The Next Chapter by Ellie Barker

From Communications to Highly Acclaimed Restaurateur: Nessa Bird

I’ll be honest I’ve been watching Nessa and her husband Freddy at work for a while now, they have a restaurant at the end of our road, and it’s been incredible and exciting to watch them open their neighbourhood bistro. But not only that, it’s now become a destination restaurant, appearing on national television and has been voted one of the top six best outdoor eating venues in the UK and has received rave reviews.

I knew Nessa’s story would be fascinating but I wasn’t quite expecting this.

Being brave and just taking that leap seems to have taken Nessa exactly where she is meant to be. She’s lived in different countries, left jobs when she knew they weren’t quite right for her and she’s trusted herself enough to take a deep breath and seize the day.

Then she met her husband and together they have built their own world for their family and for all of us around them, serving delicious food and wine.

Nessa speaks openly about life as a new mum, how they navigated Covid just weeks after opening and how they’re growing their other restaurant now, Littleshop. Plus, the story of how Nessa got together with Freddy is one of the loveliest stories I’ve heard in a long time. Nessa Bird is fun, humble and honest. Hard work, good food and determination have been the ingredients for a life Nessa loves - and she gives some brilliant advice if you are feeling a bit stuck.

You can see Nessa and Freddy fabulous restaurants here..

https://littlefrench.co.uk/

https://littleshopandpantry.co.uk/

And just in case you missed it all the other times I’m at: https://www.elliebarkerwrites.com/

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Jill Mansell writes romantic comedies and is on her 35thbook. (35th!) She’s sold over 14 million copies of her books all over the world. (14 million!) But what you may not know is that for 18 years Jill worked for the NHS in the field of Clinical Neurophysiology. Then everything changed all because of a magazine article.

Jill talks about swapping careers with a young baby, keeping going when the going gets tough – being asked if she’s friends with Madonna and what happened when she met her own heroine, Jilly Cooper.

It meant such a lot to be able to interview one of my own heroines and inspirations here on the Next Chapter. Jill is so humble and modest about her incredible achievements. She’s also open, warm and full of joy and hope… just like her books.

Jill’s latest book “Should I tell you?” is out in paperback now.

You can find out more about Jill Mansell at: https://jillmansell.co.uk/

And just in case you didn’t know you can find out all about me at: https://www.elliebarkerwrites.com/

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Eleanor Mills was the editorial director of The Sunday Times and editor of its magazine. She was the youngest features editor at The Telegraph at the age of 26. She was Chair of Women in Journalism, she’s interviewed pretty much everyone from Bob Hoskins to Mikhail Gorbachev and she had one of the biggest jobs in newspapers alongside life with her lovely husband and two daughters.

But after more than 20 years at The Times, in March 2020, as the world changed for all of us Eleanor was made redundant. She found herself lost, sitting on a bench with her friend, not knowing what to do next.

She went on to start Noon – which she describes as a platform helping women with the transition of midlife, whether it’s divorce, children leaving home, redundancy, marriage troubles, or yes, women just wanting a Next Chapter. Eleanor believes at 50 women are only half way through, we are going into our prime and this should be celebrated.

Eleanor is open, honest about just about all areas of life. Finding the right partner, being the only female trainee at The Telegraph, daughters, loss, how change can be tough – this conversation has it all. And she told me who the most memorable person she interviewed is (and I wasn’t expecting that at all).

https://www.noon.org.uk/

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We're back!!! Series 6 of The Next Chapter and what a way to start. 

Most of you will know  Dr Sian Williams from either the sofa of BBC Breakfast or being the anchor for Channel 5 news, but she's done pretty much everything else too in radio and television - she’s been a journalist for more than 35 years. But what you might not know is behind the scenes and alongside her life in television, she was also training to become a psychologist. She is now a Dr, and although we will still have her on our televisions and radio,  she has recently left her daily position at Channel 5 and is starting her Next Chapter as a psychologist for the NHS.

This conversation is one of my longest, but also I believe one of my most powerful yet - to be honest I didn’t want to take anything out from you – Sian is so generous with her stories, thoughts and advice.  She talks about life as a journalist and how she came to be in front of the camera. She talks about the responsibility of telling people’s stories at the best and worst time of their lives. We also discuss how life changed for Sian one Christmas after a diagnosis of her own. 

Although I also work in television, I've never met Sian before. When I started this podcast Sian was one of my dream guests to interview. So, in the spirit of Next Chapters, I decided to take the leap and message her - and she said yes - because that’s how much she believes in Next Chapters – not just hers, but yours too.

(We talk about Sian's book in the podcast: Rise: A first-aid kit for getting through tough times by Sian Williams - which I can't recommend enough.)

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Laura See has always loved shoes and fashion. At school she thought about becoming a fashion journalist but life took her on a different path. She worked in construction, and although she liked her job, she never really loved it - and she never felt really fulfilled.

Then something awful happened. A life-changing event which made Laura’s world stop turning. In those difficult days she started sketching shoe designs as her therapy.

