my new chapter
well, hello there.
This is me, Jo. What do you need to know about me? Well, I’m obsessed with interiors, in love with cooking and learning - very quickly - to embrace the countryside and everything it throws at me. I am a wife to Jem, a mother to Bo, and a perfectionist who cannot not follow through on something once I’ve set my mind to it.
Stubborn and collaborative. Passionate and creative. Driven and warm. Approachable and nurturing. I like to entertain the notion that motherhood and a decade-long career in the media has enabled me to fine-tune a manner which ticks quite a lot of boxes.
I came to Lincolnshire for my studies in 2004. Three years later I graduated from the University of Lincoln with a 2:1 in English Literature and Communications, and with no real vocation, I went on to manage a bar for a few years. Let’s face it, who hasn’t? A timely stint of work experience at the Lincolnshire Echo and a supportive husband resulted in my return to university, this time for my Masters in Journalism. The paper had very graciously created me the role of commercial writer, one which I could segue into as soon as I qualified.
When the company - Lincolnshire Media at the time - announced they would be relaunching a lifestyle magazine, I was among the first to put my hand up. Working side-by-side a talented page designer and editor, we brought The Journal back to life.
Thanks to it’s mix of simple yet hard-hitting design and local content, within a few months we had won a national press award for Best Lifestyle Monthly Magazine of the Year.
A few years later it was my turn to take the helm. I’ve maintained editorship of The Journal ever since, up until this year when lockdown and declining trends forced our hand. All those years of experience to me have been invaluable. Not only have they truly allowed me to hone my craft, but the contacts I now have and the friendships I have made are priceless.
Perhaps more importantly, it’s paved the way for this - Your Story. A near decade of telling people’s stories has quite literally given me my future. And one which I am so excited about. Having overlapped contractual work with my life as a freelancer for some time now, I have already been working with some incredible businesses and brands.
From press releases which have garnered them national attention and award nominations to copywriting for websites and brochures and managing social media accounts - no two days are the same, no two projects are the same, no two clients are the same and that’s what I love. I love the people, the passion, the drive and the sheer determination that goes into what my clients - you - do. And it’s my business to make sure people know that too.
So, here’s to ten years more adventure.
baby bo.
Not so much of a baby anymore, Bodie - or Bo as he is more fondly known - is by far my proudest achievement. Born in our first home, back in Lincoln’s Bailgate, Bo is just the most beautiful boy. Kind, bright as a button and sharp as a tack, our move to the country really has paid dividends with Bo. Obsessed by wildlife and entranced by nature, it is the most beautiful backdrop to watch him grow.
Four going on fourteen, Bo is who I schedule my work, my life, around. As a threesome - Bo, hubby and I - all end up slotting together like quite a neat puzzle… with the help of preschool and grandparents along the way, of course.
the boy.
Absolutely my dreamboat, ‘the boy’ has been my nickname for hubby, Jem, from the day we got together in 2008. Married in 2013, there is no one else I would up-sticks to rural Lincolnshire for - believe me.
Passionate, proud and stubborn as hell, Jem specialises in working with historic and listed buildings. Both total foodies, we also share a love of antiques, rummaging in reclamation yards until the sun goes down and, now, building our countryside adventure. Acre-by-acre Jem is tidying up our land ready to house some big ideas. Environmentally-minded and ambitious, what this one has planned will surprise so many. Watch this space.
