Grew up studious (had no choice!) and got a solid education with the standard issue 1980s conditioning that told little girls that good jobs were available only for those who worked very hard, stayed very quiet, kept their heads down and stayed humble and grateful. What a load of rubbish! I believed it anyway and did the good girl people pleaser perfectionist thing, right through to choosing the degree my parents wanted me to get…

Graduated from Nottingham Uni with a degree in Economics after four years with my head in the books, learning the theory of how money and markets work, people (men) make choices and respond to incentives. As soon as I put it into the real world I realised how inaccurate it was and how wholly under-represented the female experience is in economics textbooks. No mention of division of domestic labour, flexible working or equal pay, there.

Got a “good, safe job” in investment banking and had my first doses of sexism, misogyny and the out and out myth of meritocracy. The harder I worked to prove myself, the more money I made for the bank yet the more overlooked I was and the more resentful I became. If I had been able to advocate better for myself in my twenties, I may well be there now. Instead, I discovered I needed to be seen in a way that my silence wasn’t allowing and my corporate life was over. I vowed to make self advocacy a cornerstone of my job from that point and never again to think doing a good job would be good enough. Byeeeeee!

Became a mother and an accidental entrpreneur! After quitting banking I started my career again from scratch and became a business owner. I had to figure out how to show up for myself in a whole new way: online. I built my personal brand, prioritises promoting myself and sold out my services within a few months. Soon, others began to ask me how they could do it too. 

Started formally teaching other creatives to promote their work and to use social media to increase sales in a non sleazy way. Being able to use my sales knowledge to the creative community so they could make more money was the start of the business I have today. I realised my purpose: to help every woman get paid well, get the promotion and get the best opportunities possible through the power of self promotion.

After getting sick of seeing bookshelves full of bro-marketing hacks, I wrote More Sales Please to provide the gold standard handbook for selling as a creative business owner. I wanted to create a quality resource so more women could see that sales can be made without ick. Soon after that, thousands of women found an easier way to make money doing work they love, my book became a bestseller and got shortlisted for a Business Book Award!

Started speaking at events and in communities to show how sales skills, self advocacy and being a confident personal brand can benefit EVERY woman and to reduce the natural inclination women have to downplay their achievements, undersell themselves, under negotiate and feel overlooked. I know the power of confident self advocacy and I talk about it every day!