Anne McKevitt
Encyclopedia
Anne McKevitt is an entrepreneur, TV personality, author and philanthropist.
. She spent her childhood in a poor area, living together with her family in local council housing. She mentioned that she was the first girl in the Highlands
refusing to do cookery and sewing lessons in high school, instead doing metal work and technical drawing lessons with a class of boys. She revolted at school against dissecting animals for biology and managed to change the high school policy in this matter. At age 15, Anne left school and went to London
, where she started to work as a junior hairstylist.
, creating hair styles for major catwalk shows, pop video shoots, TV commercials, magazine covers and fashion spreads. Within a few years, she became established in the fashion business, considered in the British media of that time as one of the top four hairstylists in the UK.
In 1986, she suffered a serious car accident, which left her unable to walk for 18 months. The event was a turning point in her career, preventing her to return to the fashion world. The recovery was not complete, the effects of some spinal injuries were only ameliorated with alternative treatment provided by Linda
and Paul McCartney
(two of her former clients).
As part of her recuperation, she spent time revamping her own apartment. When she was asked by other people to help them renovating their houses, this proved to be the inception of a successful business. In 1990, Anne started her first company with finance from her credit card, refurbishing and developing London homes, then a second one for handling interior design of existing properties.
After a year, her property development business had a multimillion pound turnover, her work resulting also in several design awards, including the Housing Design Award 2000 and Best Home in Scotland.
In 1995, as a result of her success as an interior designer and property developer, Anne was asked to host a new lifestyle TV show. From 1995 until 2000, she appeared for the BBC
in 18 series of lifestyle programmes (including Home Front
, 1996 - 2000 seasons) that were syndicated in 22 countries. Anne also featured in various other UK TV shows (among them, the ITV
programmes and subsidiaries This Morning, GMTV
, STV) and later appeared on several US networks. She also appeared as a guest on TV shows in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, UK, United States and Zimbabwe.
In the years 1997 - 2002, Anne wrote five interior design
books that sold in 16 countries. The first of them (Style on a Shoestring) sold one million copies and was the twentieth best selling UK book in the 1990s. Interviews and feature articles appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers.
In 1997 she launched her line of home products, branded Anne McKevitt Ideas, its items being sold in the UK retail outlets, including Homebase
, B & Q, Debenhams
, John Lewis
, Freemans
and Home Shopping Network
.
In Spring 2001, Anne McKevitt announced that her line of home products would also be launched in the United States
. In August, the same year, she was named by Time Magazine as one of Four International Business Leaders to Watch.
At a later date, Anne McKevitt immigrated to Australia
, living in Sydney
.
Besides her brand of home products, Anne became also known as an adviser on lifestyle changes and competitiveness, counseling global businesses, including Mercedes
, Wal Mart, Toyota and Hewlett Packard. She is a motivational speaker, covering topics such as leadership, innovation, trends and competitiveness. She also gives keynote presentations and runs workshops on a variety of business subjects.
Anne McKevitt is involved in humanitarian and educational projects, working with organizations such as Clinton Global Initiative and Opportunity International Australia. She is a member of British Humanist Association
, PETA
and the Australian and British Vegetarian Societies
.
. Her interests include animal compassion
, environmental issue
s, poverty reduction
, neuroscience
and space science
.
She practiced sports from an early age and won awards for gymnastics as a teen. After the 1986 accident, although she was told that she would never be able to walk again, she managed to recover, remaining however with a chronic back pain. She continued an active life, with daily Yoga exercises, swimming and walking.
Early years
Anne McKevitt was born in 1967 in Caithness, in northern ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. She spent her childhood in a poor area, living together with her family in local council housing. She mentioned that she was the first girl in the Highlands
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
refusing to do cookery and sewing lessons in high school, instead doing metal work and technical drawing lessons with a class of boys. She revolted at school against dissecting animals for biology and managed to change the high school policy in this matter. At age 15, Anne left school and went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where she started to work as a junior hairstylist.
Career
Anne McKevitt was trained as a hairstylist by John FriedaJohn Frieda
John Frieda is an English celebrity hairstylist and founder of hair salon and hair product businesses. The hair product business was acquired in 2002 by Kao Corporation, Japan. The hair products he created are widely available in the United States and many other countries.-Early life:Frieda was...
, creating hair styles for major catwalk shows, pop video shoots, TV commercials, magazine covers and fashion spreads. Within a few years, she became established in the fashion business, considered in the British media of that time as one of the top four hairstylists in the UK.
In 1986, she suffered a serious car accident, which left her unable to walk for 18 months. The event was a turning point in her career, preventing her to return to the fashion world. The recovery was not complete, the effects of some spinal injuries were only ameliorated with alternative treatment provided by Linda
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
(two of her former clients).
As part of her recuperation, she spent time revamping her own apartment. When she was asked by other people to help them renovating their houses, this proved to be the inception of a successful business. In 1990, Anne started her first company with finance from her credit card, refurbishing and developing London homes, then a second one for handling interior design of existing properties.
After a year, her property development business had a multimillion pound turnover, her work resulting also in several design awards, including the Housing Design Award 2000 and Best Home in Scotland.
In 1995, as a result of her success as an interior designer and property developer, Anne was asked to host a new lifestyle TV show. From 1995 until 2000, she appeared for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 18 series of lifestyle programmes (including Home Front
Homefront (TV series)
Homefront was an interior design "makeover" TV show airing on the BBC, on par with American television's This Old House and Martha Stewart...
