The Early Years - I was born December 1968 in Paddington and grew up for the early part of my life in Neasden, North London; just a regular kid from a regular family out of the East End of London. The only irregular thing about me was my unusually bad eyesight. I remember making so many trips to the hospital for different tests - I had severe sight deficiencies and had to wear these enormously thick specs (NHS tortoise shell to boot) and so of course became incredibly self conscious! One rather outstanding feature was this acutely lazy eye; when I was really young I wore a patch over the better eye in the vain hope that it would help the weaker one to straighten itself. That didn't work, I was left with what must've been the worlds heaviest glasses permanently glued to my face. That eye would always appear straight whilst the glasses were on, and so that was that, very early on I developed a complex, and would refuse to ever remove them.
For years I had issues with confidence and self image. As time went by, things really started to affect me, I felt miserable. I just wanted to be more like my [popular] friends. So, at 15 I underwent surgery to correct the look of my eyes; it was very late to have such a procedure, but wow, what a profound effect. I was still shy and self conscious, but this courage and confidence started to emerge from somewhere. It felt great, like an unveiling; but it didn't come without its side affects. I became more and more rebellious, and was bound to end up in trouble!
I had a great time at school, academically uneventful but nonetheless a fantastic time, and certainly not without drama (and suspensions), surprisingly culminating with my studying for a Business Diploma; not so surprisingly, aged 16 the decision was made by the school that our relationship was to abruptly end.
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America or Bust - So instead, at 17 I left for America. (I was always obsessed with anything American as a teenager) Anyway, 2 days later I was back on UK soil after being 'removed' by Houston Immigration for being suspected of being a 17 year old runaway. That failed trip was pretty typical at that time - I always knew best, and didn't really need the advice of older, wiser individuals.
The only thing to come out of that trip was a pack of 200 duty-free smokes - which were immediately removed [stolen] from my bag upon arrival at Victoria.
I was always handy with anything electrical (battery powered radios). As an 8 year old I used to dismantle appliances, struggling to put them back together, maybe leaving out the odd rubber band or a couple of screws, nothing crucial.
But my talent did grow, and eventually leant itself quite neatly, as I landed a job as a trainee for an auto electrical customizing firm. What an amazing period, I learnt fast and began to realize that I'd found a real opportunity for both personal growth and fortune in this field.
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Budding Entrepreneur -
Still aged 17, inspired and motivated, I established a little sole trader outfit, carrying out small auto electrical jobs at the car showroom that my father used to run. I'd arrive in my mother's 1978 Honda Accord and produce one of those old fashioned metal folding toolboxes. Over my shoulder was a strap holding one of the earliest 'mobile' phones ever seen, as big as a brief case, with the handset clipping onto the base and held by a curly telephone cable, powered by a battery akin to something used to start a car. This was state of the art technology!
My company was called Securicar. It started small, but it grew; from just me and a toolbox, to a team of technicians, driving around in Securicar vans, serving every factory-owned Peugeot Dealership in London, as well as a few in the surrounding areas. The company quickly had branches across West and North West London. At its peak, we had queues of cars standing in line, with teams of fitters waiting to jump on them. It was a bona fide conveyor belt; and that was just one garage - we serviced eleven main Dealers and a handful of others in London alone. Not bad for no formal training. Things were going amazingly well - I felt very proud of my success at such a young age and from such humble beginnings; the cars, the memberships, the clothes, it was all there. Tragically, the awful recession at the end of the 80's did eventually take hold, and meant however, that after a six year run, I had to close my company. It wasn't nice; 23 and riding high. My head was all over the place, my relationship crashed; my ego and self worth was in the gutter. I had to get out.
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Back in USA - After the closure, I needed something completely different. I was 23, and decided to re-visit America. Only this time I entered through Miami, I got in and kissed the ground, being allowed in, after the experience six years earlier in Texas, was actually a real achievement. I made my way to a hostel I knew of in Fort Lauderdale, a great little community called International House - that's where I set up home.
I had a fantastic time in the States. I learnt so much, there was so much to be aware of and to take in. I remember jumping in the back of pickup trucks every morning at 5am before the sun came up, and being driven back to sleep for an hour or more down the I95 freeway. Destinations were the Wallgreen stores dotted around Southern Florida. Once there, we'd meet others, set up teams and just like chain gangs we'd lay turf on what seemed like acres of mud. Next and slightly less strenuous were the yacht brokerage shows where I helped out on concession stands, or the glass cleaner I sold at Sunrise Flea Market - that was the biggest under cover market in the northern hemisphere. It was big!
From Sunrise to the sea - I became a deckhand aboard a 145ft sail yacht, down on hands and knees, scrubbing teak decks. This was all just after the period of Hurricane Andrew, which led to my becoming involved in my next exploit, Roofing. I became part of a crew that repaired damaged homes all over Hallandale, North Miami.
The spate of breaking news stories of British tourists being randomly selected, mugged and even murdered whilst attempting to leave Miami airport in their clearly marked rental cars, was to spell the end for my trip to the States; pressure in the form of worry at home was brought to bear. In the end I just packed up and left.
