We’re used to seeing Deborah Meaden making deals with budding entrepreneurs on the hit TV show Dragons' Den, but away from cameras she has another interest, that of animal conservation – a personal passion that has seen her spend time with the Prince of Wales.
Somerset-based Deborah, 66, is a trustee of the African wildlife conservation charity Turk, of which Prince William is patron and in our exclusive interview, the businesswoman reveals how impressed she is with the royal’s understanding on the subject.
© Getty"I sat next to him for dinner, in fact I've met him several times," says Deborah, "And I’m incredibly impressed with his deep knowledge and understanding."
She adds: "I don't know what I imagined. I kind of imagined that they take on these patrons, and the minute before they go in, they read about stuff. But I was really impressed with the depth of his understanding of pretty complex conservation issues."
Deborah is supporting Tusk, which is part of Big Give’s Green Match Fund – a campaign that runs until 29 April, where all donations are doubled by the organisation’s donors. HELLO! is the official media partner of Big Give.
Here, the Dragon’s Den star chats to us about appearing on the popular TV show and why environmental causes are close to her heart...
© TuskHi Deborah. We love watching you on Dragons Den - how has that show changed your life?
I’m pleased that it hasn't changed in many ways, because I was in my late 40s when I joined the show.
I still slob around in jodhpurs and go down to the local shop. I get to live the life that I want to live, and I still go horse riding when I want to ride.
If you're on television you can't complain that people want to come and talk to you, or wave at you, or stop their car and say hi, because you're in the public eye - so that’s changed.
Honestly, how many people get to see inside literally hundreds of businesses?
I love business, I love creative people, I love entrepreneurs, and I get to see so many of them. I get to see the good and the bad and the crazy and the wild.
There aren’t many people in the world who get to do that, and I feel very privileged.
© BBCWhat are your standout moments from the show?
One of the funniest moments I will never forget was when Duncan Bannatyne was here, and a guy came in with a gym chair.
When Duncan got on the back of it, he fell off. I don't mean to laugh at somebody's misfortune, but he only fell off because we were all laughing so much.
There was also one of my first pitches which I remember thinking, oh no, if this is it, I'm in a lot of trouble. It was a guy who came in with false fingernails for cats.
I've had some real life changing moments where people are struggling and they know they've got something but they really don't know what to do with it.
Let's face it, we can change their lives, and it's not just about the money. It’s often about the support rather than the money. So that's a real privilege as well.
Sometimes the judges don't agree and you're fighting over the same person. Is it ever tense afterwards?
Well not afterwards, no. Yes, it gets tense at the time. It's funny, sometimes when we're all together, we’re actually like a pack of dragons, and then other times we're working out what the best way to win this deal is.
But honestly, we're grown-ups. When we go out, we have lunch together, we go out for dinner together. It's not an issue.
© BBC/Simon PantlingWe love it on Dragons Den when the judges go quiet, then unexpectedly make an offer…
You've absolutely spotted it because I know if Peter hasn't said anything for about half an hour, we have his interest.
That's why I like guest dragons, because they actually throw a spanner in the works.
It makes it more interesting, because we all know each other pretty well. Put a guest dragon in there, everything changes.
Trinny Woodall and Joe Wicks are guest dragons this year. What’s that been like?
I’ve actually already invested with Trinny. She and I have a fantastic business called Seep, an eco-cleaning company. She's brilliant to invest with, she gets on with it.
You never know when you're investing with somebody, whether or not they're going to be active or helpful, but she's brilliant.
What's your advice to young female entrepreneurs who have a business idea and want to get started?
The first thing I always say is, don't present yourself as a female entrepreneur. Business is a great place for female founders, because customers don't care who you are or what you are, they just want a good service or a good product.
There are, however, statistics that say that female founders do find it more difficult to raise funds.
My advice would be that when you look for funding, match yourself with somebody who is most likely to say yes.
Don't just send a load of pitch decks to a load of people and then get really disheartened when a load of people say, ‘no thank you’. Think, are these people interested in the area that I'm involved in, are they known for supporting female founders?
You shouldn't present yourself as a woman in business, but you do have to recognise when you've got to pull those levers that are more likely to give you the end result. Funding is one of those areas.
