When Jill Thwaites Tallowin, a businesswoman from the Broads, sat at her first meeting of the directors of a holiday company, it was suggested that she pour the tea.
Jill was having none of that, though, and she gently nudged the tray over to her neighbour, a man, and let him do the honours.
That meeting was for Blakes Holidays. But the company was only one string in Jill's bow. She was also the managing director of Barnes Brinkcraft, a boat rental operator on the Broads.
The company had been set up in 1964 by Jill and her husband Bill.
They opened their first boatyard in Thorpe with only one vessel, while the boatshed, made of scaffolding poles and a tarpaulin, reflected their funding levels.
Cash was so tight that their yard foreman, a man named Dougie Garwood, would take a salary one week and Jill and Brian the next.
Their frugality paid off, making it possible for them to buy the Barnes Boatyard.
Today that business, trading in Hoveton as Barnes Brinkcraft and Norfolk Boat Sales, has more than 100 boats.
Jill, who has died at the age of 79, will be remembered by family and friends as a thoroughly modern woman.
She was born in 1944 in Lowestoft to Irene and Douglas Tobutt.
Her father was a director of a music company that was eventually bought by EMI. He arranged tours for jazz musicians like Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, who would one day attend Jill's wedding.
After school she worked as a PA and ended up in New York for a spell.
In 1964, she was about to move to the USA - and had arranged a green card.
But when she returned to England she met Brian, her future husband.
Initial married life saw the couple living on a rather porous traditional wooden Wherry, moored at Thorpe Island.
Jill placed pot plants under the leaks.
They went on to set up the boatyard together.
In 1992, when Brian died, Jill took over as managing director.
Recent years saw her reduce her day-to-day presence at the company, but she remained as a strong source of wisdom behind the scenes.
Her advice helped her sons Daniel and Matthew continue to grow the business.
Jill married her second husband Peter Tallowin in 1994. Known as Dada by their grandchildren Tom, Reuben and Ellie, he was by her side ever since.
Peter supported Jill in her role of managing director, as well as chair of the magistrates bench, and as the first female director of Blakes Holidays.
While juggling work and family, Jill and a close group of friends hosted regular events to fundraise for the local NSPCC and the Benjamin Foundation.
She took on the role of professional hustler. Many a 'mark' would come away with less money and more raffle tickets than they expected, but all in a good cause, with the events regularly raising thousands of pounds.
Jill recently spent her holidays in her home in the South of France.
She described her French as not quite fluent - but this did not stop her cracking a joke with the locals and new friends.
Family and friends needed a good excuse to miss out on Jill’s Sunday evening roast, when the debate could be formidable.
When she was fit, Jill was a regular attendee of St Mary’s, the local church, but she could not quite forget her parents’ Jewish heritage.
Jill died on January 26 at home in Wroxham.
She is survived by her husband Peter, her sons Daniel and Matthew, and three grandchildren.
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