So tell me, how did you get here?

I don't mean "Did you come by tube?" or "How was the M25 this morning" or even "Are we on Teams or Zoom today?"

I'm talking about HERE. NOW. The room you're sitting in today, with today's "to do list", those ambitions, those regrets, that experience. Here's another way of phrasing the question:

"Looking back at your life and career to date, what are the five events or decisions that led you to be sitting where you are today?"

It's the first question I ask when I'm running my "Future Proof Your Career" course, a version of which kicks off today for the Noon academy.

In the spirit of openness, here's mine. There are various versions, but this one, I guess, is relevant to the question of how come I'm here, at my desk, about to run a course for "mid life" women on how to relaunch their careers:

1. At sixteen my dad’s business almost went bankrupt. That made me want to have a “business career” where I wouldn’t be reliant upon anyone else for money. That was the end of my plans to study French at University.
2. Despite studying Banking and Finance (I did manage to cling on to French as a subsidiary subject), I chose instead to join Arthur Andersen. At the time they were the smallest (and best) of what was then 8 accounting/consulting firms.?It proved a fabulous choice. They were bold, maverick, American, confident, different.?I absolutely loved the firm and many of my closest friends come from my time there (along with my second husband).?I was proud to be make partner there, although a little less proud when the Enron scandal brought the firm down.
3. I “flounced out” of my job as Director of Brand and Communication at Deloitte in 2008 when I found out I wasn’t being promoted (back up) to partner and, in the same week, our nanny resigned as she was moving out of London.?My kids were 4 and 6.?“I will look after them myself!” I told myself, not realising they wouldn’t be 4 and 6 forever.?
4. Spring 2014, listening to the Woman’s Hour power list, I realised that the twenty year successful career that was now behind me was far less important than the twenty years that lay ahead.?Realising there were many many professional women in the same situation as me, who’d left or stalled their careers, I set up She’s Back to shine a light on their potential and help provide a way back.
5. In 2016, an old Andersen colleague was now at News International. He introduced me to Eleanor Mills, then editor of the Sunday Times Magazine. She listened to what I had to say and commissioned an article entitled "The Forgotten Army" which propelled this issue into the mainstream. We kept in touch and here I am running this course for Noon.

There have been lots of other momentous events - raising two children not being the least amongst them - but when I look back, those are the turning points or decisions that have me about to launch this particular training course.

What have I learnt?

• No decision has to be forever, it just has to be right for now. Do I regret "flouncing out" of a big job? Not really. I could have kept my hand in a bit but, looking back, I'm so glad I didn't get that promotion as I fear I may not have had the courage to strike out on my own later in life.
• Your network - the people you meet, the friends you make - is one of the most valuable assets you will ever have. Nurture it.
• No-one cares about your career as much as you do. The older you get, the more it's up to you to take things into your own hands. And you can. As long as you're fit and healthy "the only thing you've got to fear is fear itself". (I stole that from Franklin D. Roosevelt).

And since we can't let a man have the last word, here's a quote from Maya Angelou

“I love to see a woman go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.”?

PS. An admission. She actually didn't say "woman" she said "young girl". I thought about writing "old girl" but just couldn't bring myself to do that so "woman" will do.

What's your story?