About Me
Writer
"As a creator, I hate boxes, and I refuse to be stashed into one. Boxes constrain imagination. Yet society is wired to fit everything and everyone into boxes.
As a social observer /commentator, I love boxes. Boxes allow me to understand the collective human condition quickly and easily."
I fell in love with writing at a young age. I wrote - by hand - my first book when I was fourteen. At sixteen, I wrote a movie script that I sent to a Hollywood address I found in an old magazine. I was a dreamer back then and, to a large extent, still am.
I have come to realise that my dilemma, as a writer, is navigating and balancing the constraints of my reality and the unboundedness of my imagination. This dilemma is seldom a matter of fact versus fiction, but rather a matter of competing fictions.
In my writings, I like to explore and play with all kinds of fiction: the fiction we are told, the fiction we tell ourselves, the fiction we label ‘reality’, and the fiction we label ‘fiction’.
It is precisely in this world of fictions that I, like all writers, compose. Words are my instruments of choice. I use them to create notes, melodies, chords, basslines – each carefully crafted to entice specific emotional human response: fear, exhilaration, love, sadness. In a sense, I believe that, as a writer, I am a composer of the soundtrack of our lives. And that is a responsibility I take seriously.
Designer/Artist
I used to think of myself exclusively as a writer. But over the years, I realised I was a storyteller, and writing was simply one form of telling stories. So, I began to express myself through visual art. Through trial and error and experimentation, I slowly discovered (or is it 'uncovered') my style as an artist. I am drawn to vivid colours and lines. Colour illuminates the concept, the idea of something; whereas lines draw out and trace the specifics, the details. The combination of the two is great for producing highly evocative abstract images that appeal directly to our evolutionary need for efficiency and clarity but without the monotony of repetition.
Professional & Entreprenuer
You can trust my writing on business, entrepreneurship and related topics because it comes from extensive knowledge on those subjects and a wealth of experience as a professional and as an entrepreneur. I have formed and run small companies and also worked in the UK government in Westminster in various mid-level and senior positions. I have also studied extensively - including an MBA at Warwick Business School, Advanced Entrepreneurship with Stanford University, and Design Thinking and Creativity with INSEAD.
SChina
Advisor, Consultant & Coach
I have spent many years thinking, writing, and talking (in order of magnitude) about diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as climate change and sustainability (specifically focusing on how we teach kids about that stuff). I have developed a few frameworks and solutions to help companies and individuals to talk about and take action to develop organisational cultures based on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Please get in touch and let's discuss how I can help you or your organisation with diversity, equity, and inclusion. I offer advice, coaching, and implementation expertise.
