Seven sisters: growing up with a strong female influence

What better way to celebrate International Women's Day (Sunday 8th March) than to speak to a women who knows all about living a life filled with inspiring women. RedLaw Consultant, Phoebe Heffer, is one of, wait for it,....seven sisters, yes, seven girls.

It always amazes every single one of us in the team, so we thought we'd put a few questions to Phoebe about family life and growing up with such a strong female force.

Phoebe, you’re the youngest of seven girls. What was it like growing up in a house of 8 women (including your mum!)

A mad house! Can you imagine 8 women wanting to use the bathroom at the same time getting ready for work /school? Or fighting over the remote or who’s taken whose clothes. Me being the youngest, I got away with the most (and my sisters don’t let me forget it). That aside, growing up has been fun. I feel so blessed to have my sisters, you never feel alone, and I am luckily enough to have such an amazing relationship with all of them individually.

What is your best childhood memory?

It’s always been Christmas or birthdays – it always feels like such a special occasion. Christmas at my parents house with all my sisters and nieces was always chaos - trying to fit us all round the table was a challenge. Now, Christmas is even busier with even more of us now there are 6 grandchildren - and, believe it or not, they are all girls! Plus we have the husbands and partners to find seats for at the table too.

What is the best thing about having so many sisters?

The best thing would definitely be that no matter what happens I know that I will always have 6 people I can turn to no matter what. It’s the feeling of security that I can go to my sisters for anything. I have watched my sisters support each other through some of the highest highs and lowest lows in their lives.

What are your sisters' names?

Rebecca, Rachel, Sophia. Charlotte, Bryde and Olivia.

What’s the most common questions people ask you when you say you are one of seven girls?

The very first question everyone always asks is.... “How does your Dad cope with all those women in his life?”. The truth to that question is, he loves it! Following his 7 daughters he is now a Grandfather to 6 Granddaughters, he loves it. You might think he wants a Grandson to play football with, but he secretly enjoys watching Disney on repeat. Not to mention, that he gets away with everything!

How has growing up with the support and influence of so many female role models positively impacted your life?

More than you think it would! I am the youngest (number 7) and all of my sisters including my Mum have been such a huge part of my life. They play a key part in who I am today. I’ve watched all my sisters achieve their own personal goals, seen them work hard and be the caring and successful people they are today, from travelling the world, starting up their own business or juggling a career and raising my nieces. Each and everyone one my sisters has set the best examples for me in life. Although they have given me everything I have ever needed, each of them has taught me so much and I couldn’t be more grateful for having such amazing role models.

The next special day we have coming up is Mother's Day. How do you all organise this?

With all family events, organising anything is a task in itself. Mother’s Day traditionally has always been tea at my parents and watching her get showered with gifts from her daughters (she usually lets us know what she wants via the Family WhatsApp group a couple weeks before!). With our family getting bigger and bigger, and my sisters becoming mothers too, it’s proving more difficult for us all to get the time. But, whatever happens the house remains as busy as ever with people dropping in and out throughout the day. My dad always has described our house as Charing Cross station.

What are the biggest similarities and the largest differences between you all? Looks and personality traits?

We all have our uniqueness, but when we are all together you can tell we are related! My sister Olivia (number 6) and I look so alike, we even have the same mannerisms. I have looked at photos of her and had to double check to see if it was me.

We definitely take after my Mum in terms of looks, we all get told we look like her a lot but we get our darkness from my Dad as my Mum is blonde with blue eyes.

Our personalities are totally different, we all have our own opinions, and they are strong opinions too! We can disagree on a lot of stuff, whether that be parenting techniques, different views of health and fitness or even Brexit! That aside, there's one thing we all have in common and that’s, Sisterhood! No matter what disagreements we have, they never last for long.

We are all quite strongly opinionated and are very passionate, but that’s what I love in all of my sisters. We are all different, we have all chosen unique paths in life so it's interesting hearing the diverse views my sisters have. It's definitely made me more understanding and adaptable to situations.

Phoebe, you’re a legal recruiter. What professional directions have some of your sisters followed?

A real variety, one of my sisters is also in recruitment She is currently living in Sydney specialising in Finance recruitment but prior to that she worked for a recruitment agency in London for 5 years. Whenever we get to catch up, we always end up talking about work. It’s fascinating that even though she is on the other side of the world we both still face the same challenges and have so much in common when it comes to our work life.

How do you like to start your day?

Typically, once I leave my house each morning and get on the train to work I try and get all my personal admin done, mainly responding to the endless family group chat conversations, so when I am at work I can fully concentrate on my day. I would say I am a very organised person. Each day I set out a ‘to do list’, work through all my emails and complete all urgent tasks. I also try and set myself 1 or 2 goals each day to complete; which is typically to find CV’s for 1 or 2 roles I am working on.

As a legal recruiter, what does a typical day look like for you and what do you enjoy most?

Outlining the average day of a recruitment consultant is a difficult task, as every day is so vastly different.

As a recruitment consultant, fostering strong, lasting relationships lies at the heart of your day-to-day role. In addition to the external relationships you will develop, you also build strong working relationships with your colleagues.

All going well, the best part of my job (and this will probably apply to most) is honestly when I know I have helped someone. I know how much my career means to me, so when it comes to helping candidates with their job search supporting them achieve their career goals, and I know I have played an instrumental part in this, it's such a good feeling.

One of RedLaw’s company values is ‘serve from the heart’. I love this - I often find myself referring to this motto every day.

You were voted 'Best Newcomer' at the RedLaw Employee end of year awards 2019. You’ve been with the business for almost a year. What have been the biggest surprises working here?

I loved receiving this award! I think the biggest surprise for me was the culture at RedLaw. With every new company, you always hope that you are going to enjoy working there and that you will get on with the people, but RedLaw honestly has a really unique culture. Everyone is respected for their differences and individuality, there is a real 'one team' camaraderie. Each person brings something different to the team which makes it work.