© Chris JacksonYou’re supporting Tusk’s work through the Big Give’s Green Match Fund campaign – tell us more…
I've been involved with Tusk for 15 or 16 years now. I'm in my ninth year as a trustee, so I'm very involved with the charity.
What I love about Tusk is that it's an organisation that understands that the only way to protect African wildlife is through its communities.
I love it, and I've been over there many times to see many of the charities and projects. I always come away thinking this is incredibly impressive.
With the turmoil that's going on in the world at the moment, there's been a huge disruption in fund flow through to Africa, so it's never been more important.
If you think about conservation, it's not one of those things you can put on hold because if animals are dying through wildlife, human conflict, or if they're being poached, that carries on.
Africa holds about 25% of our wildlife in the world but there has been a 76% decline in the last 30 years. But thank goodness there are organisations like Tusk that are doing something about it.
I think that the Big Give is a fantastic initiative because it appeals to everyone to say, if you put a pound in, that turns into 2 pounds, and of course that’s a real feel-good factor.
Last year, it attracted more funds than Comic Relief and Children in Need, which are the big iconic charitable events that everybody thinks of.
Your husband Paul grew up in Kenya - is Africa close to your heart?
Yes, he had a magical childhood in Kenya. I'd actually never been until I went with Comic Relief and Tusk.
I wanted to look at the work that Comic Relief did, and I wanted to look at the work that Tusk did. Before I get involved in any charity, I want to see the work. I don't want to hear the words; I want to see the work.
I remember the first time I saw a cheetah. I've always wanted to see a cheetah, and I don't cry easily but Paul looked around at me and said, ‘Do you know you've got a tear rolling down your cheek?’
Have you got any plans to go back to Africa soon?
Well, the trouble is I've become a bit environmental.
In fact, I’ve said I will only travel long haul once every two years because I don't think you can complain about the environment and then not change your own behaviour. Unfortunately, Paul gets sucked into that as well.
What are the main projects you're working on right now?
I can't tell you about all of them, but I've just got half a dozen new businesses from Dragons.
And then of course I'm going into the next series of Dragon's Den, so that will take around 18 days of filming across six weeks. Within those times, I work with charities like Tusk.
I’m also managing my own downtime, and this is something else I say to founders: we can't keep ourselves at peak condition all of the time.
It's no different to an athlete. You need to recognise when you have to be at peak condition and when you don't have to be in peak condition, and not feel guilty about when you take your downtime.
For instance, I know that I've got 18 days' worth of full-on filming. I'll be in the chair at 7 o'clock in the morning and I sometimes won't leave till 8:30, 9 o'clock at night.
At home, I can monitor my own time. I can go riding first thing in the morning and I can manage my own mental health because I know that soon it’s going to be absolutely full on. That’s advice I always give to people. Women are terrible at taking time off without feeling guilty.
© Getty ImagesYou live in the countryside – have you got horses of your own?
I have. I've got some retirees. I keep them at home, and they just wander around looking pretty and eating grass. Then I've got two that I ride with my sister who lives about 20 minutes away, which is lovely.
If she wasn’t my sister, she'd be my best friend. We're not in each other's pockets, but we go out riding every day when I can. I'm a nicer person when I've been riding.
What does your sister and family think about you being on the telly?
Well, Gayle, my older sister, advised me not to - she'd actually had a bad experience on TV. She took part in a documentary and it didn't work out very well. I actually turned Dragon's Den down three times because of that.
It was a brilliant woman called Helen Buller, who didn't give up. She eventually said, ‘Oh, just come along for a screen test, you don't have to take it, just see how it works’.
I did a screen test with Duncan Bannatyne and Richard Farley, and I went from saying, ‘I'm really not interested’, to coming out and thinking, if they don't give me that chair, I'll be so upset. So I'm very glad she persisted.
How long do you plan to stay on Dragon’s Den for?
I've been on the show for 20 years - bearing in mind that I joined on the basis that I thought I'll give it a couple of years and then I'll go and do something else.
But here I am 20 years later. The day I stop feeling excited, that's the day I stop.
To donate to Tusk via Big Give’s Green Match Fund page visit tusk.org/biggive
For over 30 years, Tusk has helped pioneer an impressive range of successful conservation initiatives across more than 20 African countries, safeguarding millions of hectares of ecosystems, empowering local communities and increasing vital protection for some of the continent's most cherished threatened species.
Additional reporting: Emily Sandbach
