Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story - From Refugee to Entrepreneur to Philanthropist

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This is an incredibly open and honest account of an extraordinary woman and her life. The book's title is Let it Go and in part that refers to the "letting go" of her own company and a lot of her wealth. The final chapter, in which she sums up her life and her philosophy on life, is worth a read on its own. Das Konzept von Mrs Shirleys Firma ist simpel: Home Office und Teilzeit sowie auf Selbstständigen Basis. Modern eben. Und das in den 60igern.

It is also worth noting that most autistic children have (often undiagnosed) autistic parents and perhaps that was why she was so successful? I would be amazed by sheer statistical probability if she hadn't had at least a few neurodiverse programmers working for her. Offen und ehrlich berichtet Dame Stephanie Shriley von Selbstmordgedanken, Nervenzusammenbruch, Selbstzweifel und schweren Zeiten. Dame Stephanie Shirley is one of Britain's leading philanthropists and has donated most of her life to helping good causes, especially those close to her heart. Shirley empowered a generation of women in technology, giving them unheard of freedom to choose their own hours and manage their own workloads. The business thrived and Shirley gradually transferred ownership to her staff, creating 70 millionaires in the process. I notice that some other reviewers say that her description of how she steered and grew her company from a small cottage startup to huge software consultancy business was the least interesting part of this book. Working in IT myself, I found it fascinating. Some of her ideas were quite novel:- from the start there was an emphasis on quality and good process and project management. She went through good and bad times and the usual struggles that come from a growing business. What I appreciated was that she names so many people and gives credit to them. She had a desire to hand over the company to the employees, something like the "John Lewis" model. The employees though, were less interested in owning and running the company for themselves than getting the hard cash reward of shares, 70 of whom became millionaires as a result. (It was the 1990s).I wasn't expecting to give this a low rating, I've seen Dame Shirley speak and she is inspirational. Most of this book was 4 star. Her early life as a refugee and the founding of her freelance company and it's growth are fascinating. Der Titel "Let IT go" ist ein Wortspiel: Im Zentrum steht die Informationstechnologie (IT), aber der rote Faden der in englischer Sprache verfügbaren Autobiografie von Stephanie Shirley ist das Loslassen (let it go). Der Autobiografin blieb auch nichts anderes übrig. Loslassen lernen, loslassen können - das ist die Klammer der drei Themen, die die Vita der Autobiografin prägen: Sie gehört zu den 100 einflussreichsten Frauen Englands. Dennoch ist sie mir gänzlich unbekannt. Doch eine Frau die in den wilden 60igern ein IT-Unternehmen aufbaut muss etwas Spannendes zu erzählen haben.

Der Berufliche Erfolg ist bald unübersehbar. Doch privat trifft es sie hart: Ihr Sohn wird mit schwerem Autismus diagnostiziert. Seine Betreuung wird zu einer Herkules-Aufgabe und bald nicht mehr stemmbar für das Ehepaar Shirley. A moving memoir from a woman who made a fortune in a man's world and then gave it all away...soon to be turned into a film Der Leser dieser Biografie begleitet sie von Kindesbeinen bis zur fast-85. Faszinierend und sehr inspirierend, besonders in den späten Kapiteln. By the early 1960s, now a British citizen and married with a new name, Stephanie Shirley was becoming frustrated with the low expectations, inequality and sexism that women faced in the workplace. She decided to start her own company, selling software. It was called Freelance Programmers, and it was staffed by women working from home, blazing a trail for flexible working practices for women with caring responsibilities. 297 of the first 300 staff were women. At the time, when a woman couldn’t open a bank account without her husband’s permission, this idea was truly revolutionary.A child refugee builds the first wholly female software company, putting feminism into practice, and goes on to become one of the most noted philanthropists in her country. It’s a story fit for Hollywood. Stephanie Shirley tells it with gusto, raw honesty, and compelling writing in her autobiography, Let It Go. However, I would warn readers that their are a lot of possible triggers here for neurodiverse people. As someone with 3 diagnosed family members (2 non verbal, 1 with a rare form of epilepsy) I found this very upsetting. There are a few poignant quotes which spoke to me in this book. Some your typical stirring speech....

Ein Startup in den 1960er Jahren, als Computer und Informatik in unserer Gesellschaft noch nicht allgegenwärtig waren (aber bereits unumkehrbar auf dem Vormarsch); This Kindle edition has been specially formatted by Andrews UK and includes photographs from Dame Stephanie's personal collection. I stood by my decision and soon realised that this letting go was one of the smartest things I could have done." Als halb-jüdisches Flüchtlingskind gelangt Stephanie Shirley vor vielen Jahren nach England. Ihre Pflegeeltern sind gut zu ihr und ihrer Schwester und ermöglichen ihr ein Leben in Sicherheit. Sie ist mathematisch begabt und arbeitet sich bis zu ihrem eigenen Unternehmen durch. Doch damit ist noch nicht annähernd die Essenz des Lebens dieser faszinierenden Frau umrissen.

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Dame Stephanie’s late son Giles was severely autistic and has been the inspiration behind her philanthropic work in the field of autism. Giles had complex needs, and when caring for him at home was no longer possible, Dame Stephanie worked relentlessly to find a safe environment where he could thrive. Determined that Giles should not live his entire life in a hospital environment, in 1994 she founded Kingwood, a residential home for autistic people, now known as Autism at Kingwood. Giles was the first resident, in the first home of the first charity that Dame Stephanie founded. And others when Dame Stephanie Shirley ponders on what it means to her to build/grow her ideas into companies and enterprises... Today, Dame Stephanie Shirley is one of Britain's leading philanthropists, devoting most of her time, energy and wealth to charities that are close to her heart. In Let It Go, Shirley tells her inspirational story and explains why giving her wealth away - letting it go - has brought her infinitely more happiness and fulfilment than acquiring it in the first place.