Episode 274: Bonus Episode: Tammy Parlour, MBE co-founder of Women’s Sport Trust - on gender equality in sport and why it is critical to all of us

Tammy Parlour, is the co-founder of Women’s Sport Trust.  She works with leaders from across sport, media and business to understand how to practically raise visibility, increase impact and create a stronger women’s sport ecosystem and was awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to gender equality in sport. She is a Master in the Korean martial art of Hapkido, having practiced for over 40 years, and currently runs a club in central London. She is a club rep on The FA Women’s National League Board since the end of 2023 and sums up her approach to life succinctly on her biography on LinkedIn as “I love learning”.

Our conversation starts with how she discovered martial arts and hapkido in particular and the collateral impact of building extreme proficiency in the sport – in particular how moving to each belt level required “inhabiting” the roles and responsibilities that came with each level (e.g. to teach other classes).  We trace then her move back to the UK from the US and setting up a studio in the discipline.

This discussion is a particularly personal one, as we explore the benefits that sport and discipline can bring to an impressionable teenage mind, particularly one that might have struggled with other issues such as an eating disorder, and we discuss how this informed a life-long mission for Tammy to further equality in sport and the creation of a stronger women’s sport ecosystem. 

The themes of voice, empowerment, inner strength, discipline, loyalty and passion are all intertwined in this conversation, which we bring to you as a special bonus in the aftermath of the Olympics 2024, which were a triumph for diversity and inclusion.