The Next Chapter by Ellie Barker

Amanda Prowse loved reading as a child. She was very shy and used to escape with her ‘friends’ in her books. She loved the idea of writing her own stories, but when a teacher told her at the age of 7…

The small fact that Jane Steen is named after Jane Eyre - may explain her lifelong fascination with historical fiction.

But despite this, Jane says, for many years she couldn’t find her own path.

She …

(I’m going to make a small bet - you’ve never met anyone quite like Angela.)

Angela started off her career in the rag trade. She learned from the best and she had a wonderful time in fashion in Fulham…

Firstly, thank you, thank you for all your brilliant questions - with a capital B. We covered such a lot and not what I expected at all. And if you didn’t ask a question, fear not as I think we cover…

Claire Davis is one half of the Midlife Mentors – the other is her husband James. They are multi-award winning coaches who’ve helped thousands of people have a complete reset, midlife. Whether it’s w…

When Sarah received a lower grade at A level – she describes it now as a ‘brilliant thing.’ It was thanks to this she studied PR instead of English at university and it opened up a whole world she lo…

Sam has always loved both Sport and psychology. It’s his passion to bring the best out of everyone he works with – and where better to test psychology, he says, than in sport? Because if it fails - w…

What is it really like in the world of celebrity?

Lisa has always loved learning about people  - she has been, in her own words ‘nosy’ since she was a child. It was this curiosity which took her to jo…

Graham had what he describes as a ‘casual relationship’ with university, but then again, Graham has always done things ‘slightly differently.’ His jobs have included organising snowboarding events wh…

Joanna Toye grew up as an only child surrounded by adults - and she wonders if this is what gave her her love for stories. She’s spent her whole career telling them. She worked for decades as a scrip…

Ruby developed a love for make-up when, as a child, she’d watch her mum dress up for cocktail evenings and dinners where they lived in Nigeria. She later had pictures of models (not pop stars) on her…

Nick Hounsfield cannot fail to inspire. He trained as an osteopath and set up the wonderful Family Practice with his wife Juliana, in Bristol. Some would say this was already a big enough dream. But …

One simple conversation and the story which would become one of our biggest musicals and Hollywood films of all time was born.

It all started for Catherine when she worked in her local record shop in…

Do you ever get overwhelmed and think there’s no place for you? This clip is from Series 8

Episode 1: From Editor of Elle Magazine to Head of Writer Partnerships, Substack: Farrah

Storr

This wisdom is b…

Matt says he was a quiet boy at school who could often be found in the library – but its this love of learning which has taken him to where he wants to be. First, learning about film and photography,…

Lynn Jinks has always been fascinated by people’s energy. She loved to act and so she studied drama at university. She loved appearing on stage and also co-founded a theatre company which gave voices…

Lauren has always been determined. She had posters of supermodels on her wall as a child and always wanted to work at Vogue when she was growing up. She did this and spent years there as its news edi…

Lindsay hasn’t just had one next chapter. She’s had several – from playing badminton for Scotland as a child, to working in sports journalism, singing in bars around Scotland and working in PR. She’s…

Welcome to a first for The Next Chapter. Our first Next, Next Chapter Episode!!!

I am delighted and thrilled to welcome back one of my first and very special guests: John Scott.

All my Next Chapter gu…

Kathy had a huge job in advertising which took her all over the world. But behind the glamour and fabulous hotels Kathy was suffering from burnout. One routine trip to the doctors changed everything …