Tell me about yourself and your work - I’m a community radio producer & presenter. I’m also an astrological tarot consultant and copywriter for 2 spiritual companies.
Q) You interview writers and present spoken word specials on AllFm how did that come about?
A) I’ve always loved radio for as long as I can remember. My mum used to have it on to hear Irish radio stations & remind her of home and I was fascinated as a child that we could hear another country through this box. I was so intrigued by the fact that if you took a little radio transistor to another country all the accents & shows changed. I just wanted to see inside the radio to find the people who were talking.
Years later mum found a local Irish radio show and it was on Allfm. When she became ill & I was caring for her she became too tired for tv so radio became more important. When she passed away & I felt a bit lost I decided to train with Allfm. I always wanted to interview people since I was 14. I thought I wouldn’t be good enough so I would just pop along to meet the presenters we used to listen to & see how radio works behind the scenes. When I passed my training course and they said I could have a show with 2 other women I jumped at the chance & then I quickly became confident enough to produce and present on my own.
Q) What have your learned from interviewing people?
A) I’ve learnt that we’re all just humans battling with our insecurities, trying to express ourselves and support others in some way. Also that everyone still loves to hear family, friends or themselves on radio. Radio can always bring happiness and excitement.
Q) Is there someone you would like to interview but haven’t yet?
A) Loads! Hmm Paulo Cohelo, oh wait Ryan Reynolds. I wish I could have interviewed Elvis or George Michael actually.
Q)When and how did you start writing?
A) Writing was always encouraged in my family. My grandad wrote and stared in community plays back in Ireland. He was also a postman who loved writing long hand letters as much as delivering them.
He gave that habit to my mum to keep in touch when she left Ireland. She passed it down to me. I love pens, nice notepaper/postcards and stickers! I had penpals from all over the world from Garfield magazine when I was 11. Bring back snail mail ha,ha I loved writing little pieces about whatever I got up to.
I wrote my first poem when I was 9 and teachers/ kids loved my creative writing stories. When I was 13 I wrote my local radio station a very long letter with radio show ideas ha,ha I won a t shirt for it that got me more hooked on the radio idea I think.
Q) What would you do if you didn’t write?
A) I think I will always write because it’s weaved into my personality. I’m always making notes & lists on something. Though I’m not a published author I have a diploma in journal therapy. I do copywriting on spiritual topics because my other career is being an astrological tarot consultant for a couple of websites. There is also a lot of writing to be done in preparing notes for radio. Maybe I would take more photographs if I wrote less.
Q)Do you have any future plans for your writing?
A) I would love to write a book of tarot poetry to help people understand the meanings of the cards easily. For English language A level I wrote a book of natural therapies & tips to get over exam stress. I would like to update that and publish it .Also as a kid I did a book about the Spanish armada & railways. The teacher said it was so good the other kids should read it to learn some history ha,ha I was so proud of myself. I’m still proud of that 11 year old me.
Q) Has a book really touched you? Made you rethink your views on life? If so, what was it?
A) There are so many but The Alchemist, The devil & miss prim & the Celestine prophecy are my top 3.
Q) What is your theme song?
A) Cosmic Girl-Jamiroquai
Q) What is your ultimate working/writing dream?
A) To be signing my own books at a Waterstones Author Event with people telling me my book helped them with something!
Q) Do you have any advice that you live by?
A) I live by the motto that everything happens for a reason so don’t sweat the small stuff. My advice is check what your internal dialogue is playing on a loop at regular intervals & remember that you don’t have to believe every single negative thought you have about yourself, sometimes it can be seen as an invitation to just think yourself a better thought!
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