Mini Bridget playing French elastic. DRC circa 1970
I love hearing people’s backstories.
I love to ask people how and why they set up their business.
The first tab I click on a website is the “About” section as I want to know who is behind a business. I want to know their story.
So, here’s a bit of my backstory – from the scrappy 5-year-old above playing French elastic on her own (for hours) to Bridget the yoga teacher, breath coach and retreat host!
In the French / English interpreting booth. Beijing, PRC, 2008
I spent most of my career in the language industry: translator, interpreter, editor. I set up my own translation and English editing company when I lived in Beijing (worked in China from 2003 -15). Working with language so much I think made me a good listener – and a reasonable communicator – something that is essential when working with people.
Pretending to work in the barn. Abzac, France, 1991
Before I lived in China, I lived in France for 12 years. In the early 90s, we bought a farmhouse and barn for £10,000 in the middle of nowhere and spent five years renovating it and growing our family to three children. I was 25, and after an incredibly nomadic childhood and young adulthood, it was the first time that I had ever lived anywhere longer than a year – and that was a novelty to me.
France, I always say, shaped so much of the philosophy I have around food. Quality and provenance are everything to the French cook; these are principles I uphold in my business here in Norfolk. China, and Asia in general, taught me to go for bold flavours and I cook a lot of Asian-inspired food for my retreat guests.
Ski reps end-of-season ski race. Les Deux Alpes, France, 1988
I started my career in the travel industry, with four ski seasons in the French Alps. In my first season in 1985, I earned £35/week; I thought skiing and speaking French every day made it my dream job. Those ski seasons taught me so much about customer satisfaction and hospitality – it’s almost as if I’ve come full circle.
The retreat business I now run at MindSteadyGo is a dream-come-true business that I’d been seeking for a long time. Lockdown and tenants moving out of a house I owned here in Norfolk, created the circumstances that made it possible.
This business draws together so many of things I love: training people to be more connected to their body through yoga and breathwork; hosting people around my table; living by the sea and getting to share the beautiful outdoors with my guests.
Life has a way of moving you to the right place – if you’ll let it.
This is my place now.
This is my work.
And I love it!
