Introducing My Mentor - Caroline...

I was going to write a post about this, but I don't think I can quite squeeze my message in 3,000 characters, so here goes.

I want to introduce you to Caroline, the lady I credit everything to for what you see here on LinkedIn. We all have people we aspire to be like. We all have different reasons and purposes for what we do. But this lady has played a big part in my life and a lot of what I do today is because I aspire to be like her.

I really hope she will forgive me for talking about some of what I'm about to say publicly, but to allow you, the reader, to truly understand, I need to tell the full story.

Caroline didn't come from much. She was born and raised on a fairly rough council estate. She's suffered with various brushes with ill-health including anorexia, depression and Parkinson's Disease in recent years. She went through a very difficult divorce in the early 1990s, losing custody of her children when she was too weak to fight.

I'm being conservative about what I write here; but there's quite a bit more I could include in this story but you get the idea, I hope.

Caroline has every reason to be glum in life. She's had a rough ride of it. But, in spite of what you read, I want to tell you about the last 30 years of her life. If there's one thing she isn't, it's glum.

She remarried. She refused to dwell on the past and focussed her time on being a good mother to her kids, setting aside her sorrow at not raising them herself. She built a career as a carer. But that wasn't enough. She used her fun-loving personality to create an annual pantomime for the elderly and ill, roping in the other carers for roles as Cinderella, Jack and Dick Whittington. She became known for her joy. If you feel crap, speak to Caroline!

In 2003, after being diagnosed with the early signs of Parkinson's, she made the brave decision to do something extraordinary. She emigrated, to Australia, and fulfilled her dream... to own a sheep!

Socially, she redirected her panto production influence into the quilt making industry, crafting and auctioning her creations for various charities. She created a community, a group of 60+ women who gather once a week to create their ideas with fabric. She became a leader, a celebrated part of not only her own town, but a known figure within the world of sewing.

The money she earns from selling her quilts, she spends on a flight home to the UK every summer to visit her children, and now her grandchildren. She's kept her promise.

Caroline inspires me so much not because of her ability to overcome adversity, or because she has become a sewing legend, but because through it all, regardless of what the world has thrown at her or given her, she's never changed. Her heart is swollen with love, fun and most importantly, kindness. If she can do something good for someone, she would do it. She doesn't care about money, business, education or creed, she only cares about being kind, kind to everyone she can kind to and what a wonderful value to build your life upon.

This is why she inspires me. Kindness is a rare value these days. Usually kindness is underwritten with selfishness... I am kind because I want something in return... but that's not Caroline. Her kindness radiates out of every pore of her skin and I live every day of my life trying to be like her, to share her principles. She will put herself bottom of the list to make sure someone else has what they need for their own happiness. She repents greed; she craves for nothing - only to be lucky enough to earn enough to see her children once a year.

My business and my life is largely down to the morals I've been taught by this incredible women. This week, I was lucky enough to welcome her into my humble studio; the studio - the brand she built by showing me how to be kind.

It was more or less a year ago that I told Mum I was going to create a business, a proper business, out of my hobby, dying shoes... I don't think she really believed me at the time... "OK son - here he goes again..." is what I'm sure she was thinking. So, one-year-on, on her annual visit, to open the door and show her my empire is a moment I'll treasure for eternity.

Now, I made her a promise. My promise to her is that I am going to grow my business big enough for me to be able to pay for her to fly home to us for Christmas one year - something she's always wanted to do but never been able to afford. I also promised that one day, I'll have enough money to be able to fly both my sister and I, and our families, to Australia for Christmas - the first time since I was 5 that we'd have had a Christmas together.

I don't make this promise to brag; this is my promise of kindness. I'm so proud to be the son of this humanitarian, a wondrous mother, friend and mentor. I'm going to achieve something beyond all of our wildest dreams and the riches that my ambition will bring will be used to spread your legacy; pure, unselfish kindness.

I love you, Caroline ;)

xxx