We’re interviewing Deborah Meaden - what should we ask her?

[RayaMumsnet]

Hi all,

We’re sitting down with the one and only Deborah Meaden next week, and we’d love your questions.

As well as being a hugely successful entrepreneur and a legendary Dragon, Deborah hosts BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Big Green Money Show and writes brilliant books about money for children and teens. Her book Why Money Matters (for ages 6-9) was an FT Book of the Year 2023 Critics’ Choice, and her latest, Deborah Meaden Talks Money, is aimed at 11-14 year olds.

Do you have a question you’ve always wanted to ask her? Post it below and we’ll put it to her on Wednesday 21 January.

(Disclaimer: we’ve got about 30 minutes, so we’ll try to squeeze in as many as we can!)

What’s a belief about business success that you once held very strongly, but which experience later proved completely wrong?

I am very much interested in how people build reliance and adaptability. Even highly successful people don't get it right all the time, every time.

As a woman who has seen many changes, do you believe that things are any easier for women to navigate through? I personally d

I have seen her comments on X which suggest she doesn’t believe anyone has been harmed by supporting women’s rights to single sex spaces. Maya Forstater and many others have given examples but she has refused to engage. Can you ask her directly if she believes that women have the right of consent to who is in their changing rooms, and if she agrees with people like Pip Bunce being given business awards that are for women?

The Dragons Den demonstrates that you’re all about the money, the profits etc. would you say this is true? Are any of you genuinely altruistic? Wouldn’t it be a better world if you were?

Do you think there is any harm in individuals announcing massive wealth? If so where would you draw the line?

Yes, this.

For reference, the exchange went like this:

"We live in a country where saying your honest opinion out loud, can get you cancelled, sacked or even arrested. How did we get here?"

Deborah Meaden: "Examples?"

Several women then gave examples of fighting years of court cases and, in some cases, then having to appeal the initial decision to receive justice.

Deborah Meaden's response was simply that the fact they eventually won such court cases underlines the fact it is illegal (and an implied shrug!) The illegality of such behaviour was, of course, not the premise of the statement she was asking for evidence to back up but in any event establishing the illegality of it has been hard fought and only recently won.

So can you please ask her:
1. whether she is outraged that these women had to spend years of their life and an extortionate amount of money in order to receive common sense justice (which, of course, still does not result in them getting their job back);
2. whether she is aware that many women suffering the same simply will not have had the resources to fight it; and
3. whether she acknowledges the chilling effect that (1) and (2) will have on ordinary women who have to make the invidious choice to have their dignity violated, put themselves at risk of harm and be harrassed in the work place OR risk losing their livelihood (and have only ever receive some small measure of monetary compensation for it if they are willing and able to fight through legal channels for years)?

@TheHereticalOnethanks for expanding on my comment. That is much clearer.

Hi Deborah my father died October left me and my three brothers equal share of inheritance my two older brothers are executors , they are very nasty have said their keeping my share as my older brother paid my small mortgage off twenty two years ago I thought as a gift I never asked him I thought he was being nice as I was only sister single working parent then when my dad died he said he's calling it In and taking my share of 150,000 , I can't afford to fight have till end of February I am stage four cancer with brain nets so they are going to get away with taking my money

I can’t think of anything, however she’s my favourite dragon and the one I’d want on my team if I was ever entrepreneurial enough to merit it! Love her.

Tell her can she get me my money before end of February

As an investor does she think the word cottage industry is a poisoned chalice and won’t get investment as people will think it can’t get big enough? (Tell her she’s my favourite dragon!)

How much money is enough and why do millionaires keep going after more?

Please ask her about working on Murder in Succesville with Tom Davis.

I really worry about the future of our planet. We have done a few things like getting solar panels and electric cars, trying to cut down on laundry and cleaning products in single use plastic (this isn’t always easy!). What other changes can we make and are there some products you recommend that we might not even realise have plastic in?

Hi Deborah,
Do you think that the need for companies to make profit can be fully compatible with environmental responsibility and overall sustainability? As an example, what are your thoughts on switching manufacture or sourcing materials away from the uk if that is where the business currently does these things, to somewhere cheaper but with comparatively lower worker rights or environmental protections? I see this coming up a lot on Dragons Den too.

Why she gets so snippy when people point out that her posts on X which clearly are ads should be marked as such…

Ask her if she still believes women's lives haven't been substantially damaged for asserting that trans men are not women

My nieces are just starting to learn about money... what do you think is the most important message we should be teaching kids about money from a young age?

what advice would you give to young girls who want to be entrepreneurs?

What question would you like to hear a candidate ask at the end of an interview?

Have you worked in any unusual jobs when you were just starting out?

This!

Just fwiw I thought that Deborah Meaden behaved well re Maya Forstater on Twitter.

What are people to do? They don't know what's going on (and we should be asking the BBC et al why that is) and it's comfortable to think you're the good guy and all these people who don't want to 'be kind' are just haters.
I felt like she stepped out of comfortable over the weekend and at least acknowledged the stories of women who have been harassed and singled out for holding completely ordinary beliefs. That's not nothing, not for someone who is employed by the BBC.

We do all need to move on together on this. Men aren't women, women aren't men. The Supreme Court clarification safeguarded single sex spaces, but govts of the UK are ignoring this. Most people are going to be confused by that, so imo we need to help them understand rather than just going after them for not having understood earlier. Does being cross with Deborah Meaden help the Scottish women prisoners who have to bunk up with the torturer Paris Green, or even the female officers who guard him? Google him, there are plenty of articles, including one from March this year where he injured a female guard.

On which note I'd ask Deborah - what now? Cos you can't say that you haven't seen that women have been hounded out of jobs, their own businesses, their entire lives just for having an understanding of the law (as it has always been), biology and reality. You're precisely the sort of woman who puts her money where her mouth is, so what plans have you now that you know?

What advice do you have for teenagers considering university?