Laura saw how short life is - and so she applied for a design course in Florence in Italy and won a scholarship for it. She spent a year there learning shoe design. But when Laura returned, the hurdles continued. She received constant no’s from the industry for an apprenticeship. So, despite lots of people telling her not to, she started her own shoe brand.  https://www.lauraseelondon.com/

Less than a year later, Laura’s shoes have been in a pop-up shop in John Lewis in Oxford and they’ve been featured in national magazines. Laura is doing all this around her day job back in construction, financing it all herself.

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When you walk inside The Bristol Loaf bakery you may be forgiven this is what owner Gary Derham has always planned. But this is a story of Next Chapters leading to the Right Chapter.

Gary started off with a love of art and architecture at school, but working in a restaurant took him to bars and then his own nightclub, before going back to bars and then finally finding a way to combine all his loves.

He now employs more than one hundred staff at his bakery, it’s won national awards - and they even have a place in one of our biggest music venues in the South West – The Bristol Beacon. When they opened their flagship store, they had queues out the door for days.

Gary says 'sometimes we all need a lesson in how not to do it to be able to get it right.' He is truthful and open about what has gone well and what hasn’t. He is dedicated, hard-working and not afraid of carrying on when everything is going wrong. And with his team of bakers today – he sees the importance and effect of people doing what they love to do.

Take a look at the Bristol Loaf Bakery: https://thebristolloaf.co.uk/

And just in case you’ve forgotten you can keep up to date with me and my books: www.elliebarkerwrites.com

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Andy was a single mum of three boys. She wanted to earn a bit of money, and one day saw an ad for foster carers. She decided it wasn’t for her. But then she changed her mind and thank goodness she did – because she went on to foster more than one hundred teenagers over the next 37 years.

There’s not much Andy Hider hasn’t seen or dealt with when it comes to teenagers. She’s had really tough times like being chased by a knife and she’s spent so many nights in the local police station she got to know the security codes. But Andy also says she wouldn’t change any of it. It was the best job she could ask for and she has helped transform the lives of so many. Two years ago Andy was awarded an MBE by the Queen after being nominated by one of her sons.

Andy has seen how difficult life can be but she believes everyone deserves a Next Chapter it’s always worth taking that first step towards something better. Andy Hider MBE is one of the most thoughtful, kindest and determined women I have interviewed as a journalist, and this is just the conversation needed to warm your soul.

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Mel Sherratt grew up in Stoke and never believed she would actually ever be an author, even though she loved escaping into books. She worked as a housing officer and saw real-life in a way she’d never forget. This would later inspire the story lines in her books. After years of submitting to agents hoping to get a traditional publishing deal, Mel decided to do it herself and publish her own novels. After the first year she had sold more than two hundred thousand books. Agents came to her and she had the book deal she’d always wanted.

Her books have now sold more than 1.8 million copies. She writes crime books under her name and women’s fiction under the pen-name of Marcie Steele. She has had book deals with Thomas Mercer, Bookouture and Avon. But now, in another Next Chapter Mel has decided to publish her latest book Broken Promises by herself again, using everything she has learned during her years in the traditional world.

Mel’s story has been such an inspiration to me – especially on the days when rejections came in from agents and you feel nobody will ever want to read your stories. But Mel shows us there is always another way, whatever your Next Chapter may be.

To find out more about Mel and her latest book Broken Promises released today (!) : https://melsherratt.co.uk/

And of course you can keep up to date with me here (just in case you've forgotten) https://www.elliebarkerwrites.com/

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Angela Marson’s own story is worthy of a Hollywood film and it has more twists and turns than most crime novels. Angela (or Angie) loved writing as a child but never thought she could be an author. That’s what people from other worlds did. But as an adult Angela carried on writing around her day job, and she started submitting her books to agents. Then the rejections came, and came... and they kept coming for twenty-five years.  But with the help of her partner Julie, every time she got knocked down, they found the strength together to get Angie back up again and carry on. And thank heavens they did because one day everything changed and now she has sold more than four million books.

Angie believes, however stuck we feel, we must keep going if we love what we're doing. Her story is one of dedication, inspiration, hard work and resilience. And it’s about having that special someone by your side, whoever they may be who truly believes in you. We also discuss orange ponchos and Russell Brand, but you’ll have to listen to find out why.

You can find out all about Angie and her books at : http://angelamarsons-books.com/

And just in case you've forgotten, you can keep in touch with me at https://www.elliebarkerwrites.com/

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I still can’t quite believe it but look who is opening series 5 of The Next Chapter. I’m not sure Eamonn Holmes needs much of an introduction, he’s one of our most loved household names. He’s presented pretty much everything from of course GMTV, This Morning, Sunrise, The National Lottery, Songs of Praise, Radio 5 Live the list continues, and now he’s just started his own Next Chapter presenting GB News.

Eamonn speaks openly and honestly about what life has really been like being one of our most well-known television stars, how his life growing up through the Troubles in Northern Ireland helped him become the journalist he is, and how he nearly missed out on telly life altogether.

I first met Eamonn during my own first chapter nearly twenty-five years ago when I was a runner at GMTV. All I wanted to do then was to be a television journalist, and Eamonn was my absolute hero. I remember the day I met him and I thought if I ever do become that journalist it would be my dream to interview him. It’s taken nearly a quarter of a century but I really hope you’ll agree it was worth the wait.

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