Young at heart, but with a strong sense of responsibility
By Emma Bache
IN THE latest of our series, our resident graphologist takes a closer look at the handwriting of a fashion retailer with a difference.
Life and career of Jacqueline Gold
Jacqueline Gold, 42, started working at her father’s sex shop business as an office junior in 1979. By 1987 she had been appointed to the board, and six years on she was chief executive. During her early reign she won three business awards, wrote her autobiography, Good Vibrations, and became a patron of the Breast Cancer Campaign.
Since she became chief, turnover has soared to £83 million a year, fuelled by high street expansion and her enthusiasm for home selling. But she says Ann Summers is not really a sex shop, describing it as “fashion and passion”. A workaholic, she says her true loves are football — her father is chairman of Birmingham City — and travel.
Appropriately, given the nature of this person’s business, there is evidence of a “strong sensual energy and a need for physical contact”.
Unsurprisingly this individual also illustrates a good sense of humour and a possibility of being young at heart.
Ms Bache says: “The writer acts with social maturity but can be egotistical and a little overbearing without knowing it.” She adds that while this person shows a sense of duty and responsibility, our individual “may need to burst out of their self-imposed restraints and shatter the illusion of respectability”.
Ms Bache continues: “Tact and diplomacy are second nature and words are chosen thoughtfully but they are not always at ease with their public image.” A confident, young at heart, egotistical but diplomatic leader?
Who could our individual be?
[Read below to discover the identity behind the handwriting.]
In the latest in an occasional series, our resident graphologist delivers her verdict on Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of the Ann Summers chain of adult shops.
THE easy rhythm, regularity and open swinging lower zones give an initial impression of a youthful or young-at-heart writer. However, on closer inspection there is a depth and calculation within the writing that points beyond naivety.
The upper zone is a little short but nevertheless there is a balance between the three zones which highlights stability at the most basic level. The writer is extremely good at handling their feelings, and on an intellectual plain is self-reliant and realistic. They possess the confidence and the willpower needed for leadership and if it were not for the occasional balloon-like loop on the tops of letters, which shows a good sense of humour, one could almost say that they were in danger of being a control freak.
It should be noted that the writer has chosen lined paper, which in itself is restricting and rather curbs any natural flow. It is certainly true that the writer fears any loss of control and chooses to deviate comparatively little from the copybook style taught at school. The slant is inclined and becomes more so as the writer relaxes into the script.
Emotional responses are modest and judgment is based on logic. Although not overly demonstrative, the lower zone has leftward pulling cradle strokes which hints that underneath this very composed writer is actually someone who, away from the formality of work, is an individual quite dependent on the support and affection of their partner or closest friends — they need to be cared for and the maternal issue from all angles is strong.
Spacing between words is regular but within the words, letters look cramped. The writer acts with social maturity and is at ease with a wide variety of people but can be egotistical and a little overbearing at times without even knowing it. This trait comes about by needing to be within the boundaries of control both with themselves but also the people and environment around them.
This may make them rather difficult to get close to on a personal level despite their very real community spirit, genuine inner warmth and sociability.
The pen stroke is dense and coupled with the lower zone fullness this underlines vitality and affection but also strong sensual energy and a need for physical contact. Most of the letters are connected and certainly in the middle zone are once again, regular in size. This is a methodical and systematic thinker with excellent concentrative powers. The strong sense of discipline when undertaking projects also extends to a true sense of duty and obligation. The writing has been crafted relatively slowly in a cautious and considered way. This writer will not willingly take undue risks and yet the narrowness of the script highlights someone who, as a coiled spring, may need to burst out of their self-imposed restraints and shatter the illusion of respectability.
Tact and diplomacy are second nature and words are chosen thoughtfully but they are not always at ease with their own public image. The needle point tops to the m’s and n’s belong to a more rapid intuitive thinker and behind this traditionalist is a more restless and shrewd individual with extremely sound judgment as to what makes others tick.
The carefully placed dots over the i’s show a capacity for detailed work and a conscientious bent but the rather low crossing of the t bars suggests an undervaluing of their own talents. The writer has achieved a not inconsiderable balancing act between a poised and relaxed outward persona and a deep capacity for hard work and study. Although prepared to conform at present, there is much in this writing ranging from the narrowness of the script to the taut regularity that suggests that at some point the mantle of control will be shed in favour of a more sybaritic lifestyle.