Romantic Heroines 1813, 1996 or 2025
I’m thrilled that Bridget Jones has been in my life since 1996. She’s one of those wonderful characters who makes it okay to try and then to get it wrong while all the time giving us hope that she’ll emerge from the chaos like a phoenix from the ashes eventually! Bridget’s character bears so many of the hallmarks of Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813). I love that Colin Firth’s portrayal of Mr. Darcy transcends more than 150 years and is equally successful in both stories!
Not that I’ve picked up a copy of Austen’s book since 1971 when I needed to know so much about Emma to get me through my GCE ‘O’ level in English Literature. The relevance of Emma almost passed me by at the time although the more times I’ve watched the screen adaptations the more I’ve grown to like her. Our English teacher suggested that we read all six of Austen’s novels although we would be assessed on just one.
I took the advice although never quite understood how seemingly unremarkable family life could hold such appeal. And that’s from someone who has now notched up more than 100,000 words of Tea Break blog posts. I may not write with Jane Austen’s eloquence or Helen Fielding’s humour although these are my words written by me (just saying) about my relatively ordinary life.
My writing style has developed over time just like my knowledge and skills although I still introduce myself as an HR consultant, business founder or recruitment coach. Who knows when or even if I’ll muster the confidence to ever introduce myself as a writer. Right now ‘writing’ makes position number seven on my profile just after ‘creating content and recruitment events’ yet beating ‘red lipstick lover’ at number eight. I have some exciting writing projects on the horizon for 2025 so be sure to check in from time to time and see how I’m progressing.
I’ve recently signed up for Shelley Wilson’s Accountability Club for Writers as I wanted to ‘turn around’ some of my self-doubts about writing. I’ve had a few encouraging emails about turning my Tea Break (words of wisdom) into a book although didn’t really know where to begin. Let’s see where this journey takes me. Oh, and that reminds me … When did you last check that your Linked In profile truly represents you and what you do ‘in the round’ or is it your ‘poor relation’ even though you know it shouldn’t be?
It seems that the concept of business networking means different things to different people. Whatever ‘business’ means to you this week, I’m hoping that you can spare a little time to make sure your inner heroines and heroes shine through.
It’s entirely up to you how you use your Linked In profile although remember that:
It’s not your CV and doesn’t need your CV attached
Others use it to track down like-minded networkers!
It’s a tool that works if you invest in keeping it up to date
If you create a banner in one package it may not readily transfer*
You own editorial rights and decide what you want to publish or delete
It needs to be representative of you
People may not recognise you if your photo is ancient
*That’s the polite way of saying if Canva encourages you to overcomplicate a banner your profile photo may just hide what you’ve written
