After 10 years of imposter syndrome, creating a website to promote who I am felt very unnatural. Very unfeminine.
The fact you’re reading this means you’ll know that I somehow managed to stomach the cringing feeling it gave me, and did it anyway. Because actually, I do a lot worth shouting about. I’ve just never been very good at being my own cheerleader.
So here’s your chance to learn about me. One of the 8.1 billion people living on this planet. Eventually a name on a gravestone. Grace Carter. 33-years-old. British. Blonde. Pretty darn funny. Loving. Empathetic. Creative. Justice-seeker. Storyteller. Far too chatty. Hard worker (Aka. workaholic). Entrepreneur. Compassionate. Kind. ADHD. And, according to my 4-year-old, I’m “confident”. Pretty cool she thought that, hey!
So what makes me an interesting human?
As a child, I grew up believing I could be anything I wanted to be. Author? Check. Astronaut? Check (until I remembered I got travel sick!). Lawyer? Check. Eventually, I combined my love of storytelling and fashion and studied for an English degree with the hope of becoming a fashion journalist.
I got a First-Class BA Honours English degree from Loughborough University and the National University of Singapore. I was awarded a full Santander scholarship (one of five selected across the entire university for my year group), and studied for my Masters in English. I was awarded a Distinction. My first job upon leaving university was at British Vogue. I was ambitious. Determined. The world was my oyster. And then it hit me.
What will happen to all my achievements when I become a mum, and am expected by society to stop?
So I set myself a goal. To show my future daughters through my actions - and not just motivational words (because if I stop, what does that really say?) - that they can be successful as both a mother, and an intelligent career-driven woman. That they don’t need to compromise.
I never became an astronaut. Gutted. But I have carried many other titles in my 33 years on this planet. I have been a journalist, a brand and marketing consultant, an agency owner, an employer, an author, a businesswoman, entrepreneur, a social justice campaigner, and I have only just begun.
Most importantly though, I am mummy to two beautiful daughters. Girls, this is for you.
