It is not so much that I prefer to pave the path rather than walk it, it's just my innate bossiness does not allow me to allow others to lead the way. I get frustrated when people dither and it means that I can quite quickly take control of a situation even if I really should keep my beak out of it. My friends joke that I am the organiser, the planner, which I can't help but be pleased about. That said, I am also quite a disorganised organiser so things don't always go as smoothly as I hope. Since the Brownies when I was sixer of the Imps (mind you, who wasn't a sixer?) and in school when I was class captain twice in a row (the only years I chose to run), I have always been the one to take charge, to coach people, to try to inspire myself and others to be the best we can be. At 23, I was the manager at a call centre responsible for 63 employees. I revelled in the responsibility and it was only the shockingly bad pay that eventually drove me from the job. Now I have no team to manage, no children to boss around and no pets to call to heel so my poor husband takes the brunt of it and my sew make believe girls get the rest!

However, when it comes to ideas and creativity, for the longest time, I was a follower. I copied my brother when we were young enough to play together and then all through my school years, I followed my friends. Whilst I still chose my own music, films, and other entertainment, I never really allowed myself to pursue interests which went against the grain of the friendship group. Looking back, I would have loved to have been involved with the theatre at school or carried on learning to dance but I chose the path of least resistance. And so there you have yet another example of the paradox of me! I love to lead yet I follow the crowd. I hope that I may have broken this pattern now that I am pursuing an interest that is all about what I want to do and in doing so, I have met some very special people.