I grew up in a seaside town in the North East of England, which meant that my childhood was spent splashing around in rockpools (and falling in, but that’s a story for another day).
Feeling the sand between my toes and combing the beach for the prettiest shells I could find was heaven.I was the most curious kid around, and a bit of a daydreamer who loved to read.
One of my earliest memories is of reading Cinderella with my dad (it’s still my favourite story.) I remember thinking that one day, I wanted to write things that everyone would want to read.
I got the writing bug in a big way in my teens when I decided journalism would be the career for me.
I wrote for my college magazine and my local newspaper. I won a competition to meet and interview the footballer Rio Ferdinand at Wembley.
I was so excited to see my piece in the News of the World.
My dad was just excited to meet some footballers.
Over the years, I was told so many times that journalism was too competitive and that writing wasn’t a ‘proper job’ and I changed course.
My other love in life was fitness, so I pursued a rewarding career with the NHS, providing exercise therapy to patients with enduring mental illness.
I got so much satisfaction from helping people, and I was sure I’d found my calling. But it always felt like there was always something missing. It turns out that something was writing. I missed using my creativity and my imagination.
The pull eventually became too hard to resist.
So I left the NHS, armed only with a small amount of savings.
I bought a new laptop and became a copywriter from my dining room table. I wrote some pieces for free at the start, but I was lucky enough to meet some business owners early on who saw the value of what I do.
The rest as they say is history. Years on, I’m still doing what I love and helping some truly inspirational people build their businesses.
I never wanted a ‘proper job’ anyway.
