Lou Patel is a Freelance EP and Gallery Director and Founder of Share My Telly Job with almost 17 years experience in the industry. Before children (BC) she worked mainly Factual Entertainment and Entertainment travelling the world as a PD and cutting her teeth as a multi-camera Direct on Big Brother, Love Island and 24 Hours in A & E.

She set up Share My Telly Job 7 years ago after facing barriers to working part-time whilst caring for young children and is a long-term advocate for flexible working and job-sharing as a way of retaining women in the industry. She recently won the Makers & Shakers ’Shaker of the Year’ award and the new Rise Influencer award for her work with SMTJ.

She now works mainly as a Director and Consultant at SMTJ along with her three Co-Directors supporting freelancers, broadcasters and production companies through the implementation of supportive workplace career progression programmes, multi-genre job-sharing schemes and consultancy across the industry on how to encourage positive cultural change within organisations.

SMTJ runs several academic research projects and are the founders of TheTime Project, a data gathering app where freelancers record the hours they work which serves as the evidence the industry needs to inform better working practice.