I’m very rarely late for anything. Meetings, flights, theatre starts or project deadlines. If it’s in my calendar, I’m usually there. But I seem to have spent my life being late for key life events that society generally expects to happen at a certain time.

It all started with a due date. My debut. Expected 14 July in a local village hospital. Cancerian.

In the words of the White Rabbit:

“I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. 

No time to say goodbye, hello, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.”

2 weeks late, in fact, refusing to come out, running out of oxygen, turning blue, blue flashing lights emergency dash from the village hospital to the North Middlesex in Edmonton. I made it! Late, but not too late. Leo. And technically, I suppose, a Londoner.

The years rolled by and I found myself late going to university. This time was a deliberate plan. Go to Paris to finesse my French while working as a waitress in hotels, before going to Exeter to study French and philosophy.

I got even later as I decided to go to Germany and hone my German, still working in hotels and loving languages.

Not sure what happened, but instead of Exeter I found myself in Scotland, studying hotel, catering and tourism… of course, with some languages thrown in!

Consequently, I was late getting a permanent job. I loved the academic world and just couldn’t tear myself away. Until I decided it doesn’t pay enough! What job could I do? I chose market research because it had the word research in its name and that’s what I’d been doing for most of the previous decade.

As a market researcher I gave a lot of presentations and conference papers. I’d received the cursory presentation skills training. I don’t think it was much help. I was vaguely competent… But certainly not connected or engaging. If only I’d known then what I know now!

And now I’ve realised that I was also late finding my ideal job.

Online, I kept doing these tests to find your ideal job, the one that suits you best. Most seemed to tell me my career choice as a market researcher was number 11 and that there were 10 jobs better suited to me. I wasn’t prepared to pay the money they wanted to reveal my top 10. But after completing my Distinguished Toastmaster, I think I’ve found it.

I started Now You’re Talking my own business as a public speaking coach.

My friend, Sally, heard me doing some one-to-one coaching and I overheard her say “Now there’s a Lyn I haven’t seen for a long time”.

Dream job. Late, but hopefully not too late.

I’m definitely still chasing something, but I’ve no idea what it is! Too late? Watch this space!

PS Bonus tip if you struggle to deliver talks and presentations that run to time