Ten years ago I was listed as one of London’s 1000 Most Influential People. Today, I’m not even the most influential person in my shed and I’m the only person in it.

And I’m fine with that.

No really I am! There’s no way to say it without sounding like a massive fibber. I mean loved being at Shiny Media in its heyday. When I wasn’t trying to stifle my engulfing Imposter Syndrome, or chomping down antibiotics for stress-induced lymph-node infections, or having meetings with people who leave no box unticked on the Psychopath Checklist, it truly was the Best Time Ever.

We employed brilliant people whose careers I follow with huge amounts of pride and awe. Sure, we didn’t get everything right (not even close), but the things we DID get right were entirely down to the clever, funny, kind, nerds and trailblazers who worked for us. 

So if it miss anything, it’s seeing those people every day. But the rest? I’m good thanks. 

Oh, apart from one other thing

I really miss all the radio stuff. I loved being on the radio. Why didn’t I try to get more radio work? It’s a lesson in grabbing opportunities when you get them. 

So when the lovely Jim Hawkins asked if famous children’s author and illustrator, Alex Milway and I wanted to go on his morning show to talk about our weird career paths, I booked a cottage in the hills, bought the kids some walking boots, and went back to my old hometown.

If you’d like to listen, it starts about an hour in. It’s only available for another 11 days as of this post. 

Katie Lee and Alex Milway in the cool seat with Jim Hawkins

PS. this blog post is the PERFECT example of how not to write. If I were editing this, I would remove the ENTIRE first section of the post. No one will read it, it’s completely irrelevant and you could cut nearly all of it with no loss of meaning (plus you’d lose the barely concealed brag about a decade-old glory that the author still clings to because it got her invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen). But it’s MY blog and no one will read this anyway so I’m going to leave it right where it is.

PPS. But seriously, try deleting your first three paragraphs of anything you write, it’s a top tip. 

PPPS. You could also delete these final 3 paragraphs .