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Lynne Franks

After powering her way through the Eighties as the super flamboyant fashion PR that inspired the comedy Ab Fab, Lynne Franks went on a mission of new age self-discovery.

Ruth Addicott caught up with her ahead of her appearance at the Feel Good Show next month to talk about the changing role of women and why she has never stopped raving

Whenever lifestyle guru Lynne Franks is interviewed at her home she has a lit candle, green tea and freshly cut flowers on the table.

Sadly, there is no such karma today as we are having to suffice with a phone interview. Knowing how fed up she is of being asked about the Ab Fab character Edina (who she is said to have inspired), I am conscious to avoid stereotypes at all costs.

Lynne comes on the phone and apologises for the commotion - it's her highly excitable eight weekold puppy, Noodle. "Sorry about this, I have family, puppy dogs and boyfriends running all over the place. Excuse me a minute. Bye darling. Bye. Mwah mwah. Bye darling."

Back on the phone "Sorry. Byeeeeee! Right, where were we?"

Lynne has three homes in total - a cottage in Oxford, a flat in London and a home in Mallorca where she holds Bloom retreats which promise to "change your life forever".

In the world of fashion, media and shamanic rituals, Lynne Franks is a name to be reckoned with.

Having left school at 16 and created a PR agency from her kitchen table at the age of 21, she powered through the Seventies and Eighties as a high-profile fashion PR, changing her outfit four times a day.

She turned punk when she worked for Vivienne Westwood and turned heads with her colourful Jean Paul Gaultier combos, rocking up at champagnefuelled parties and launches all over London in what can only be described as "fashion, darhling".

Lynne's list of celebrity clients grew to include everyone from The Spice Girls, Diana Ross and Ruby Wax to Dolly Parton.

Forever keen to be seen channelling the latest trend, Lynne turned to Buddhism and chanting, hoping it would fuel the success of London Fashion Week, which she created.

It was her extraordinary dress sense and flamboyant nature which later inspired the role of Edina in the BBC comedyAb Fab.

Since selling her business in 1992, Lynne has however devoted much of her time to helping women. In addition to regular appearances on TV and radio, she founded SEED (Sustainable Enterprise and Economic Dynamics) - a network for female entrepreneurs which offers advice to teenagers, high-flying business execs and d i s a d v a n t a g e d women in developing countries.

She has written four books, including The SEED Handbook: The Feminine Way to Create Business, and even plans to extend her teachings to prisons.

Lynne is now hoping to offer some inspiration to women in Brighton during her talk at the Feel Good Show at Brighton Racecourse next month. The show will feature everything from exercises to balance your chakras to the top medium Andrew Kane. Lynne's talk will be aimed at anyone who is in a "space of transition" and looking at ways of living their life to its full potential.

Lynne will also lead a discussion on what success means to women - whether that's giving birth for the first time or clinching a whopping great pay rise.

"The stuff I will be teaching will be based on who we are as an individual, what are our values and how we can create a vision for our life," she explains. "It's about the feminine way of working."

While this might seem like a load of old waffle to some, it is something Lynne feels very passionate about. So what exactly is the "feminine" way of working?

It's about acknowledging our skills and values, creating the life we want and living to our full potential, according to Lynne.

"Women will always be faced with the dilemma of whether to focus their energies on family or work,"

she says. "When I started in the Seventies we were the first generation of women who thought we could have it all and I don't think we got it right.

"When I started we had to be as good as the men to succeed. Now women are saying, I want to do it a different way' and that's what I call a feminine approach - having your values much more a part of what you do."

Lynne, who is widely regarded as a futurist, claims there is a big shift taking place in the way women work.

"When women get to 35ish they usually think, I've done this and now it's time to do something else',"

she observes. "It doesn't seem to happen to men.

Once men get on a roll, they see that as their working career. Women are much more versatile at switching careers and reinventing themselves. And I think there is a big shift going on at the moment, which is going to lead to even more women working from home."

She points out that more employers, including the BBC and several financial companies, are cottoning onto the advantages of flexitime and job share through using the internet.

Lynne has had first-hand experience of juggling a high-profile career and family - which she managed impressively until 1992, when her husband left and she found herself on the brink of burn-out. It was this that prompted her to sell her PR firm and embark on ten years of new age self-discovery.

She moved to California to find her "inner self"

before returning to London and founding Seed.

She became an international spokesperson on social change and in 1994 she chaired the UK's first women's radio station Frankly Speaking. In 1995 she attended the UN Women's Conference in Beijing.

