I am an emerging author, writing my debut novel that delves into the realms of historical time slip fiction. Set against the rich and vivid backdrop of ancient Greece, my novel weaves a narrative that bridges the past and the present. At the heart of the story are four remarkable women, separated by centuries yet bound by an extraordinary connection. Through their intertwined lives, the novel explores timeless themes of love, resilience, and the enduring human spirit. My aim is… Show more I am an emerging author, writing my debut novel that delves into the realms of historical time slip fiction. Set against the rich and vivid backdrop of ancient Greece, my novel weaves a narrative that bridges the past and the present. At the heart of the story are four remarkable women, separated by centuries yet bound by an extraordinary connection. Through their intertwined lives, the novel explores timeless themes of love, resilience, and the enduring human spirit. My aim is to bring the ancient world to life, while drawing poignant parallels to the present day through a blend of historical authenticity and compelling, character-driven drama.Writing a novel is a huge learning curve! I've participated in writing craft courses, attended writing retreats and have files and files of research that underpin the novel. I'm currently at the developmental edit stage and in the process of sending query letters to agents.I also write short stories, five of which are to be published in an anthology. Show less

For two days a week, I help to enable smoother customer interactions and more productive use of time for the directors of the business, by developing and maintaining their customer relationship management system. I am also the voice on the phone when you call Speccies on the days I’m working, I provide admin support behind the scenes, and even do minor frame repairs such as replacing nose pads, tightening loose frame arms and so on. By taking away some of the more mundane tasks,… Show more For two days a week, I help to enable smoother customer interactions and more productive use of time for the directors of the business, by developing and maintaining their customer relationship management system. I am also the voice on the phone when you call Speccies on the days I’m working, I provide admin support behind the scenes, and even do minor frame repairs such as replacing nose pads, tightening loose frame arms and so on. By taking away some of the more mundane tasks, the optical specialists can focus on what really counts - their customers. Show less

As an independent LinkedIn Trainer for Business, I worked with small businesses, franchises and charities to use the power of LinkedIn to flourish and grow, ethically and with the right etiquette.For businesses, I acted as a trusted partner. My approach was highly individual and started with getting to know the business and their goals before designing and implementing learning solutions that were tailored for their specific needs.Every business is unique, every person within… Show more As an independent LinkedIn Trainer for Business, I worked with small businesses, franchises and charities to use the power of LinkedIn to flourish and grow, ethically and with the right etiquette.For businesses, I acted as a trusted partner. My approach was highly individual and started with getting to know the business and their goals before designing and implementing learning solutions that were tailored for their specific needs.Every business is unique, every person within that business is unique and I ensured that all training was absolutely relevant to that business and their client audience. It is always rewarding to see my clients achieve success in LinkedIn following their training with me, even now after my retirement.I am incredibly proud to have been awarded 'Go To LinkedIn Trainer 2021' (Zokit Go To Business Awards), 'LinkedIn Training Provider of the Year Award' (Enterprise UK), and was a Finalist in the Best Businesswomen Awards 2018, Best Networker category. Show less

I was part of a volunteer team of 8 people who organise and run the Hogs Back Business Group virtual meetings for businesses, based in the Guildford, Farnham, Camberley and surrounding area. The group was initially created to support micro-businesses and self employed people at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. My role was to manage the LinkedIn Page, Group and Events and communicate with all group members via LinkedIn. I've handed this over to another member of team to manage… Show more I was part of a volunteer team of 8 people who organise and run the Hogs Back Business Group virtual meetings for businesses, based in the Guildford, Farnham, Camberley and surrounding area. The group was initially created to support micro-businesses and self employed people at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. My role was to manage the LinkedIn Page, Group and Events and communicate with all group members via LinkedIn. I've handed this over to another member of team to manage after retiring from my business in January 2022.I am proud to have been a founder member of this thriving community of collaborative businesses whose sole purpose is to help and support each other. HBBG has an educational focus and welcomes speakers who give their time to share their specialist knowledge and expertise.The organising team give their time freely, not just at the regular group meetings but also as a team to discuss and agree future speaking topics and to source quality speakers from within our growing group. Our private LinkedIn Community grew from just a handful of people to over 145 members during my 21 months as co-organiser and sees regular conversations and contributions from different people with help, advice, support to businesses of all sizes. This is where our Hogs Back Business Group community truly thrives and where we all have an opportunity to help each other. I remain a member of the group and still provide support when they need it. Show less

