February. (Gave us something to look forward to.) Thanks for coming @sarahamstacey @jennysemple @oioivictoria @beyondpale @hettiejones @carsonparkinfairley and other non-Instagrammers Teresa & Dave (who ferried my vintage china from Hastings...) Swipe to see Hettie modelling a gold lip from the icing on her eclair! #vintagechina #everythingstopsfortea #nofilter - just really bright! #camelliaseason #inmygarden Making the most of #sevilleoranges season with @nigelslater Orange, Lemon & Ginger Marmalade and the fabulous Vin d’Orange from @sallyclarkeltd - only I’d forgotten how flipping long marmalade takes to prepare and chopping and squeezing 2 kilos of oranges took me three hours! Worth it, though. (And all those fruit acids have given me super-soft hands!) #homemade #preserves #nofilter - what a difference a day makes... #thecalmafterthestorm #crispmorning My date yesterday - Melisande #babyccino @fika.coffee.44 Welcome to the land of broken and lonely @chanel earrings. This morning I very satisfyingly tidied my #costumejewellery drawer (the only kind I have). Most of these were given to me by my friend Paula in the 1980s. Almost all of them lost their twin during various high-jinks and adventures. Every time I tidy them I think: I should do something with these - but what? They’re mostly too heavy for Christmas tree decorations. Suggestions, please... I can’t possibly throw them away. They remind me of so many Christmases and birthdays (and general shenanigans) with my hilarious accomplice... And so it all begins again, with #february Gold daffs... The light shifted today, too, and became a bit more spring-like #itscoming #inmygarden #nofilter #tbt to last Thursday morning on the last day of our holiday at #oneandonlyroyalmirage ... One of the lovely smily chefs, Subin, had been trying to persuade me to eat his #pancakes and I kept saying, ‘On the last day, Subin, on the last day...’ (We love the Arabic breakfasts - enough to keep going till dinnertime.) And this is what he made for me... Thank you Subin (& Hassan, Eby, Nadjim, Jobim, Sherin, Kevin, Joseph, Rio, Teresa, Quennie, Mehdi, Kumara, Anjesh, Lakshan and Primal...) Discovered a whole load of brilliant merchandise based around the upliftingly cheery #illustrations of clever @Emily coxhead (founder and creator of @thehappynewspaper ) at springfair2019 yesterday. I think we all need one of these in our lives... Oh! There I am! Great day at #springfair2019 talking about how brands can (and need to) embrace sustainability and strong values #greenandblacks #ilovemyjob Unprepossessing to look at but a few sprigs of sarcacocca are enough to scent a whole room with their honeyed beauty... One of my favourite #frangrant plants #gardening It’s not very often this pretty little #chandelier gets its chance to shine properly, but thanks to low winter light it’s having its twinkly moment in the sun (& pointing out to me a patch of ceiling that could do with repainting!) #nofilter Home to the MOST delicious and enormous sesame sourdough loaf carried home from Copenhagen’s @hartbageri by my friend @ratetealady - the first buttered slice bettered only by the second slice, fried in lashings more butter at the suggestion of the masterful @richardhartbaker - ‘Imagine it’s a steak’, he said. Never cooked one of those but did my best (and boy was it gooooood...) #homesweethome #bread #thankyou

PODCAST

For the Guardian's Meet the Mentors podcast series Jo gave her tips to milliner Sahar Freemantle on how to make it big. Listen below...

For the Guardian's Meet the Mentors podcast series Jo gave her tips to milliner Sahar Freemantle on how to make it big. Listen below...

THE STORY
The Story of Green & Black's: How two entrepreneurs turned an ethical idea into a business success
By Craig Sams, Josephine Fairley
Contact Jo Fairley