Meet Lise
Lise McNally left Headington in 2009 after studying English, History and Religious Studies at A level. During her time at Headington, Lise particularly enjoyed taking part in drama and school plays. She believes drama has helped prepare her for her career, giving her the confidence needed to stand up and ‘perform’ when needed in her career as a Broadcast Journalist.
I was always (and continue to be!) really proud of my female friends – we built each other up, helped each other out, and made school a pleasant place for each other.
After leaving Headington, Lise studied English at Cambridge followed by a Masters in Renaissance Literature at Oxford. During her time at university, Lise started doing student journalism and realised she had a particular interest in filming and editing news reports for broadcast. She went on to work as a producer for ITV news in Bristol before moving in front of the camera to present the regional news bulletins for Good Morning Britain. Lise now works in Westminster as the political correspondent for ITV Granada Reports, ITV’s regional programme for the North West of England.
“Doing essay and argument based subjects like English, History and Religious Studies gave me communication and writing skills which I still need everyday. Part of my job also involves wading through a lot of complicated information very quickly, trying to make it accessible and interesting in two minutes of television. Even now I can hear the likes of Mrs Heggarty and Mrs Parkes’ exam advice ringing in my ears: “read the question properly!”
“I didn’t have any particular female inspirations growing up because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do career wise back then. But I was always (and continue to be!) really proud of my female friends – we built each other up, helped each other out, and made school a pleasant place for each other. It makes such a huge difference to have a community of women to rely on throughout your life. We’ve all ended up in really different jobs and I’m still blown away by the passion and creativity and resilience and fun they bring to their work and home lives.”
