I have been working in Insolvency for all my working life, so yes I have a lot of experience and have seen a lot. If you ever get me talking about my cases - I have a lot of "war stories".So what motivates me? I like to help people, especially those who for one reason or another, end up in a difficult situation. This is why I decided to become a trained counsellor. The course was of an experiential nature, which led me to be empathetic towards those experiencing difficultiesMy work life started in London, working for the civil service. That instigated in me the joy of working with people I like - I am still in touch with those I worked with "back in the day" I moved on to Cork Gully/Coopers and Lybrand/ Coopers Lybrand Deloitte/Coopers and Lybrand/PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and subsequently Bournemouth. I travelled all over the country and worked on all different types of jobs, and met many, many people, some of whom inspired me and others who did not!!Due to my own mental health struggles, I began my counselling training and decided to take a leap into the unknown, by leaving PwC to do a university course. Whilst completing that I began working with a much smaller family run firm. Here I gained experience in how to actually run a business.In 2008 I went to work for another small company and was given the task to set up an office on the South Coast. I had no contacts in the area - so effectively had a blank sheet. I had in my ear the words of a good friend - " you will talk to anyone" - and that's what I started to do. I went out and about and met people, learned about them and grew my business. This led me to set up my own practice at Even Keel in 2013, when I definitely was not a spring chicken.I am proud of being an older female entrepreneur; to have built a business, in which I have fun, work with people I like and which enables me to give back to my community.So I say:-Have fun, be serious when needs be, listen to those around you and gather around you a community that reflects you views and values - and you neve know what will happen!!