International Women's Day

Just been to an event in Thornton Hough Hotel which is just around the corner from me. It was great - full of inspirational stories about women who wanted to turn their life around and gain a new business / career and what stops them.

This made me think for a minute about what had motivated me to go into business and undoutedly it was circumstance - it was more convenient for me to go the business route than to commit to a 9 - 5 job (and all those extra hours) - child care - school holidays etc etc. So I started up an IT training business - or I thought I did.

What I actually did was get in touch with all those really successful training companies and asked if they needed my skills to help them deliver courses - well they did and I made a good living from it - but at the back of my mind I was not sure that companies would buy from me direct and that I was doomed to do a lot of the hard work but sometimes only get a fraction of the fee that the client had paid.

The reason I did this was economics. I was sure that if I worked as an associate to these companies I would bring in enough money to pay the bills. And so I went on - but actually my dream was to break out of this mould and really begin to contribute to helping people realise their dreams by learning and developing new skills that they needed for their "game plan".

Suddenly one day it hit me like a ton of bricks - I could go on like this on the treadmill and never reach my dream OR I could take a risk. A couple of years on I am still taking risks but having so much fun doing it.

If I can help you talk through the options. Please let me know - I'm a very good listener and sometimes it just helps to talk things through.

Bye for now.

New Year - New Start

I get to meet and talk to all sorts of different people in my business and recently have begun to wonder just why women don't enter the world of IT. Having worked in it all my life I can tell you that it is.

• Well paid
• In turns very challenging, frustrating and satisfying
• Very good for travel you can spend January in Florida and June in Cannes if you pick the right job
• Not just about IT - the best paid IT managers have now got an array of business and marketing qualifications and that's what gets them the job.

At The Learning Space, one of my greatest pleasures is getting women into the right career in IT. A couple of months ago, a lovely woman contacted me, she wanted to study for a qualification in Computer Support so she could start a computer support business now that the children had grown up. She had such great plans and determination and I feel sure she will succeed in her venture. I'll look forward to telling you about her progress.

Please drop me a line if you want some advice or change of career and not sure how to go about it. I'd love to help.