An adopted child of the 1940s & ’50s, when girls had no backing for anything other than marriage, then motherhood. I did both, but neither really was all I wanted. My inner 8-year-old never felt she was doing all she could. I worked part-time when my kids were small, but again — the jobs “allowed” weren’t anything that really excited me.

Got lucky with an ad in a Boston newspaper about 30 years ago looking for international corporate trainers. I had NO experience in anything like that, but I jumped anyway. Got taken, got trained, got scared in my first class in a topic I wasn’t really prepared for — something about accounting and finance. At the first break, a guy got up, yelled I was the WORST presenter he’d ever seen and stalked out.

Gave up on that topic but decided that topics like American grammar, business writing, and interpersonal skills would be fine. Turned out I was right. Worked with this company for five years, and one day a friend asked if I’d look over the book she’d just written — check the grammar and such. Sure. I did. Thought nothing of it.

A year later she asked me to edit her second book as I had done with the first one. WHAT? Edit? That’s what I did?

That moment pushed me in the best direction ever — as an editor of nonfiction / business-related material, helping others shine. I learn from everyone who allows me to help in ways that I can, I love learning from them and their knowledge and wisdom, and I plan to continue as long as I can.