What was your first job as a journalist?
I freelance
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes!
How is social media changing news?
Yes dramatically. It has shortened people's attention span, enabled tidal floods of fake news, meant journalists come under fire more.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Rita Skeeter
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Fulfillment of a lifetime ambition
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Can I come back to that one?!
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email every time, please.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Very few - lots of internet research and listening
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter
Who do you wish followed you?
I love being followed by entrepreneurs who find my sharing of use to them. It is my why.
Why did you become a journalist?
Combines my two passions - entrepreneurship and writing
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
There wasn't one..
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I am most proud of my book, Scale for Success, which contains a whole lot of stories amongst the advice.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don't put it off as I did. Do the training, get an apprenticeship if you can; Keep writing - all the time.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any - I write about countries and trends over different continents and am a bad sleeper! Its the pitch that matters
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Hard to pick out a best one - but it is all about the first 10 seconds for me - headline, first line, and layout - so many badly laid out !
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Can't remember - they fly into the bin so fast
What's your favorite drink?
Wine - and I have a weakness for a good Armagnac as I treat
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Reading or walking in the countryside, cooking, meditating.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I love reading places like Forbes, Huffington Post, Inc - all the obvious ones but obvious for a reason. They are good!
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That what is of interest to you and your company will be interesting to someone else.
