Why I Write the Books I Once Needed to Read

I have never wanted to write books that simply sound good.

I want to write books that make people feel understood, give them a different way to look at their lives and push them to do something with the ideas they have been carrying around for far too long.

A lot of what I write comes from my own experiences of building businesses, creating brands, dealing with pressure, making mistakes, trying again and refusing to accept that there is only one correct way to become successful.

I know what it is like to have a mind full of ideas.

I also know what it is like to be responsible for turning those ideas into something real.

There is a huge difference between imagining a business, a book or a better life and actually building it. The finished result can look exciting, but behind it there are decisions, problems, risks, long days, self-doubt and times when you have to keep going without knowing exactly how everything will work out.

That is the side of ambition I want to write about.

I Do Not Write From the Sidelines

Many books about business and success are written once everything has worked out perfectly.

The difficult parts are condensed into a few neat paragraphs and the final success is made to look inevitable.

That has never felt completely honest to me.

I write from inside the experience of building, changing and trying to create more. I am still learning, developing businesses, starting new ideas and working out how to make everything better.

I do not believe you need to have reached some imaginary final destination before you are allowed to share what you have learned.

Sometimes the most useful perspective comes from somebody who still remembers exactly what the struggle feels like.

That is what I try to bring into my books.

The Ideas Behind My Books

Although my books explore different subjects, they are all connected by similar themes: ambition, confidence, resilience, independence, identity and freedom.

In Pretty Little Business, I wanted to challenge the idea that women need to fit a traditional corporate image to be taken seriously.

I love creativity, strong branding, femininity and building things that look exciting. None of that makes me any less commercially minded.

Women should not have to remove every interesting part of themselves to look professional.

You can care about how something looks and still understand numbers, strategy, negotiations, systems and growth.

You can be feminine and formidable.

You can be warm and still have strong boundaries.

You can enjoy beautiful things and still make serious business decisions.

In Steel Boots, I wanted to explore what resilience actually looks like.

To me, resilience is not pretending that nothing affects you. It is continuing despite the fact that it does.

It is handling pressure, getting back up after disappointment and realising that a difficult period does not have to become your entire identity.

Act Like a Lawyer came from my interest in how much language can change an outcome.

The way we communicate matters. Too many people weaken their position before anybody else has even challenged it. They over-explain, apologise unnecessarily and ask for reasonable things as though they are doing something wrong.

The book is about learning to look at facts, communicate clearly and stop allowing emotion or intimidation to completely control how you respond.

In Freedom of Success, I wanted to question what success is supposed to give us.

There is no point building something impressive if you create a life that you never have the time or freedom to enjoy.

Success should not only be measured by money, titles or how something looks from the outside. It should also be measured by choice, ownership, time and whether the life you are building actually feels like your own.

My fiction explores many of the same ideas in a completely different way.

In Lumen, I explore control, awakening and the possibility of living in a world that has been designed or manufactured around you.

It is fiction, but the question behind it is very real: how much of what we believe about ourselves and the world has actually been chosen by us?

Writing for Women Who Want More

I write for women who know they are capable of more, even when they cannot yet see exactly what that “more” looks like.

I write for women who have been underestimated.

I write for women who have several ideas, interests and ambitions and have been made to feel as though they need to choose one small, sensible route.

I write for women building businesses, starting again, changing careers, creating something of their own or simply trying to become more confident in the life they already have.

I especially write for the woman who looks capable from the outside but still questions herself privately.

I understand that feeling.

Confidence does not mean you never doubt yourself. It means you stop allowing every moment of doubt to make your decisions for you.

I Want My Books to Create Action

I do not want someone to read one of my books, feel motivated for an hour and then return to exactly the same way of thinking.

I want the ideas to stay with them.

I want someone to send the email they have been avoiding, begin the business they keep talking about, set a stronger boundary or finally take their own ambition seriously.

Real change is not always dramatic.

Sometimes it begins with one clearer decision.

Sometimes it is one conversation.

Sometimes it is finally admitting that the life you are living is no longer the one you want.

My books are not about becoming a completely different person.

They are about recognising what may already be within you and giving yourself permission to use it.

I am not interested in teaching women how to become smaller, quieter or easier for other people to manage.

I want to encourage women to think bigger, communicate clearly, build intelligently and create a version of success that genuinely belongs to them.

These are the books I once needed to read.

That is why I decided to write them.