TRANSITIONING FROM BUSINESS LEADER TO AUTHOR

I’ve spent the last thirty-odd years in business. Poor me, you may be thinking. Boring. All those profit and loss spreadsheets, balance sheets, intangible assets, Ebitda, ROI … bore, bore. Dull, dreary.

Not a bit of it. It’s always been challenging, interesting, stimulating and often uplifting. Why? People! Yes, that’s right. Business is all about people. And people are always interesting. And my business activity has been less about bankers and private equity (PE) and more about people – my employees, colleagues and of course, customers. Although, believe it or not, even PE people can be human. Revelatory or what?! Much more interesting though are the inspirational people involved in educational businesses with a social purpose. Imagine the elation of our staff in helping a homeless person find shelter and then land a job; or the young person discovering coping mechanisms, tools, and techniques for their learning disability to help transform their lives. Staff were routinely driven to helping young adults find work in order to escape the prevailing culture of generational unemployment ghettos. All in a day’s work for highly motivated staff. And we worked across a wide spectrum of training and employability activities. For instance I had the honour of joining a group of dignitaries to present completion certificates to youngsters who had become disaffected by school but who took like duck-to-water to the mix of vocational work and education in a private training provider setting.  Parents looked on proudly and Grandma dabbed teary eyes as her grandchild received the congratulations of the local mayor. All transformational life-experiences.

Then there were patrician business owners with their particular mindsets and worldview;  fraudsters with ill-intent; inspirational entrepreneurs embracing their own particular disability or background as their motivation to improve the lot of others.  Oh, yes business has provided me with a rich tapestry of experiences; a reservoir of interests and character traits to inspire my writing in paving the route to becoming an author!

So, what inspired me to write The Hope Affair? At the heart of it was my lifelong ambition to write a novel but it was the many amazing people I worked with and staff who were rewarded by helping others to a greater extent than any bonus for a job well done might provide. Staff on the ‘shop floor’ who simply wanted to help those who were disadvantaged in a myriad of ways but were keen to acquire skills and make something of their lives. Throughout my working life I’ve worked in the private sector but with the public sector in delivering educational services to help people across the age range to upskill, find work, develop their careers, optimise their opportunities. Education is the key to everything – even good health. And of course I’ve met the occasional rogue or colourful characters who have their own agendas – all great source material for fiction writing.

If you are interested in hearing more about the inspiration behind The Hope Affair stay tuned for my next blog …

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