Introducing: My "Secret Sauce"

My do's and don'ts for professional success

Hey everyone,

Something a little different this weekend, I’m gonna give you some “Sunday sauce”….

Recently, I was asked to speak at two different events in the space of a week. I was asked to speak about my career and success, and how I got to where I am today. Well, dear reader, don’t get me wrong, but I find that a little bit awkward to talk about. Speaking on such a subject can almost feel a bit ego-led to me, it’s almost like you’re saying “I’m doing brilliant, and I’m gonna tell you how to do it too”…

Anyway, it took me a little while to accept that people might want to hear about the way I do things, and maybe I could give them some little gems of wisdom that they can take away for themselves.

Both presentations went very well, and I think the audience got a lot from it :)

So, I thought that for this particular Substack, I might share my secret sauce with you! It’s all about the way I work, how my career developed, what I do, what I don’t do, how I approach social media, mental health, all sorts of little self-styled gems of wisdom.

I have to say, it’s an absolute pleasure to be able to share these ideas with people, because helping others is such a nice feeling for me. So, strap in, and please enjoy this generous serving of my secret sauce (I’ll also show you how to have a professional orgasm later….!)

Where it began

So, I guess it makes sense if I take you back to my childhood first...

I was very shy, not very confident, and didn’t necessarily have many friends, but I spent a lot of wonderful time with my grandparents. I think it’s always that way when you’re young, as your parents tend to deliver you there on many an occasion when they’re just too busy. Anyway, it turned out great for me, because my grandparents were into gardening, and I soon started to get interested as well. In fact, it’s all I’ve ever known.

I have such lovely early memories of learning how to divide Iris, sowing seed; all such cherished times with my Nana. My grandparents also sold plants at the market, which I also started to do, and at the end of our driveway. I really loved plants, but I also loved making money as well!

All through school, I was still a bit of an outcast though. Anyone who has watched the film Romy and Michelle‘s High School Reunion, well that was me and my friend. We weren’t in the A group, the B group, even the C group, BUT we had a lot of fun just by ourselves. However, my evenings and weekends were taken up by plants, as I had pretty much taken over my parents’ garden by this stage, and even started a little mail order herb nursery (aged 11). I guess you could say plants were my refuge, as I wasn’t really enjoying school, and was being bullied quite a lot. But I was happy with the plants.

So, from the age of 12, I didn’t get a penny of pocket money, as my parents saw I was making all of my own cash, LOL! I’m sure I’m due some sort of rebate!

Anyway, as the end of school neared, the careers advisor did a little interview, and then printed out a few of those 80s computer sheets, which said things like ‘florist’ and ‘landscape gardener’. I knew that didn’t quite fit for me, but I knew that going to horticultural college would. Even though, in those days, that is where they sent you when they couldn’t think of anything else to advise! Turned out okay for me though!

So, I kind of fell into going to Otley College, enrolling onto a national diploma in horticulture. I think this was the best move I made, as on the very first day, I found my people. I finally had some good friends, people who had something in common with me. They accepted me for who I am.

The college course was very good, although very general. I was great at things like plant identification and biology, but absolutely shit at driving tractors, I never knew how to stop them! I drove over two walls at least.

As I was never very good at thinking far ahead - I’m the same even now - I didn’t have a plan for after college. I was still not hugely confident outside of my cosy circle, so the thought of going to uni was just not the one. It got to the end of May and I still didn’t have a plan.

Transition into the world of work

I opened up the newspaper one day, and there was a competition to design a garden at Thompson & Morgan, and I entered! I put together a very general design - I am by no means a garden designer. However, I filled the borders with plants that were raised in the Suffolk area where I’m from, so that showed a good marketing awareness, and I won the competition.

I won a greenhouse, £100 of seeds, and - ironically - a design course! Anyway, the garden was going to be built at Thompson & Morgan, the biggest mail order plant company in the UK. After the presentation happened, I remember writing a letter about a week after, basically asking for a job. In those days, even though I was very shy, I was still happy to write letters, not caring if the response would be positive or negative.

Just a few weeks later, I started work at Thompson & Morgan, as an apprentice. I then worked there for 18 years! It was a fantastic job, right from day one, as I was helping to seek out brand new plants, then preparing the photography, the text, and all the marketing that goes together to launch a plant.

Over those years, I was constantly encouraged to push myself, trying new things, and one particular guy, Paul Hansord, recognise the potential in me. I’m forever thankful for him nudging me, on a constant basis! I really love to push other people now, because I know how it was always very nice to have a cheerleader! And I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today without it.

Anyway, just a bit of a potted history, but I had a great time at Thompson & Morgan for 18 years, even getting into media work, as we were selling plants on shopping channels, and I was the best guy to go and speak about them. This was something I was very scared to do at first, but with a little bit of encouragement, soon got used to!

Around nine years ago now, I felt it was time to move onto some new challenges and to embrace some new ideas, as a few new entrepreneurial companies were appearing, and social media starting to become a player too.

So, here’s where my sauce starts to drip from the bottle…

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