Lucky B****

A close friend joked the other day that I’m, ‘a lucky b****’ and while we laughed about it at the time, it got me pondering that while I work my booty off when it comes to my career, on reflection I do actually think I’m a lucky b**** (I’m def not an ACTUAL b***, just ask my mate) but luck has absolutely played its part in what I do now, and who I am, as it has with many of us, and it’s incredibly naive to think otherwise.

Yes, I work my socks off and yes, luck favours the bold and yes, I’m a focused and ambitious woman (who will help ANYONE fyi) but equally I’m lucky to live and work during this democratic, digital age and I’m equally lucky that the creative skills which have come naturally to me (I was drawing from 2 and writing stories from 4), later gaining my MA, teaching/ lecturing, screenwriting and directing put me in good stead when blogging came along back in 2010.

Those accumulated skills were not only transferable but also powerful, and empowering. They were essentially cargo which enabled me to garner leverage online.

Doing something I felt passionate about in the right place, at the right time was lucky.

Of course you need to work massively hard. As Samuel Goldwyn once said, ‘The harder I work, the luckier I get’ and that much is true, I’m just grateful to blogging and vlogging and the speed in which you can grow.

Honest Mum has given me the flexibility to create and earn around my family, something directing (my former career) and it’s 12 hour days, could not.

Needing to feel confident, to rediscover my voice and find work after having baby was the problem, and blogging was the answer.

Again, I was lucky to have been one of the first within a small group of mummy bloggers in the UK and probably worldwide to set up shop without even realising we were ACTUALLY SETTING UP SHOP (we could never have for-seen what organically arose from blogging back  then) which led to my site becoming a Google authority and see me wracking up almost 8 years of blog posts to date.

Yes, I live to write and people appear to enjoy reading what I write, and film, but starting when I did as most others who have since been deemed pioneering, was again down to Lady Luck.

I was lucky to have been on maternity leave in 2010 just as blogging exploded and I was lucky to have had that time, despite suffering from trauma, to dedicate to nurturing my blog. It was therapy for me.

I’m also lucky that the power of gatekeepers diminished with the rise in consuming new media, and that anyone could have a voice as long as they had a wifi connection and something to say.

I was lucky to have been able to type, a baby asleep on my chest as I juggled deadlines working with brands I respected and later, finding my way back to the TV world but this time with me ON the camera, rather than BEHIND it, reaching goals I could only dream of, before.

I’m lucky that one person has led me to another, no contact or connection ever wasted and that I’ve found the dream team I have today, around me in Jack Freud my manager, founder of IP Publicity, Spencer Johnson my Assistant Manager, and of course a like-minded audience in you all, all over the world, many of you who now know me more deeply than some of my family members.

I’m lucky that the diary writing I started age 4 led to an online, public diary aged 30 and a bestselling book in MUMBOSS.

I’ve undoubtedly made my own luck too, pushing down doors that wouldn’t open, learning from my mistakes and continuously honing my voice while accumulating new skills. I’m lucky that the fire inside me never takes ‘no’ for an answer and finds a way to achieve, and steely determination to overcome adversity.

I’ve not once stopped growing nor have I laid down for too long when the inevitable hurdles, or trolls came calling.

As the proverb goes, I’ve been knocked down 7 times and I’ve gotten up 8.

Most of all, I’m lucky that I’ve made friends for life thanks to blogging, discovering sisters (and brothers) in fellow creatives and readers who not only understand me but have inspired and encouraged me throughout this journey so I can keep showing up and sharing my thoughts and experiences.

Wow. You know what, I really, REALLY am a lucky b****.

Thank you for your support.