The Women (and Men!) Who Made Me
Posted on 6th March 2019 at 21:39
You've heard the saying "we only ever see one another at weddings and funerals!" Family times are to be cherished, these gorgeous moments where we are all together. These times don't happen very often and since my Dad passed away a few years ago, they seem even more special.
We gather family together as a time to remember, reflect and share happy memories. My Uncle Dennis is my Dads brother and they were two peas in a pod, as daft as one another and as loyal as one another. So, being around my Uncle makes me feel comforted and happy.
My Dad was an Accountant, he owned his business and this is the environment I have grown up in. We were never a 9-5 family. In fact Dad worked so hard providing an amazing life for Mum and I, I feel like we missed out on a lot of time together, but that was his calling - to be the provider, so I’m grateful. It’s no surprise that’s the route I’ve also taken, to be a business owner and I can only hope that I have learnt from my Dads experiences. I know he would be very proud of me today.
Every little girl has at least one woman (or man) to look up to as they grow up. There is beauty and something so powerful about being a woman. Whilst, we can’t choose our family, I am lucky to have had the greatest ladies (and men!) to look up to throughout my life. Firstly, my Mum, Nana and Great Grandma Molly who inspired, loved and shaped me into the woman I am today and I couldn't be more thankful.
Although my memories of her are faint, Great Grandma Molly was a typically fierce Irish woman, who didn’t suffer fools gladly! If you got offered a home-made ginger biscuit, you knew you’d been accepted.
From Molly came my amazing Nana, who I had such a special relationship with - she was quite simply the stabiliser to my life. She showered me with unconditional love, she was hardworking, funny, the greatest storyteller and made the best fruit cake I have ever tasted!
And then my Mum, who made her only child, a fierce, independent and confident woman. She’s one of the strongest, kindest human beings I know and my friend. In fact these two characteristics - strength and kindness, have been at the heart of the women in my family.
These 3 generations of ladies showed me what it means to be a great grand-daughter, daughter, wife, Mummy and friend. I hope that someday I will have every quality that I admire them for having.
I see so much of all 3 of these women in myself as I continue to grow and that is a wonderful thing. I have been inspired by them in many ways and I strive to become more like them every day. I hope to be as wise, intelligent, kind, hardworking and compassionate as them. I hope as a wife I'm as loving and supportive as they were. I'm now a Mummy myself, so I hope can pass on all of these characteristics, love and care for my little boy, like they did and still do for me.
Women have played a very special and important part in my life from the strong females in my direct blood line, to my 3 closest friends Claire, Elle and Dave (yes I know there’s a gender issue here but I’ll get to that!) I know they will all be surprised to be mentioned in this blog, but they are my oldest friends from my teenage, university and first job years and I wouldn’t be me, without them. Dave as you may have guessed isn’t a woman, although he did step up to the plate and take on the role of “BridesMan” for my wedding!
Life is hectic for all of us, but when we get together it’s like we’ve never been apart. They’ve had my back, picked me up and pushed me to keep going, they've seen me at my worst and celebrated my wins. Most of all I know, that if I ever need anything they are there for me, as I am for them.
It’s not all family and close friends that have played a part in where I am today. If it wasn’t for TV & Radio Presenter Zoe Ball, I most certainly wouldn’t be who I am or have had the career that I have! She was the first female presenter that I connected with, someone who was herself, relatable, natural, goofy and able to laugh at herself. I knew that was a style similar to my own and I wanted to see where I could go with it. Listening to Kevin Greening & Zoe on Radio 1 was my reason for doing just that! I was so chuffed to bump into her in Selfridges in London a few years ago, I stopped to thank her for being such an inspiration.
I set myself the biggest goals to nail. I wasn’t going to settle for graveyard shifts at stations, if I was doing this radio thing - I was doing Breakfast! It was a hard road, taking all the rejections on the chin and still ploughing on with fearful grit and determination! It took me 18 months to change my career path - to make the move from ITV, to live broadcasting and then onto a breakfast show. I will always owe a lot to Craig Beck for putting his head on the line against some real management c**ks (we know who they are!) He believed in me, in edgy, entertaining and creative radio. He believed that we could have something special to bring to the air. And he was right! Listening back to the radio we produced still makes me laugh almost 15 years on. I don’t miss radio knowing the way it currently is, in this era of Heart who are stripping the "heart" out of radio, but I miss that past era of radio. A time when presenters were embraced and hired for their personality, creativeness and they were trusted to know where that line was when it came to edgy content.
And that leads me onto a girls most important men in her life and that’s hubby and my little boy Harry. His unconditional love and belief in me amazes me every single day! If I came home tomorrow and informed Hubby that I was packing in Specky & Ginge to become an astronaut - he’d say “OK then how do we make that happen?” He’s taught me that I’m not on my own, that we’re a team. He’s supported, encouraged and continued to make sacrifices, all because he believes in me, in us. To top it all off, with him comes even more support from his family, now my family too.
There aren't enough words to explain how grateful I am for these special people in my life. They have moulded me, loved me, shared their wisdom and given me everything I need to be the best woman I can be. I owe them all of my success and all of my abilities.
Tagged as: BBC Radio 2, Empowering Women, International Womens Day, online marketing Doncaster, online marketing Northampton, The Women Who Shaped Me, Zoe Ball
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