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Coming Home -
With the US now ticked off my list, I arrived back in London, but pretty soon after, felt the anti climax of being home. I stayed a month, but then just had to go off again; this time to the Middle East. I spent roughly six months on a Kibbutz, where I did a class studying Hebrew language. Whilst studying, I paid my way by driving giant fork-lift trucks at a concrete factory somewhere out in the desert, and once my diploma was successfully completed, certificate in hand, I left for Jerusalem. I stayed with my sister, and travelled to Tel-Aviv looking for work. The first and last place I tried was an auto electrical fitting centre. They gave me a day's trial, which was subsequently converted it into a full-time job. Great news, apart from the daily bus journey from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv and back, which was a 4 hour trip. After a year of this, whilst wrestling in a destructive relationship with a lady lieutenant in the Israeli air force, which ended in disaster, broken hearted, I came home to England.
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Utopia - I've always loved music, as well as being very keen on my social life. So what could be better than bringing the two together into business? My idea was simple; promoting a successful club night would be a fantastic venture, and a lot of fun. So with that, Highly Spirited's Utopia was conceived.
I painfully recall getting this thing off the ground. Dragging sacks of flyers to every 'in' record store, clothes boutique, shoe shop, you name it - all over Soho, Covent Garden, South Kensington, Camden; every buzz place I knew as well as a few more! Thanks also to the Flying squad whose mission in life [business] was to wait at the doors of every club in London slapping flyers into the hands of those poor dishevelled clubbers as they trickled out in the early hours. Anyone that was actually on the club scene 'back in the day' will either have been to a Utopia event, or will at least know of Utopia. It became a ground-breaking monthly party that visited such venues as the Site on Piccadilly, The Gass Club off Leicester Square, and The Chunnel Club on the South Bank. The hype was great. Those speakeasy reviews in Time Out, carefully planned radio ads, and the queues down the street. Here we were again, it was exhilarating. The whole club culture thing had me completely captivated.
I don't really know of any ventures that haven't had their ups and downs; but for me, life itself was certainly becoming something of a roller-coaster ride, whilst seemingly more and more impossible to control. I'd already experienced some exhilarating highs, but the lows? They were beginning to make me feel quite desperate.
The shy teenage exterior was all but gone. I'd instead grown reckless, inadvertently opening the door to a totally new threshold of vulnerability; I think looking back I was on a journey - into ever worsening despair. Whilst the vain attempt to maintain some degree of normality was there, circumstances took on a force of their own, and just spiralled out of control.
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The Downward Spiral - From what began as nothing more from the outside, as fun and recreation, now the ever less frequent moments of clear sight had turned into a deep depression. Over the course of time, I became a master of manipulation and protector of what had become my own secret self destruction. I'd like to think that I excelled at whatever I turned to, and ironically, this particular phase of my life was no exception.
Suffice to say, after time, my outwardly social and recreational behaviour was replaced by feelings of solitude and paranoia. I lost all appetite and so didn't eat very much, nor did I manage more than a pose of normality. With situations like this, only when one makes their own choice that things have gone far enough, are they capable of helping themselves.
It was 4 years on things would take an upward turn. One day whilst talking with a friend, I remember vaguely suggesting that I'd like some help putting my life back in order. The friend in question was astute enough to hear my plea, and from that moment on, took matters into his own hands. He helped me by giving me 3 days to take what seemed like the impossible steps of embracing the people that cared about me; and on that third day, I was driven to the Priory Hospital, I signed myself in and was left in their care.
Besides the all too familiar and fashionable hype surrounding what really is an extremely destructive affliction, for me it had long since become more a choice between life and death - as it is, or has been for so many others whom are able to identify with this; hence I made the decision to take this opportunity to live healthily and properly.
I chose to work a twelve step program, as I found out, these programs are expanding and recommended as a part of everyday life. Along side intense therapy intervention whilst having layer upon layer of denial and sick-thinking stripped away, a fresh perspective on life was slowly shining through; one that would revitalize that immense motivation and crazy drive that I once openly displayed, but had since become buried under 4 years of what looking back felt like a living hell.
Strictly speaking, I wouldn't say it's advisable for anyone in such a position to make life changing decisions so soon after a milestone event. In actual fact it was a slow, sometimes uphill struggle to find my feet. It wasn't long however, and despite the constant battle I was having within myself, before I was planning my next move. I was more determined than ever to make it back. One thing that became apparent was my inherent ability to motivate myself on to greater things. It's incredible what you can achieve when you have a clear head.
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Back on My Feet - In early 2000 I started work with a London IT consulting company, a total career change and what I still think was a brave step. I had to start (as with any career change) from the very beginning. My remit was to train as a head hunter. The company was a renowned boots-and-braces white collar firm, aimed at the well groomed. So with that, fairly soon after joining, I was breaking the mould! I didn't have the required polished background and didn't fit the profile. I needed to learn, and quick! My results spoke for themselves. I was on the quickest salary and learning curve the company had ever seen. I carved out my own niche; quickly achieved the position of Major Account Director, after having developed various Blue Chip relationships. Whilst developing my own network of FT100 and Fortune 500 business links and revenue streams, I was seconded to the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Practice of one of the world's largest consultancies. I then went on to create additional business in the United States and the Middle East and continued to build interests for the company over a period of two years.
Autumn 2001 I was headhunted, and joined a firm in its relative infancy. The following years held great achievements for me; twice awarded as the 4th and 15th fastest growing privately owned consulting firm in the UK. Entrepreneurial flair and a great deal of passion and drive helped it to become an award-winning company.
I see these recollections, both personal and professional, as the ultimate apprenticeship; and plan to utilize these very real life experiences to inspire and benefit others.
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