Being a PR pro, Lynne will only talk about subjects that she wants to talk about and any other topic that veers into the conversation is met with a frosty response.

Despite her foray into spiritual healing and some of the more far-out new age philosophies, she is reluctant to go into detail.

Asked what's the most bizarre new age experience she's ever found, she says: "I'm not answering that. I'm not going down that route just so you can write a Lynne Franks dances around the moon' kind of piece."

Lynne doesn't appreciate the word "bizarre"

when talking about new age experiences and is a firm believer in going back to nature.

"Any opportunity I can get to be part of nature and going back to the pagan side, I'm very open to.

I think the more we get in touch with the power of nature the better," she says.

She has had numerous shamanic experiences, including staying with indigenous Amazonian people in Ecuador.

That must have been challenging?

"No, not really."

Was it not hard, being deprived of her home comforts? "No," she says, bluntly. "I learned about the power of community in the jungle. The only challenging thing was the results of the maleria pills I had to take before going."

Lynne believes it is important to keep an open mind, particularly as you get older. "Only since I reached 50 have I had time to really enjoy myself. I'm coming up to 60 next year and I find that extraordinary, but I'm still reinventing myself. I think that's what keeps the baby boomer generation young - we're not classic grannies, we're open to all sorts of adventures. We're out there having fun."

As a self-confessed post-menopausal raver, Lynne practises what she preaches. She spent the summer dancing at festivals (spurning the VIP tent at Glastonbury for a teepee with her granddaughter) and retirement is simply not on the cards.

Having carved a career out of trailblazing new trends, Lynne is used to sceptics and doesn't let anyone get in her way when she's on a roll.

"I'm very tuned in and intuitive about things that happen," she points out. "I look at what's going on in the high street now with designers in Debenhams and particularly fair trade - I did a talk ten or 15 years ago on that. At one time people were cynical about meditation but how can they be cynical now? It's mainstream. Everyone is looking for tranquility now. Sometimes I worry I've become too mainstream."

Lynne has in the past suggested that low selfesteem has held many women back. Is it something she suffers from herself?

"I think we all do," she says. "I certainly have had times where I have gone through selfdoubt.

I can get very shy and find it really difficult to walk into a room and get chatting if I don't know anyone."

Finding herself suddenly single after 20 years of marriage was a big wake-up call and Lynne says it took her a long time to pluck up the courage to go to the cinema on her own.

"I certainly went through my insecurities," she adds. "There have been times where I've walked into a room and walked straight back out. Especially if I'm not drinking and everyone else is high in one way or another. I think people stop being real when they need artificial aid."

So, after years of crafting such as high powered profile, what did it feel like to find herself the inspiration for Ab Fab?

"It was really irritating because journalists always kept asking me about it," she says, frostily.

"It didn't bother me. When I went to the States I actually had people coming up to me thanking me."

Does she want to set the record straight and point out the bits they got wrong? "It's not me," she protests. "It's a character. There were lots of things that weren't me. I have a very wonderful relationship with my daughter, for one. I don't want to talk about this."

Lynne will admit she has spoken to Jennifer Saunders about it but refuses to disclose what was said. "It's cool - we're friends."

Apart from continuing her work with Seed over the next few years, Lynne plans to write a trilogy of novels - "light fun" novels based on her life starting with the fashion industry in the Seventies. She won't be using it as an opportunity to get revenge on those who've crossed her, though.

"I don't believe in getting revenge," she says. "It'll just be poking fun. I'm quite happy to do the jokes, I'm not happy to be the joke."

If and when she does finally retire, Lynne hopes to spend more time with her partner, son, daughter and two grandchildren. She is planning to celebrate her 60th with a party and some "adventure" - a long pilgrim walk or challenging mountain climb.

As far as growing old is concerned, she claims she is too short-sighted to notice her "droops" but is a fan of permanent make-up and has her eyebrows, lids and lips tattooed so she never has to look in the mirror.

Although she has had botox (for a feature), she's a firm believer in nutrition and exercise, going to the gym three times a week and practicing dancing, pilates, boxing and biking.

"I don't take HRT and I am fortunate to have inherited good skin from my mum," she says. "My problem is I love food, so I'm a bit heavier than I'd like to be."

Asked what's the best advice she has ever received, she draws on the advice she always gives at her workshops - to be true to yourself.

"It's a constant journey but I've always been passionate in whatever I've done," she says.

12:12pm Monday 17th September 2007

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