I loved sharing tips and knowledge on all things LinkedIn and was a regular speaker at all sizes of events including:🔹 Company Seminars🔹 Franchise Development Days🔹 Law, Financial, Property firms in-house Seminars🔹 Professional Associations as part of CPD Events🔹 Business Groups🔹 Business Expos🔹 Schools, Colleges and UniversitiesAudiences ranged in size from 10 to 500 people - the common factor being people focussed and human to human interaction… Show more I loved sharing tips and knowledge on all things LinkedIn and was a regular speaker at all sizes of events including:🔹 Company Seminars🔹 Franchise Development Days🔹 Law, Financial, Property firms in-house Seminars🔹 Professional Associations as part of CPD Events🔹 Business Groups🔹 Business Expos🔹 Schools, Colleges and UniversitiesAudiences ranged in size from 10 to 500 people - the common factor being people focussed and human to human interaction which is at the very core of LinkedIn. I am proud to have gained a reputation of being someone who gives and gives and gives - I always included lots of practical tips to implement straight away. It was always a surprise to me that people wanted to listen to what I had to say and were genuinely interested in what I shared with them. At a large Business Expo in 2019, I expected around 90 people to attend my "Unleash Your LinkedIn Savvy" seminar. People kept on arriving, they were 5 or 6 people deep on 3 sides surrounding the seating space and there was literally no standing room left. Everyone was scribbling notes, even fellow LinkedIn Trainers who had come to listen in too. That in itself was an achievement and reinforced my confidence.Examples of speaking engagements included:🟡 Women in Business Expo, Hampshire Business Expo, Basingstoke Business Expo🟡 CIPD Thames Valley Independent Consultants half day CPD event🟡 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) CPD events🟡 The Athena Network franchisee development day🟡 Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) groups🟡 The Athena Network business groups 🟡Gordons School - Year 13 studentsand more...During the Covid pandemic between March 2020 to November 2021, I delivered talks at over 87 different events and seminars virtually. LinkedIn is a popular subject that businesses want to learn more about. Participants gained solid LinkedIn tips and practical actions - and I loved hearing about how they implemented their learning. Show less

The experience and value I gained from working as an independant People and Team Development Consultant has been immense. I have applied many of my training methods and learning techniques into my primary business as a LinkedIn Trainer and Consultant. Understanding how people learn and adapting to suit their learning style has always been a strength. The people I have met and worked with over the years have created a wealth of knowledge which I shall always value. Since taking a… Show more The experience and value I gained from working as an independant People and Team Development Consultant has been immense. I have applied many of my training methods and learning techniques into my primary business as a LinkedIn Trainer and Consultant. Understanding how people learn and adapting to suit their learning style has always been a strength. The people I have met and worked with over the years have created a wealth of knowledge which I shall always value. Since taking a decision to niche in LinkedIn training, all the expertise and knowledge I have gained now contributes to helping other Leadership, Management and People Development professionals to use LinkedIn for their businesses. As a qualified Learning & Development Consultant, MBTI Practitioner and Mediator, I worked as a trusted partner with companies, charities and SME’s. I design and deliver learning programmes to directly respond to the challenges that people in the workplace have been talking to me about for years. I also worked with clients on a one-to-one basis providing leadership coaching and support to help them identify and overcome their own personal barriers, increase confidence and create an environment of trust and respect. As a freelance trainer and consultant, I enabled teams, their managers and leaders to work effectively together to enhance productivity and team dynamics to enable a happier workplace.I loved the work and happily apply all that I did then to what I do now. Show less

