A LEADING business figure collected her MBE at Windsor Castle last week almost two years after it was announced – and after nearly missing out altogether.
It marked a proud milestone for professional business mentor Sandra Garlick who was presented with an MBE for Services to Women In Business in the West Midlands by The Princess Royal.
But it was also a day which nearly never came when she missed the deadline for accepting the award while caring for her terminally ill father.
She said: “My dad was ill so I was living at my parents helping to care for him and so had been about three weeks late sending the paperwork back to accept the nomination.
“I never really thought anything of it again until Facebook exploded with people saying congratulations when the Honours were announced.
“I was very proud that I was able to tell my dad before he passed away.
Sandra was accompanied to the ceremony on December 1st by her youngest son Mark Harris
CeMAP who has been a big part of her professional as well as personal, journey.
The former solicitor, who now runs the successful Woman Who Achieves Academy, released the fourth book in her I Am A Woman Who series celebrating some of those inspirational stories.
Her other roles include ambassador for the Coventry charity The Luca Foundation and a non-executive director of Warwickshire-based Career Mums – a Community Interest Company that helps businesses achieve a better gender balance in the workplace.
Sandra said: “I’m incredibly proud to be awarded the MBE.
“It’s the one award you can’t put yourself forward for, I’m also proud of the fact that it not only recognises my achievements, but enables me to show other women what they are capable of achieving.”
