A Will Writer?

Definitely not something I had in mind when I trained at the Cordon Bleu and worked for many years doing lunches for one of the largest firms of solicitors in the City of London. But who knows, maybe some little something implanted itself and lay dormant for an awfully long time! I’m told that all successful blogs have a page which tells the reader, if they are in the slightest bit interested, something about the author, so not wanting to buck the trend here goes!

I thoroughly enjoyed working in the city cooking for the partners of this law firm, but there came a point when I decided that I needed a change. I was in a rut. How does one get out of a rut? Make a drastic change! So I gave in my notice, rented out my room in the flat I was sharing and went to America for what I thought would be a six month holiday. I came back almost twenty years later!

For a few years I lived in Dallas where I had a cooking school, catering company and ran a gourmet cookware store with a friend I met when I moved there. Believe it or not, we are still friends and she is Godmother to my daughter.

I then moved to Washington DC where I worked for a large convention hotel in their catering department. I was then head hunted to be Director of Catering for one of the most prestigious hotels in the Capitol. It was hard work and great fun. Anybody who was anybody would come to the hotel and its well known restaurant The Jockey Club. One of the most exciting things was arranging some of the inaugural parties for President Reagan’s inauguration there.

I then found myself in Chicago where I was vice president, doesn’t that sound grand (!) of a company that did food testing for some of the large American companies such as Uncle Ben’s and Betty Crocker and also did a great deal of food styling for food photography.

Atlanta was the next stop where I continued with the food styling, but also had two children. Charleston, South Carolina followed with a slight change of career. Using my hotel background I worked for a Conference & Exhibition Company, owned by my other best friend in America. Did we have fun, but a small hiccup called Hurricane Hugo put a great dent in mine and many people’s lives.

After picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves down I started an inbound tour company which also put together fly drives for some UK based travel companies such as Kuoni and Travel 4. Some time later I was offered the opportunity to be the UK representative for Coastal South Carolina in the UK. It was a great opportunity and something I loved doing and it precipitated my move back to the UK with my two children.

Since being back I have been the travel and conference organiser for one company but before that worked sourcing a particular type of container for another company which involved visiting some very interesting industrial sites!

About eight years ago, my partner heard someone talking about Will writing. He thought that it would be something that I would be good at, so I looked into it and that is where I still am today. I actually think of myself as a Will writer as I don’t write the documentation myself. I look upon myself as an information giver and an instruction taker. There are Will writers who have software that they use to write their clients’ Wills. I have decided to go in a slightly different direction. I use a highly qualified specialist Will writing company. The benefits are enormous. They give me advice and guidance when I need it, invaluable when dealing with some extremely complex cases and they also provide ongoing training which means I am ahead of the game when things change.

I still love cooking, especially for others. A dinner with friends for me is one of the best ways to spend an evening. I love to travel and experience all the different tastes out there. I enjoy good wine, the cinema, a good book and I love my cats. There are many things I would like to achieve before my Will comes into being, most to do with travel! My daughter is in California. She is a Marine Biologist and I would love more chances to visit her and my son who is in Michigan I want to go to the Maldives, take a cruise on one of the small boats, see the Terracotta Army and be able to afford a small place somewhere warm that I can retreat to when I want and let friends use. So that gives you some idea of what I’ve done. As to what I’m like as a person, that’s not really for me to say, except I know that I’m a hard worker, a survivor and I love what I do.