My story

Creating transformEd styling is the culmination of my own transformational journey. But what's my story?

Born in Hertfordshire, I lived there until moving to university in Wales - not to study Welsh but Swedish! Rural West Wales became my home for another 9 years – interspersed with a couple of study years in Sweden. Becoming a lecturer in Scandinavian Studies brought me to Hull. Almost 25 years later, I'm still in East Yorkshire where I live with my husband, my younger son and an elderly cat called Mrs Hudson. As a bookworm, I'm never far from my Kindle ...or my cat! One of my two grown-up sons has now flown the nest and moved to London. I visit him frequently so am open to work in and around London by arrangement.

I believe we can all reinvent ourselves and make positive changes – with support, advice and people to believe in us. I took a step in that direction when I retrained to become a primary school teacher. This eventually became a launchpad for another career twist when I combined primary education with lecturing and got a job back at the University of Hull, training the next generation of primary school teachers.

I'd always been interested in style and loved combining colours, styles and accessories. Over a number of years, I’d built up an Instagram account as @theshoestringshopper and am part of a wonderful, international community of style-loving women and men. Through this, I gained insight into and confidence with my own style, found followers through starting my hashtag #everythinglooksbetterwithabag and, much more importantly, have formed some real-life friendships.

Now in my mid-fifties, I started to reappraise my own career. Was it too late for that career transformation? The Japanese concept ikigai means ‘reason for being’ and can be used to consider career choices based on: what we love; are good at; can be paid for and what there’s a need for. I came to realise that with a bit of risk-taking, some planning and a lot of support from loved ones, I could use my interpersonal skills and drive to help others in a different way. Returning from a visit to an Insta-turned-real-life friend in Lincoln, I had my own ‘Ikigai’ lightbulb moment and the idea for my twin businesses transformEd styling and transformEd coaching. Six months later, I’m an LCS-trained personal stylist and an educational & career coach! Are you happy with your own style and lifestyle or - like me - going through or ready for something more transformational? My clients are in the safe hands of someone who’s been through the ups and downs of change and is rooting for you in your own transformation.