Like Robbie Williams, Geri Halliwell and Noel Gallagher before me, late 2018 saw me leave the safety of OK! magazine after 18 years in pursuit of a solo career.
It wasn’t a decision I took lightly. After all, I’d lived and breathed the magazine for almost two decades. I had massive highs (more of those to follow), several lows (remind me to tell you all about OK!’s biggest fan, semi-stalker Alan) and stayed in more five-star hotels than you can shake a stick at. I knew leaving wasn’t going to be easy, but I wasn’t prepared for all the feelings saying goodbye threw at me.
I worried about finding work, missing the freebies (farewell first class flights to Australia), swapping my brilliantly funny colleagues for my laptop and the local branch of Starbucks (#NotAnAd) and, of course, bidding adieu to a regular monthly income.
But, two months in, as I sit here in my PJs, watching Homes Under The Hammer, with my bank account starting to bubble away favourably, I seem to have I settled into life after OK! really quite nicely.
I’ve been building up my contacts, taken subbing shifts at new magazines, I have two very exciting projects in the pipeline for the New Year and my prized corporate clients appear to like my work and are sending more of it my way.
After 18 years of being ‘Nancy from OK!’, of course there’s lots I miss from my full-time job, but doing it for myself has given me the Freedom (thanks Robbie) to work when I want, on what I want and while wearing whatever PJs I want.