Single mum and entrepreneur who moved to the UK and became a jiu jitsu champion now campaigning on women’s rights

A single mum who set up her own business, moved to the UK and then became a champion jiu jitsu fighter after just one year of training, is now campaigning for women’s rights and has launched a podcast to discuss social issues.

Paola Diana, 47, who is the founder and CEO of a recruitment company and has two grown-up children, Edoardo, 23, and Sofia, 21, was first inspired to become a political campaigner after becoming a mother.

Paola set up her first company in recruitment and, moving from Rome to west London in 2014, became a women’s rights campaigner.

Now, Paola is a women’s rights adviser to the Sheriff of the City of London where she is working with campaigners including Jess Phillips MP and Baroness Jenkin, organising a series of events with the Old Bailey to raise awareness of the unfair treatment of women in the courts.

Paola said: “I got married young at 23, and when I became a single mother, I started to think about what I wanted. I think becoming a mother made me a better person and it also made me want to do something with my life to leave a legacy for my kids.

“Women’s rights and campaigning on issues such as violence against women has always been very important to me.

“The fight for women’s rights is my lifelong mission. Female empowerment is much more than a secondary issue or the issue of a minority. It is a disruptive power that will change the social system in which we all live for the better.

“It is a creative force that will shape our society to follow a completely different path, where inclusion, empathy, respect, happiness and peace will flourish.

“I’m a strong advocate for female empowerment which is why I’ve now launched a podcast to have these in-depth debates and discussions on important topics.”

Growing up in Italy, Paola says she took the plunge to become a women’s rights campaigner after having children.

“I wanted to be someone that my kids could be proud of, and I could see the changes that needed to be made, so I decided to fight for them myself,” she said.

“I started fighting for changes in domestic violence laws, but I also became interested in women’s rights in a broader way.

“I’m interested in female empowerment because I think that everything is connected, we need more women in power in order to change the laws that then will change the daily lives of the average person.”

Paola started campaigning alongside others including Jess Phillips MP, and in her role as women’s rights adviser to the Sheriff of the City of London, Paola has organised as series of closed-door events for the judiciary on topics including domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, and gender and the law.

Another interest, which Paola attributes to her self-confidence, is her love of martial arts, in particular jiu jitsu.

Paola first started practising martial arts in her mid-20s but it was just four years ago, in 2019, that the mum-of-two discovered jiu jitsu.

She said: “I think everyone should learn jiu jitsu or some form of martial arts because it’s self-defence and teaches you very good techniques.

“It’s really important that we learn how to defend ourselves because it’s a dangerous world.”

She added: “I want women to see that they can be strong and self-confident at any age – after they have kids, before they have kids, when they are working and they feel they have no time for themselves, when they are ageing and they might feel down about growing older, even though they shouldn’t.

“This toxic culture is killing women and their self-confidence, and I want people to come together and create a new culture where women can be whoever they want.”

Despite having trained for just one year and one month in jiu jitsu, Paola entered the 2020 European Championships and won as a blue belt in her division.

She said: “I was late to discovering it, but I just fell in love with the sport, although I don’t think anyone was expecting me to win the championship when I’d only been doing it for a year and had just gotten my blue belt.

“But I trained every day, sometimes twice a day, and it was an incredible feeling when I won.”

In 2018, Paola published her first book, Saving the World: The Twenty-First Century’s Factor For Change.

Now, Paola has launched a podcast, The Game Changers, interviewing various guests ranging from scientists and entrepreneurs to authors and TV presenters, including Trisha Goddard and Andrea McLean.

Paola said: “I started the podcast in the winter of 2019, just before the pandemic, so when the Covid lockdown hit, it put a stop to my episodes for a while.

“I tried to do some on Zoom but I found it better to have in-depth conversations with people face-to-face. So, in the last couple of years, I’ve started the podcast up again and have been able to speak to a lot of inspirational champions of change.”

She added: “These are successful women and men who have faced huge personal and professional challenges and who have all dramatically changed their lives and the lives of others for the better and the subjects discussed range from mental health, relationships, discrimination, gender equality, and self-defence to business, sport, religion, neuroscience and fake news.”

After first being inspired to take up political activism after becoming a mother, Paola says her children’s opinion of her is paramount.

“I think the kids are very proud of me, after I’ve done something big like had to make a speech at an important event, they’ll congratulate me and tell me how proud they are of me.

“But I think they’re also very used to me and the way my life is. I like to keep busy and there is always an important cause to be working on.

“I’m very grateful for my life and I appreciate the support from my family. I find the beauty of life everywhere and it’s definitely worth fighting for.”

Paola Diana is an international women’s rights ambassador, adviser and host of Unleashed: The Game Changers podcast. Find out more at www.paoladiana.com