Dawn Jeakings, 56, is the manager of the Royals Shopping Centre Manager, and founder/director of Southend BID.

She was recently named one of Essex's most inspiring women in business by our sister publication, Essex Living magazine.

As centre manager for 15 years, and a further three years as centre administrator under her belt, Dawn has helped shape the Royals into Southend’s premier shopping venue.

And it's an industry she's more than familiar with.

"I started weekend work at the age of 13 in a hairdressers, but my first proper job was as a management trainee at Dickins & Jones Regent Street London, the sister store to Harrods and I was dedicated to the fabric hall," the mum-of-one explains.

"The Royals is located on both the town's bustling High Street and world famous seafront and provides the definitive all-weather shopping experience in the area.

"With more than 25 stores it attracts more than 120,000 customers visit each week.

"My role is to proactively manage all aspects of the centre and the on-site team to maximise the effectiveness of the investment on behalf of the landlord, while also building effective relationships with retailers and external agencies to achieve optimum income generation and attracting increasing numbers of customers. It includes finance, operational and contract management, marketing and PR, health and safety, and dealing with the general public."

Dawn is also one of the founding members of Southend's Town Centre Partnership that put in place Southend BID and is now in its second term bringing together 370 town centre and seafront business’s to make Southend THE destination for shoppers, visitors and other new businesses.

"My Southend BID commitments are on top of the day job and are extremely important to me and my role at the centre. I strongly believe in good partnership working and this is increasingly becoming more and more important in today's challenging environment," she says.

What does she believe the secret to building a successful career is?

"I'm a driven/focused person that if set with a task will always follow it through and this is how I have been throughout my career," she says. "I also believe you must believe in what you do with a real passion if not you must move on to something that inspires."

And is there a particular businesswoman (or man!) that she admires?

"I admire all women that have made it in an ever-challenging male dominated world, especially those that have children too - it's never easy spinning all those plates," she smiles. "I also greatly admire Richard Branson's approach to business. He is very hands on and challenges everyone to find more leverage in their business, build a brand that will create a meaningful competitive advantage, and truly live a life full of passion and fun."

CAREER TIP: The devil is in the detail, stay hands on as much as possible and never lose sight of your business goals making sure you listen to the team around you.