 My Story
When I was 16yrs old my mother gave me the best and the worst piece of advice I’ve ever listened to. She told me to learn to type, as I would never be without work. She was quite right; in the intervening years I have always been able to support myself and never had to rely on state benefits. So yes, it was the best piece of advice she ever gave me.
However, it was a double-edged sword. For 12 years potential employers only saw my typing ability and I was labelled a secretary or PA, which was a role that I found hard to break out of. Whilst these are very important roles, I wanted to do more. It wasn’t until I applied for a job in the training department of a Computer Distribution Company that the situation started to change.
My new boss recognised that I had untapped potential so gave me the support and encouragement to expand my horizons. Another 14 years later and I have gone from strength to strength. In that time I’ve retrained and reinvented myself (several times) and for the last 11 years I’ve been a Business Development Consultant specialising in training business analysis to a wide range of UK and international organisations.
What happened to the insightful boss? Well, she left the company after I’d been there eight months (nothing to do with me I promise) but she continued to be my mentor and more importantly my friend. I’m godmother to her son: he and his younger sister were pageboy and flower girl, respectively, at my wedding in 2005.
In my spare time (ha ha) I write childrens stories. I am in the process of self publishing my first book "Bottom Biting Bears and Other Beadtime Beasties". This is an A-Z of poems about animal who help, or hinder, children when they are getting ready for bed. I'm also working on a series of stories about a girl called Nicci and her life-long friendship with a fairy called Isadora.
SME Development
Inspired by Dr Spencer Johnson's book "Who Moved My Cheese" my approach to business development, training and coaching focuses on helping individuals manage and embrace change.
Many people fear change and that fear is like a poisonous weed that paralyses forward movement and chokes creativity. The solution is to eradicate the fear and empower individuals to take control of their lives, encouraging them to strive for a better, brighter tomorrow.
| 
