"This journey didn't start with a plan to become an author."
It began in conversations, in moments when someone I was mentoring asked for a book recommendation. I would pause, knowing I could point them to titles on storytelling, personal growth, or leadership, but none that truly reflected what I felt was missing. I wanted something rooted not in theory or celebrity memoir, but in real life. Something that spoke to the lived experience of ordinary people navigating extraordinary circumstances. That thought stayed with me for years.
Looking back, the threads were there long before I saw them. Every role I have taken involved writing in some form, from training materials to help people learn software, to reports unpacking complex systems, strategies for health and social care, and research into mental health, social mobility, and digital inclusion. Over time, the words accumulated, scattered across projects, thought leadership and research. The more I wrote, the more I saw that stories, whether about a process or a person, could change how people understood the world.
Collecting Stories and Voices
I am now the author of two forthcoming titles, Mindset to Mastery: Navigating Your Journey to Purposeful Leadership and Forged: A Modern Day Moral Compass. Both are in the final stages of development after several years of research, interviews, and writing. When I first set out, I intended to write only one book, but the work naturally evolved into two distinct projects. This is the story of how that happened.
When I began this writing journey, my intention was simple. I wanted to create one book for people stepping into leadership for the first time, often without formal training and sometimes without confidence that they belonged there. It would be the kind of advice you would get from a trusted mentor, practical, realistic, and informed by lived experience. But the stories I gathered began to grow beyond the frame I had imagined. Some were short, sharp examples that illustrated a leadership principle in action. Others were long, layered narratives that could not be condensed without losing their truth. I realised I faced a choice. Keep everything in one volume and risk weakening both, or give each its own space to breathe.
I drew on my own experience of mentoring hundreds of people over the years. I had a bank of lessons I regularly shared, and I knew the book needed to be grounded in real circumstances. Many of those circumstances were connected to people I knew, relatives, friends, and colleagues, and I began collecting their stories alongside my own. Some were based on memory, but I wanted to go further, to hear these stories in the voices of the people who lived them.
To bring those voices forward, I began working with an experienced author who had a background in working with people who had experienced trauma and abuse. Her sensitivity and understanding helped us ensure the process was kind and respectful for everyone involved. She carried out interviews, helping to capture details and navigate the emotional complexity of these accounts. Some of the interviews became chapters, others were set aside when contributors felt their stories were too raw to share. We developed a style guide, agreed on how to anonymise identities, and worked to make the chapters accessible to an international audience. The process was collaborative and layered. She would start the chapter, I would add my memories and insights, and together we would refine them. This process made the journey of creating these stories as important as the final words on the page.
When One Book Became Two
It was during this process that the material began to outgrow the original book. The personal stories, intended initially as supporting examples, had such depth and resonance that they deserved their own space. The more we worked on them, the clearer it became that they were not just case studies for leadership lessons, but powerful narratives about resilience, identity, caregiving, and transformation. What had started as one book naturally evolved into two.
I had never imagined that one project could expand into two volumes. For me, it was always one title, one story to tell. But as the chapters developed, it became clear I faced a choice: keep the stories tightly tied to leadership, or allow them to stand alone with the space they required. Pursuing both meant committing to twice the work and twice the uncertainty, but I knew that publishing one without the other would leave something important unsaid.
Mindset to Mastery: Navigating Your Journey to Purposeful Leadership
| Mindset to Mastery: Navigating the Journey to Leadership is the practical companion, a deeply human leadership guide for those stepping into new responsibility. It blends reflective storytelling with actionable strategies, covering essential but often untaught skills like building trust, listening deeply, managing focus, and adapting without losing your values. It includes over one hundred case studies across industries from hospitality and agriculture to technology, healthcare, public service, and more. It is designed for an international audience and has been reviewed by editors from multiple countries to ensure its accessibility and relevance across cultures. |  |
Forged: A Modern Day Moral Compass
| Forged: A Modern Day Moral Compass is the narrative counterpart, a collection of deeply human stories about resilience, identity, caregiving, and transformation. These are the lived experiences of people who have faced adversity, cultural barriers, sudden tragedy, and long journeys of recovery. Some live with Emotional Dysregulation Disorder, Autism, or ADHD. Others have endured loss through illness, injustice, or events beyond their control. Each story reveals intrinsic motivation and the moral choices that shape who we become. Forged was developed with the support of a professional author experienced in handling trauma narratives and reviewed by a mental health specialist to ensure kindness and care in every telling. |  |
Letting the Work Find Its True Form
By separating them, each book could breathe in its own space. Mindset could remain a clear, practical guide for those stepping into leadership, while Forged could become a profoundly human exploration of resilience and values. Together, they offer both the tools and the perspective to lead with clarity, compassion, and purpose.
What started as just one project naturally expanded into two because the incredible people, the heartfelt stories, and the valuable lessons needed more space than I expected to give. I have discovered that often, the most remarkable results come when you let a project develop its form and truly listen to the voices guiding you along the way.
Together, the books can be read in any order. Mindset to Mastery gives you the tools to lead with clarity and empathy. Forged gives you the lived experiences that deepen your moral clarity, resilience, and understanding of others.
Why Now
We are living in a time where leadership readiness and moral resilience are tested daily, in workplaces, in communities, and in private moments that are unseen by others. The tools to lead effectively are essential, but so is the understanding of what it feels like to keep going when circumstances are at their hardest. These books bring both into focus.
They are the product of years of listening, observing, and working alongside people in vastly different worlds. They carry the trust of those who shared their stories and the intention to meet readers where they are, whether stepping into a first leadership role or seeking proof that resilience is possible.
Not the End, Just the Beginning?
Completing these manuscripts has been one of the most enriching creative processes. Shaping ideas, listening to stories, and refining words into something others can hold has been both humbling and deeply satisfying. Yet reaching this point does not feel like a conclusion. It feels like the start of a much longer journey.
The work has also been personal. Writing these books has acted as a form of therapy. There were moments when I questioned my decisions, times when I learned more about the people in these stories than I ever expected, and occasions when the process helped me see my past through a different lens. Conversations with other authors have drawn me into a community I did not realise I needed. That sense of belonging is its reward, even if the books never become bestsellers. I will know they carry meaning, and that in itself is enough.
There is still much to learn. Publishing is a craft that combines creativity, strategy, and considerable patience. I recognise that I am still in the early phases of it. I often imagine how it will feel when I see my books out in the world, knowing they are being read, reviewed, and thought about by people I may never meet. That moment will bring a sense of vulnerability, because once published, they no longer belong solely to me. Instead, they will be interpreted, questioned, and hopefully appreciated for what they offer.
What steadies me is the knowledge that every chapter is built on real experience. Years of listening, observing, mentoring, and working alongside others through the kinds of challenges these books explore. They are grounded in real work and real lives. Whatever the reviews may say, I will know they carry truth, and that truth will find the people who need it most. And that is what keeps me moving forward. There are more stories to hear, more voices to honour, and more ways to help others see what is possible. That journey is only just beginning.