When I left the world of employment to start my own business, I wanted to be part of a supportive group of like-minded people. I found that some networking groups I visited were too intense, too interested in selling and not helping, and too full of their own self importance. I wanted to belong to a group where I could share my own knowledge and expertise, learn from others and make genuine friendships. None fitted the bill locally so I started to look wider and found The Athena… Show more When I left the world of employment to start my own business, I wanted to be part of a supportive group of like-minded people. I found that some networking groups I visited were too intense, too interested in selling and not helping, and too full of their own self importance. I wanted to belong to a group where I could share my own knowledge and expertise, learn from others and make genuine friendships. None fitted the bill locally so I started to look wider and found The Athena Network. The only problem was that there was no group in my local area. So I bought the franchise for my region and The Athena Network Blackwater Valley Region was born! I loved leading the groups, supporting other businesswomen and enabling positive and productive business relationships. From small beginnings of just 8 members at the beginning, I grew the region to 70+ businesswomen during my 5 years tenure as Regional Director. It was such a joy to see Athena members grow and develop personally, professionally and to see that reflected in their business growth. After 5 years, I made a decision to sell the Athena business to enable me to focus full time on my LinkedIn Training business. I am now an active member of one of the Athena groups - that is testimonial in itself to it's success. I'm loving continuing being part of the #MagentaTribe !▶ What is The Athena Network?The Athena Network offers structured business networking lunches, events and training for women in business. See the video below for a glimpse of Athena.Message me in LinkedIn if you would like to visit one of the Athena groups in the UK and I will be happy to introduce you to the relevant Regional Director. Show less

As a Learning & Development Facilitator, I developed and facilitated a wide variety of training workshops for academic and professional support teams including:► Soft Skills► Leadership and Management development (including modules for the ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership & Management)► Mentoring and Coaching► Career Development (CV Writing, Interview Skills, LinkedIn Profiles)► Presentation SkillsI loved creating and facilitating bespoke team development… Show more As a Learning & Development Facilitator, I developed and facilitated a wide variety of training workshops for academic and professional support teams including:► Soft Skills► Leadership and Management development (including modules for the ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership & Management)► Mentoring and Coaching► Career Development (CV Writing, Interview Skills, LinkedIn Profiles)► Presentation SkillsI loved creating and facilitating bespoke team development days for different teams within the University focusing on their specific needs, in order to enhance team dynamics, efficiency and productivity. This remains a core part of what I do now as a freelance people development consultant.I worked very closely with my team on the ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership & Management as a Development Tutor, Workshop Facilitator, Internal Assessor and Verifier. As part of this project, I designed, built and implemented a database to record progress and results, which gave our team an exceptionally high feedback on quality from the ILM External Verifier. More importantly, the managers who studied for the ILM qualifications gave fantastic feedback about their learning experience and mentoring they received from me.Continuing Professional Development as a learning and development practitioner has always been one of my priorities and the University gave me the opportunity to study for professional qualifications. I achieved the CIPD Certificate in Learning & Development, became qualified as a Myers Briggs practitioner and a Workplace Mediator during my time at UCA, providing me with the skills, experience and credibility within the University. I am very proud to have developed close business relationships with senior managers and team leaders as their trusted learning and development partner. I am equally proud to have been instrumental in developing a great team within my own section. Show less

Previously Surrey Institute of Art and Design. I delivered IT skills training to academic and professional support staff in two campuses, Farnham and Epsom. One of my greatest achievements was developing an IT skills qualifications programme, to include the European Computer Driving License. Over 70 staff participated, and achieved their certificate. The strict rigidity of the syllabus and marking structure was a challenge at times, but I'm so proud of all those who succeeded. 99% pass… Show more Previously Surrey Institute of Art and Design. I delivered IT skills training to academic and professional support staff in two campuses, Farnham and Epsom. One of my greatest achievements was developing an IT skills qualifications programme, to include the European Computer Driving License. Over 70 staff participated, and achieved their certificate. The strict rigidity of the syllabus and marking structure was a challenge at times, but I'm so proud of all those who succeeded. 99% pass rate! Show less