Main cause of stress: I try very hard not to get stressed. If it's a case of getting up an hour earlier to get something done, then I will do that, rather than get stressed. But it's not always possible to control everything.
Work is such a big part of life, so I suppose the most stressful thing is trying to balance all the priorities.
I've been in the public relations business for 12 or 13 years, and I found it very stressful in the beginning because there was an awful lot to learn. I can't say that I found modelling or television work very stressful. It had more to do with nervous energy, rather than stress.
Until I gave them up, cigarettes caused me great stress because as soon as I lit one, I got more uptight.
I do get a little uptight in traffic, normally because of other people's rudeness, when they won't let you out at a turn, for example.
Coping with stress: Three small children are a good stress control factor because they give you levity and balance. When you are with them, they take your mind off all those distracting things, and suddenly things are never as bad as they seem.
Delegation and planning are very important, you need to have a system and stick to it. I'm a great woman for lists, and working out when you have to start something, in order to be finished by a certain date.
Pressures in public relations: People have the idea that people in PR are always competing, that it's a cut-throat world. The truth is that we are only in competition when it comes to making a pitch for a client.
You always have your worries in PR, especially when you organise something and you wonder if anyone will turn up. But I always remember my mother saying: "If you worry, you die; if you don't worry you still die". We are hearing of more and more people having heart attacks at a very young age, and you have to say, it's just not worth it.
In conversation with Alison Healy