Jasmine Birtles
1. When you were at Brighton & Hove High School, and what is your fondest memory of school?
This is probably what everyone says, but it really is true that my fondest memory of school is the other girls. I’m still in touch with quite a few of them – certainly more than I am with university friends – and they are all as kind, friendly, interesting and lively as they were when we were at school together. School really did have a good vibe about it and I was grateful to be there. I wasn’t aware of any bullying or nastiness going on, which I think is testament to the culture created by the staff and head teachers. Well done them.
2. Who was your favourite teacher and why?
I liked and respected a lot of the teachers at school, but the one who stands out the most to me is Mrs Nuttall, a part-time English teacher. This is mainly because she taught me to think critically.
She was an extraordinary-looking woman with blonde hair done up in a loose bun and rheumy, highly made-up eyes behind round ‘John Lennon’ glasses. She would often wander vaguely into the wrong classroom and have to be pointed in the direction of the right one, so it was easy to mistake her for someone who wasn’t quite ‘with it’. But she very much was.
I remember the shock and elation I felt when, in one lesson, she read a poem by Coleridge and finished it by saying “well that was rubbish wasn’t it?” I remember being amazed to hear someone just dismiss something that had been written by a great poet and printed in a proper book. It made me look again at that poem, and at all other written material with new eyes. I realised then, and have realised over and over since, that just because someone is famous, respected, published and (probably) highly-paid, it doesn’t mean that they are right or talented. It started me off in more critical thinking. As a journalist it has helped me to question a lot more.
3. What were the benefits of being in an all-girls school?
You could get on with the work and not be distracted by, or worried about, what the boys are thinking or doing. It also made for a gentler, more supportive atmosphere I think.
4. What did you want to be when you ‘grew-up’?
I didn’t know and I’m still looking for ideas!
I knew I wanted to do something creative and probably something that involved showing off, but other than that I wasn’t entirely clear! I went through various ideas including being an author, being an opera singer, being a TV presenter and being an entrepreneur. As it happens I’ve done all of those except for the opera singer one, and hey, who knows…
5. What do you do now, and what are the most rewarding and challenging parts of your job?
It always takes me a while to answer that one as I do various different things all at the same time.
I have written 38 books, including books about money and investing and books of jokes and quotes. I run a national consumer website called MoneyMagpie.com where I employ a team of people around the country to create the content, bring in advertising and grow the audience.
I have a weekly column in the Daily Mail (Miss Moneysaver) and a monthly column in Platinum magazine.
I have presented some TV programmes in the past and currently appear on various programmes across the networks (BBC, Channel 5, Sky, Talk TV, GB News etc) as well as various radio programmes, as a money, business and economics commentator.
I am also a keynote speaker, talking on a range of topics from consumer behaviour to investing and even spirituality and ethics. I have been a stand-up comedian and still bring comedy into many of my videos and TV appearances, particularly when talking about subjects that are basically quite dull.
One of the most rewarding things about what I do is the variety. I’ve never had an actual job because I have never come across one that includes all the things that I do. Being self-employed – and particularly employing others – is not easy but it’s never dull! There are many challenging aspects to it, such as coming up with ideas for the various columns and programmes I do, keeping the cashflow going in order to pay employees, researching new topics and bringing in more work…all of these are challenging in their own ways.
6. What are you most proud of so far?
The fact that I have managed to build up a career based on my own ideas and activities. I have certainly been helped along the way, firstly by my mother who always supported and encouraged me, and also by wise and strong people in my church and then all sorts of friends and advisors. School definitely gave me a good grounding for so much of what I have done. So it wasn’t all me of course, but I know how hard it has been and am pleased to have got to where I am without the support of a corporate network.
7. What was the best piece of advice you were given whilst at Brighton?
I don’t really remember being given advice, although I’m sure I was given quite a lot really. However, what I do remember is that I was taught a lot about how to work, how to do the best I could and how to operate as a team. The extra-curricular activities were particularly helpful in building up various talents and interests.
8. What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?
Get out more, stop worrying and take more risks. Who cares if you fail – it’s a good way to learn.
9. What book, film or piece of music would you recommend to your younger self and to your fellow alumnae?
The Bible (King James Version). I know it’s an unfashionable thing to say – which is good as I love to be unfashionable – but all the answers really are there. I’ve read…well,,,scanned…a number of self-help books and they’re all pretty useless apart from their titles which are usually the only actual message there, the rest is usually just padding. And anything they do say that’s of use can all be found in the Bible anyway. I have certainly found it the best guide to life of all the books I’ve read.
10. How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who made a positive difference to her fellow human beings, and was kind.
