The Telegraph.

Podcasts.

This week on Mad World we have the most remarkable woman and she is a woman not a man despite her name being Steve or her full name being Dame Stephanie Shirley

Steve welcome. Thank you very much for inviting me.

Why do people call you Steve?

Well, I'd set up a woman's company with everybody working from home.

Now, this is now considered very fashionable,

but in those days it was laughable people laughed at me and I was

sort of launching out letters left right and centre trying to drum up some business and with no reply whatsoever and my dear husband suggested that I use the

family nickname of Steve Shirley so instead of that double feminine of Stephanie Shirley, Shirley is my marital name, I was Steve

Shirley and the letters began to get some reply.

And I've been Steve ever since. Now Steve you are a businesswoman. I was a

computer pioneer because I'm in the National Museum of Computing so you see before you a museum piece.

Yes. We're very lucky, we're honored to have you.

But then I set up a very interesting company for women to write software and now I'm a

philanthropist that's what I do now Steve is a philanthropist and she

founded the charity autisticer which helps research and helps people

with autism.

Steve, I'm going to call you Steve now.

That's what I like.

Can I read Dame Steve because that just sounds so cool.

Well if you do the Dame you have to do a courtesy and nobody's going to see that.

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