Diary of a First Time Author - Episode #5
- Nikki Butlin
- May 21
- 3 min read
Contributions from...
How lucky am I?
Those moments when you nervously contact people you've worked with in the past and ask for a favour with everything crossed, including your toes!
Not a single one refused and I feel so blessed to be able to call these business professionals my friends as well as colleagues.
Plus of course my beautiful, smart and talented daughter Hannah has also added her voice to the mix.
Let me introduce you to them in full...
Brad Burton
"𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵."
I first met Brad, founder of 4Networking at one of his Essex meetings in 2013. His boundless energy was immediately infectious and I wanted to be in his gang!
A year later, alongside running Athena Business Services, I was one of his regional leaders looking after Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. I led the rebuild of a dormant area out of necessity to find my own clients. Others in the same boat joined me on the journey and it was truly one of the highlights of my career.
Brad and I got back in touch at the start of this year and I noticed straight away that his energy and enthusiasm had not waned one little bit, despite having his own online stalker! In fact I think he's now stronger.
He's an absolute force in the business world and I'm so honoured that he agreed to write the foreword to my book.
Thank you Brad! X
𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 (𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲) 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗕𝗘
"𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘪'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘸𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩.”
I worked with Richie and 'Captain Fawcett' for eight years as his 'Bean Counter'. We travelled the world together and I helped him take the humble business he started in his kitchen in 2010 to the next level of success.
It was an honour and a privilege to be part of the team.
Richie has so kindly helped me tell the story of our adventures together in the book, I'm so thrilled he agreed to participate.
Thank you for the adventures Dear Chum! X
Richard Hoole
"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘚𝘊 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵."
I joined Richard as his Finance Director in 2022. Our working relationship is one I treasure.
We share the challenges of having worked in a family business and I so happy that he chose me to help continue his father's legacy after he passed away.
Supporting the team at ASC Metals in Lincoln has been such a wonderful step up in my career and a joy.
Thank you Richard! X
Karen Hurn
After training together at college when we were 18, Karen 'magically' came back into my life again in 2017 just as I was looking for my second bookkeeper at Athena Business Services.
Along with the fabulous Martine Halls, Karen helped me absorb the additional work that was coming my way due to the success of the business.
Since selling Athena in 2019 Karen and I have stayed in touch, meeting up regularly for our favourite English breakfast tea and cake, sharing stories of our accounting adventures to date!
I'm so grateful to her for her enthusiasm whilst working together and for agreeing to contribute to the 'Athena' chapter in the book.
Thank you Karen! X
Hannah Butlin
Ok so I may be biased but my daughter's contribution gave me goose bumps when I first read it!
It wasn't easy working and raising a child at the same time but I can see Hannah has inherited the family business genes, so I'm hoping it was all worth it.
The first signs at the start of her career are incredibly promising and she is smashing her sales targets left, right and centre and reaping the rewards. You go girl!
in 'Driven To Achieve' she shares her stories of growing up around a business family in her own chapter 'My Daughter's Story'.
Thank you darling Hannah! X
Weekly Snippet from the Book...
As it's 'contributor week' here is the beginning of the Foreword written by Brad Burton.
Another goosebump moment when I read it the first time.
Enjoy!
Until next time... thank you for reading.
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