Welcome to the Step Up Club.
Five years ago, I decided to turn the Step Up Club, my women’s professional development business into an online business - or more specifically a Community.
The premise was simple: share my expertise and musings and create accessible virtual spaces where women from any industry, at any stage, can meet, learn and evolve through networking and new knowledge.
In that time, the Step Up Club Community has reached 1000s of working women across the world. Now, excitingly, it lives here on Substack.
Let's work in a world where all women thrive.
Who am I?
Well this is me, above, at my dining table, at home in North West London. I don’t actually work from here (too noisy); usually you’ll find me upstairs in my office, a small corner of our home that is held up by books and Post-It notes.
After many years at The Times and other pretty well known publications, newspaper, I co-wrote a women’s careers manual and the course of my work life changed course.
I like that that changed happened. There’s a more personal truth behind why it all happened, perhaps I’ll write about it some day. Most importantly, my career pivot marked a symbolic shift: I stepped into the unknown, I doubted myself, I said what the heck, and leapt anyway.
It has not all been plain sailing (several other columns I need to write), but when is life smooth? Aside: I have 3 children as well as running my business and doing the lion’s share of home front management too. It’s a lot. If the shit has not hit the fan in some way or other, it has been a great day.
As with other places that we’ve existed, here on Substack, the Step Up Club, in a natural mishmash of proper professional development content, personal takes on lives shared obstacles and lots of important conversations that transcend industry, hierarchy, heritage, political persuasion and every other box we can find ourselves shoved into.
Here, I hope to help you think and reflect on how you can turn the dial slightly on how you work - and crucially, how work thinks about you.
Being a women in our current working world is still to be at a prickly disadvantage. Here are some things I feel very strongly about, just to get them out of the way:
Discrimination of any form is unacceptable. Changing it, should not be the responsibility of the discriminated.
Equity will not be reached by treating everyone equally.
You own your power and your thoughts. Putting your needs last won’t get you where you want to be. Or let you enjoy the ride.
Openness and truth make everything possible.
It is people not computers who make the world go around.
My mission here is simple: support women to build new knowledge, curate important conversations and play bigger.
I will do this in part, through my FREE monthly newsletter. Truthfully though, the good stuff happens behind my pay wall. Why? Because I live my own mission. I have spent too many years working for free.
Good will does not pay the bills, and remember those 3 children I mentioned, yeah, well they like doing stuff, and eating stuff, and asking Mama to buy stuff…..
If you value yourself, and have aspirations for your career, then the small investment of £7 is more than worth it, I promise.
I am a trained journalist and a successful community-skewed entrepreneur. I have the skills and passion it takes to come good on my mission, and more importantly, help you come good on your career.
Here are the mechanics of how the Step Up Club runs here, laid out and explained.
FREE SUBSCRIBERS
• ONE free newsletter with actionable career-development takeaways and advice
• Some commenting and varied access to resources and posts
If this sounds right for you, click the button just below and get ready to learn, connect and look afresh at work stuff. Also, if you have a friend or colleague who you think might also benefit from some gently nudging and productive new approaches to their job, please share the Step Up love.
PAID SUBSCRIBERS £7 per month/£70 a year
• FOUR newsletters per month that offer deeper, layered learning, personal insights and stories; features that will help you move your career dial in the direction you want it to go
• Access to BOTH of Step Up Club’s monthly live meet ups led by me: Community Co•Working (a 3 hours virtual office for productivity, human connection on quiet days, accountability and necessary mid-morning vacuous chat) and The Huddle (a one hour drop session where the group supports different individuals through big, small and hairy career dilemmas; rock up and listen, put your video on and get stuck in or bring a problem to be discussed. The Safe Space is the friendliest shortcut to progress, plus there’s always chit chat on important subjects like Love Island and whether Retinol is worth the hype).
*****Community Co•Work is on the FIRST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH, The Safe Space is on the THIRD FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH**** As a paid subscriber you will always receive reminders and invites for calendar management ease.
• Full access to posts, threads, chat and more, as well as direct access to me and the community as a whole.
Having run a successful online community in a different corner of the internet for nearly 5 years, I know how to make women feel welcome and free from judgement. My favourite part of what I do is bringing others together, sharing my knowledge and helping other women to feel more in control and less alone.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
