How does your usual day look like?

I haven’t used an alarm clock since giving birth to a human one, almost a decade ago; I now have three children and they take it in turns to start my day, usually around 6.30am.

It’s emails on the phone in bed - often edits or editorial requests come in from the US overnight - before getting the kids ready for school. I’m either wearing Vuori and New Balance 9060s for a writing day, where I work in the office space at my local gym, David Lloyd, or Saint and Sofia with Hush if I’m going meet a CEO at their office for an interview.

I walk or drive the kids to school, depending on what’s coming up next. Mondays and Wednesdays I’m usually straight to the gym’s co-working space where I write up interviews - recently I filed one on Pret/Itsu founder Julian Metcalfe and another with female investment powerhouse Debbie Wosskow - or pen my fortnightly entrepreneur-focused newsletter, ScaleUp Standard.

Filing an article is always intermingled with pitching new ideas to my editors, who are based across most of the UK newspapers plus online, as well as in the international press.

I’m often pinging messages to and from PRs too and other contacts about potential exclusives and other stories, which I sometimes have to turnaround for my editors very quickly. Article inspiration can come from anywhere: I recently wrote about the buggy stolen from my boot after it happened to me, whilst more usually I’m writing business features or corporate news; usually CEOs or their PRs get in touch about an interview opportunity or feature idea, and I work out where it would fit best.

I go into central London about once or twice a week for meetings and interviews; I try to pack ‘town days’ as tightly as possible as I’m usually in charge of pick-up at the school gates in the afternoon. Once I’ve been a taxi driver, chef and washer-woman to my kids, ticked off their many swimming, chess, ballet, and football schedules and got them to bed, I log on again in the evenings. I usually work (on the sofa, despite owning two desks at home - it’s not very ergonomic) until about 11pm, doing admin, invoices or more writing. It’s tiring, but I don’t want to miss out on my kids’ young years so don’t mind the evening shift; it’s fun, though, to sometimes make a dinner or event in town with contacts.

What are the things you like the most about your job?

Quizzing powerful, interesting people; visiting unusual places (such as walking the Tube tracks overnight for a piece about night-time repairs), and travel - Chengdu with airline CEOs and Disney World with my kids for editorial have both been contrasting highlights.

What are some of the skills you utilise the most in your day-to-day?

Being organised, bolshy, inquisitive/nosy, and a punchy writer.

What was one of your happiest days in your career and why?

The thrill of securing a front-page scoop always stands out, as well as receiving a first copy of a new book - I’ve written eight.

What has been your greatest challenge on your career path and how did you overcome it?

Working from home since having kids makes it harder to stay at the front of mind of editors and contacts - you have to be more persistent without being annoying. I hope I have the balance right!

What is something you had to learn to become better at your job?

Confidence

How did you get to become a journalist?

I wanted to be a journalist as a teenager; when the teacher-editor of the school newsletter turned down my application to be editor, I thought, ‘I’ll show him…’ and blindly emailed the editors of broadsheets to ask why they had so many articles about children and about A levels and school, but never any written by them. The editor of the Daily Telegraph asked me to write a piece about (then new) AS levels, and another about learning to drive.. they were published when I was 16/17, and off I went.

What is your top career advice for any woman who is aiming to achieve long-term success in her career? 

Pretend you’re as confident as you need to be - everyone else is faking it too.

Professional networking for women matters because…

We need to look after it each other; nobody else will.