, 1996 - 2000 seasons) that were syndicated in 22 countries. Anne also featured in various other UK TV shows (among them, the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
programmes and subsidiaries This Morning, GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
, STV) and later appeared on several US networks. She also appeared as a guest on TV shows in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, UK, United States and Zimbabwe.
In the years 1997 - 2002, Anne wrote five interior design
Interior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...
books that sold in 16 countries. The first of them (Style on a Shoestring) sold one million copies and was the twentieth best selling UK book in the 1990s. Interviews and feature articles appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers.
In 1997 she launched her line of home products, branded Anne McKevitt Ideas, its items being sold in the UK retail outlets, including Homebase
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...
, B & Q, Debenhams
Debenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
, John Lewis
John Lewis (department store)
-Recent developments:In June 2004, John Lewis announced plans to open its first store in Northern Ireland at the Sprucefield Park development, the province's largest out of town shopping centre, located outside Lisburn and from Belfast. The application was approved in June 2005 and the opening of...
, Freemans
Freemans
Freemans is a British catalogue clothing retailer.Freemans was founded in 1904 with four staff, and acquired by Otto GmbH in 1999. In 2000 its administrative department was merged with Grattan plc, under the banner of Otto UK....
and Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
.
In Spring 2001, Anne McKevitt announced that her line of home products would also be launched in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In August, the same year, she was named by Time Magazine as one of Four International Business Leaders to Watch.
At a later date, Anne McKevitt immigrated to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, living in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
Besides her brand of home products, Anne became also known as an adviser on lifestyle changes and competitiveness, counseling global businesses, including Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, Wal Mart, Toyota and Hewlett Packard. She is a motivational speaker, covering topics such as leadership, innovation, trends and competitiveness. She also gives keynote presentations and runs workshops on a variety of business subjects.
Anne McKevitt is involved in humanitarian and educational projects, working with organizations such as Clinton Global Initiative and Opportunity International Australia. She is a member of British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
, PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
and the Australian and British Vegetarian Societies
Vegetarian Society
The Vegetarian Society is a British registered charity established on 30 September 1847 to "support, represent and increase the number of vegetarians in the UK."-History:...
.
Personal life
Anne is a moral vegetarian and she is known as an expert on vegetarian cuisineVegetarian cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine refers to food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products. For lacto-ovo vegetarianism , eggs and dairy products such as milk and cheese are permitted...
. Her interests include animal compassion
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
, environmental issue
Environmental issue
Environmental issues are negative aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment. Environmentalism, a social and environmental movement that started in the 1960s, addresses environmental issues through advocacy, education and activism.-Types:...
s, poverty reduction
Poverty reduction
Poverty is the state of human beings who are poor. That is, they have little or no material means of surviving—little or no food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and other physical means of living and improving one's life....
, neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
and space science
Space science
The term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....
.
She practiced sports from an early age and won awards for gymnastics as a teen. After the 1986 accident, although she was told that she would never be able to walk again, she managed to recover, remaining however with a chronic back pain. She continued an active life, with daily Yoga exercises, swimming and walking.
Books
- 1997 McKevitt, Anne: Style on a Shoestring, Quadrille Publishing Ltd, London. ISBN 1-902757-37-8
- 1998 McKevitt, Anne: Home Front Kitchens, BBC Worldwide Publishing, London. ISBN 0-563-38391-7
- 1998 McKevitt, Anne: House Sensation, Quadrille Publishing Ltd, London. ISBN 1-8999988-43-2
- 2000 McKevitt, Anne: Designer Know How by BBC Worldwide Ltd, London. ISBN 0-563-55164-X
- 2002 McKevitt, Anne: Style Solutions, Clarkson Potter-Random House Publishers, New York. ISBN 1-4000-4610-6
Awards
- Leading Women Entrepreneur of the World 2002-3
- Time Magazine's one of Four International Business Leaders To Watch
- World Class Entrepreneur (The International Herald Tribune)
- Number 30 in The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
500 Most Powerful Britons - Best Home in Scotland (UK National Home Builder design award sponsored by The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper) - Best Home for the Future in the UK (UK National Home Builder design award sponsored by The Guardian newspaper)
- Best Interior Layout (What House award sponsored by The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
newspaper) - Civic Trust Award 2001 (Saltire SocietySaltire SocietyThe Saltire Society was established in 1936 to encourage everything that might improve the quality of life in Scotland and restore the country to its proper place as a creative force in European civilisation....
) - Housing Design Award 2000 (Royal Incorporation of Architects in ScotlandRoyal Incorporation of Architects in ScotlandThe Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland is the professional body for architects in Scotland. It was founded in 1916 by Robert Rowand Anderson who donated his Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh to be used as its home, where it remains to this day. It was given its first Royal charter in...
) - Regeneration Achievement Award 2000 (Supreme Award, Chartered Institute of BuildingChartered Institute of BuildingThe Chartered Institute of Building is a body that represents professionals who work within the built environment in the United Kingdom.- History :...
, Scotland) - Good Building Award 2000 (Royal Town Planning InstituteRoyal Town Planning InstituteThe Royal Town Planning Institute is a body representing planning professionals in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1914.-Members:...
award for Planning Achievement)
External links
- Anne McKevitt at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...