Here I am, 2 days before my 62nd Birthday, reflecting back at my own life story, excited and very grateful at the prospects of yet another new direction in my business life.
I was born a middle child to my parents who worked as self-employed greengrocers, with their work ethic being “if you don’t work hard in life you will get nothing”. Throughout my childhood I was always striving for recognition, and my relationship with my mother was tenuous at best. Aged 16, and straight after my last exam at school, I was given a bank account with a little money in and told to leave the family home.
When I was 21 years old, I fell in love with a man who reciprocated and gave me the security I ached for; followed by the ultimate joy of giving birth to two beautiful boys, my own family. This happiness and stability were to be exchanged for a very long chapter of living hell, when my husband’s ambitions impacted on us, and for several years, as a broken unsuccessful man, he took his frustrations out on me and I faced a future of his mental abuse. My escape plan came about, with a fresh new life for myself and my boys, after accepting a University place in Leicester, and one of my greatest achievements in my 40th Year, was graduating with a 2:1 in Management and Administration BA (Hons). A month later I received my decree absolute.
I secured a Call centre Manager role, and worked up the ladder, diversifying into Recruitment before being headhunted by a local brewery to head up their new Recruitment department.
My 2nd husband Paul and I married in a Register office in 2003. This spiked my interest in the job of a Registrar, and 6 months later I was sitting in that same office starting my new role. I worked in Registration for 5 years and was supported in an application to become a magistrate. I was proudly sworn in as a JP in 2012 and I’m still enjoy my sitting commitments.
After a light bulb moment, when delivering a close friend’s wedding in 2014, I took a huge leap into self-employment as a Celebrant, and in 2014 my ceremonies business was born. 2020 should have been my most successful year in business, but with the COVID outbreak everything was postponed for 12 months – with no income or government support.
An idea for a ceremony ritual, turned into the launch of my glass business. A choice of specially designed bespoke pieces of glass giving anyone the opportunity to encapsulate special memories from a life event into a piece of bespoke glass art, creating a conversation piece for life.
With the passion and impetus to delve into exciting unknowns, I look forward to my next pathway…you are never too old to try something new!
