So much has happened and I thought I would do a summary post of what it has involve….
And I suppose I had better start catching you up on what’s been happening.
It was a paradoxical feeling stepping back into society after being on my own for 54 days. Knowing that I loved being so free and having this communication with the world that required no language whilst out at sea, I had to step back into reality.
With cameras prepared and a very warm welcome into Barbados it was all systems go! When I landed back in the UK I knew that I didn’t have long to rest. This was because I not only wanted to fulfil my job role as a sponsored athlete, but also my personal finances didn’t like me very much. So, after a few weeks of RnR, I then applied myself straight into my local community doing talks and sharing my initial experience of rowing solo, unsupported and independent across an ocean. It also took me across the country and met some amazing people.
I also wanted to jump straight into the education system and see where it was at. Now, I hated school when I was younger, but worked incredibly hard to pass my exams. For me, I wanted to see where the support is for students, parents and teachers as well as have a positive impact in local schools. So, I began my TA/ cover teacher journey and it has been a huge eye opener over the last 6 months both in a positive way and also hard hitting in other ways. Something, I will go into more detail in following blogs that I do.
I have also been doing courses, in which one of them was a public speaking course! This has lead me to starting up my own business, which is not only about sharing my story, but also sharing my learnings from the past 10 years of exposure in both volatile and high performing industries. For me, starting a business in this world, is like rowing a whole new ocean, but this time in words rather than salt water. The challenge has been hard hitting at times and I have spent a lot of time in my caravan, writing so much. So, touring the UK doing talks, teaching, building a business and sitting in meetings has been my life. However, I have taken some time off social media, to reset myself and do the hard graft without always having to tell people where I am or what I am doing. Again, I will share more on this in my next blog post.
But, this is just a small nutshell to summarise what life has looked like.
Catch you all in the next blog post!
My love and warmth to you,
Annasley
