I’m going to be honest here. I’ve never been much good at the ruthless side of business. The cut-throat behaviour, the fierce competitiveness, the power dressing. Okay, I wore shoulder pads in the 80s but I looked more like an air-hostess than someone who should be in Alan Sugar’s boardroom.

I have often worked with the ‘dog-eat-dog’, ambitious folk of this world, and I am full of admiration and sometimes envy. They have flash cars, wear the right labels and dine at the top table.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, as a child I read Charles Kingsley’s ‘The Water Babies’ and the character of Mrs-Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By has stuck with me into adulthood. Well, maybe not the character but the inference of the name. Treat people as you would like to be treated, and expect to receive the same treatment back.

It strikes me that working in the creative world of PR, copywriting and social media is not just about making a living, although that helps, of course. It’s about building relationships, going the extra mile for clients, lending a hand where you can and enjoying what you do. Oh, and laughing quite a bit because hard work has never suffered from a giggle or two.

And as we move into a new year and as my business grows, I’m not going to change. You see, Mrs-Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By was ‘nice, soft, fat’ and cuddly. Her sister, Mrs Be-Done-By-As-You-Did was ‘gnarly and horny and scaly and prickly’. There’s no contest, in my book. There wasn’t in Charles Kingsley’s, either!

Have a great New Year!