Unique jewellery, handmade by me using gorgeous semi-precious stones, gems, pearls and crystals. It's therapeutic to create and delightful to wear!

Alongside other PMs I manage a team of very talented developers and designers in the world of Craft CMS and ExpressionEngine, plus a plethora of online software. Handling the day to day maintenance of 30ish sites plus managing build processes from planning to launch and beyond!

DIY Design aims to bring design to everybody, with budget-friendly easy-to-follow tutorials to give your home space a stylish and functional makeover.

Responsible for the smooth running of the Lettings department, including handing all aspects of promoting and managing our properties, organising maintenance, upholding safety standards and regulations, interviewing & vetting tenants, marketing and sales, promoting our online presence and managing our social media.Sadly the portfolio was sold in early 2015 and the company shut down.

Employed as a Lettings & Sales Negotiator, promoted to Manager after 4 months.

Since having my son in 2011 I kept myself busy by developing my own Avon business to manage a team of 26 representatives.Responsibilities include marketing, advertising, recruiting, training, motivating and supporting a growing team of salespeople. I do this all whilst also raising my son on my own, which requires an excellent ability to organise, multitask and time manage.In my spare time I enjoy writing and have penned 15 full length novels to date.

For this busy Environmental Consultancy I adminsitered the HR department for 850 employees across 15 different companies and multiple business units.This involved managing the starters & leavers process, absence monitoring, calculating salary and benefit changes, writing contracts and letters, liaising with directors, developing complex spreadsheets for data analysis, organising training agreements, dealing with staff issues and problems, pensions, coordinating with payroll, pulling weekly & monthly reports, dealing with confidential and sensitive information.I was also part of the company’s 2-person recruitment team, managing the process from liaising with team leaders and directors right through to getting everything organised for the new employee to start. This involved writing a job description, advertising with relevant media, researching & negotiating external recruitment & advertising fees, CV management & selection, arranging interviews, making & negotiating job offers, drawing up contracts & following the legal paperwork from conception to completion, organising hardware and ensuring the new employee was set up on all systems.RSK used a bespoke HR software system with which I was previously unfamiliar but very quickly picked up to use on a day to day basis to manage all aspects of staff information, from contact details to pension arrangements.

Under contract to the Highways Agency, responsibilities included communicating between departments, collating, analysing and interpreting data to extrapolate performance trends, determining reasons for non-compliance, and compiling relevant reports for high level management.Due to my computing skills I was also asked to assist in developing and updating updating the company’s 100+ visual action plans using Visio software which I had never used before but picked up in one day.Reason for leaving – my contract was only temporary up to my baby’s due date, although the company did ask me to return after my maternity leave however the travel time was too much.

Opua, Bay of Islands, New ZealandFirst Crew Mate – Working HolidayCrewing a 39’ Catamaran from Panama to New Zealand, with very little previous sailing experience, demonstrating the abilities to rise to a challenge, overcome fears, adapt, and learn quickly.Responsibilities included the everyday handling of the vessel; basic maintenance & cleaning of boat; planning & providing meals for a crew of 3; stock taking and organising provisions for varying lengths of sea-going periods, from several days to a month; assisting with checking in/out of various countries and dealing with customs & immigration officials, often in French.To keep myself busy during this time I was requested to proofread and edit a full length novel which has since been published (‘A Man Out of Time’, by Peter Bernfeld), and I was contracted to re-write 50 articles for www.liverpoolfc.tv for a private client, despite having no knowledge of or interest in football.

Responsibilities included evaluating, coaching & testing professional adults; recruiting & training new staff; managing foreign teaching department; planning, organising & managing marketing various promotional opportunities (sales increased 250% in one year period under my supervision); planning & creating relevant language courses for individual businesses, including Foreign Trade, Logistics, Bars & Restaurants, Hotels, and the Government of China’s Foreign Investment Bureau.Much of this work involved daily lectures to groups of anywhere from 5 to 50 people, which vastly improved my confidence, public speaking and presentation skills.Some work was full time for the Institute, and some was on a part-time self-employed basis, thus teaching me a lot about time management and efficient planning, as well as being highly challenging.Separately, I planned and implemented a variety of events for local restaurants, bars and hotels, which included anything from live musical events, formal dinners and casual BBQs to large themed parties, auctions and fundraisers. My involvement was from start to finish, including designing the layout & decoration, advertising, networking, judging interest and ordering extra stock, supervising staff (Chinese locals) and entertaining guests at the event. I used local media, email and the internet to advertise these events and keep costs under budget. This was all done on a voluntary basis to hone my organisational and personal skills.I was also employed by a foreign restaurant to re-write their menu, using my skills as a writer to encourage more custom.During this time I also worked intermittently as a voice-over for several audio book series of English language learning aids, having an excellent quality of English and an approachable manner.Also on a voluntary basis, I wrote a monthly column for a local English language magazine, which often involved much research and networking. Reason for leaving – expiry of work visa.

Working in my family-run stud, breeding endurance racing Arab horses, where I was in charge of marketing and sales, selling all for a satisfactory profit.The welfare of the young animals were our number one priority, even over profit, so each prospective buyer had to be thoroughly vetted to ensure they would treat the animal with proper care, attention and affection, which also helped develop my interpersonal skills.Reason for leaving – the offer of employment in China.

Responsibilities involved the general day-to-day running of the store and handling customers, including dealing with queries and complaints. I was expected to maintain high standards of service and organisation as well as handle stock control and security, organise the tills and order relevant change, train new staff members and take an active role in the marketing of major new products, such as the PSP which included organising a midnight launch of the product and was a huge success.Reason for leaving – sadly my father developed cancer and required my assistance with the family business.

This job was begun part-time while I was still at University to assist with paying tuition fees (I was the first generation of students affected by the Government’s changed policy and lost the right to a grant while also being weighed down with additional costs).After completing my degree I was elevated to full-time and benefitted from the company’s extensive training programmes. Though not difficult, the work taught me a lot about time and people management, and how to deal with people in all kinds of situations. I was often called upon to handle unhappy customers because I am able to quickly create a rapport with people due to being diplomatic and approachable.Because I am such a quick learner, I swiftly advanced; within three months of going full-time I was promoted to CS Manager and, a month later, to Duty Manager, which meant that, because I was willing to work whenever needed, I was in charge most evenings and weekends.My responsibilities included all key holding duties; facilitating new members and handling new accounts; stock control; inventory and ordering; banking and finances; account maintenance; handling complaints; dealing with product and staff problems; organising and heading staff meetings; searching for and training new employees; establishing and meeting sales targets; and planning schedules for up to 20 staff.Reason for leaving – a lack of more senior positions meaning my career could not progress.