Oh hey! I’m Pippa, I’m 22 years old and I live in York. My life currently revolves around attempting to study for my Masters degree in Health Psychology, running my non-profit Spoonie Survival Kits, and working with disability charities, all with very limited energy due to my chronic illness. So naturally, I decided 2017 was the right time to start a blog. Time for a little story about how my writing journey began…
Halfway through my undergraduate degree, I acquired a debilitating chronic illness. This completely changed my sporty, active way of life, and it took me a quite a large chunk of time to really find my feet and begin to feel like ‘myself’ again.
When things started to feel a little less like the end of the world, I began to engage with advocacy opportunities, speaking up about life as a student with a long-term condition. In 2015, I founded my very own social enterprise, Spoonie Survival Kits, and it was from here that the writing opportunities really began to arise. My work has been published on various digital platforms including Standard Issue UK, Positivity In Pain, and on plenty of chronic illness charity websites and individual blogs. My own book, written collaboratively with other chronically ill friends, is currently in the process of being published, and possibly my biggest achievement to date is being a finalist for the Jane Tomlinson Woman of Courage Award at the Yorkshire Women Of Achievement Awards, for my fundraising and advocacy; any excuse to wear a posh frock and pretend I’m classy…
In the midst of all this, I realised that I rather enjoyed writing and wanted to branch out from only focussing on health and disability. Living with a long-term chronic illness has taught me to find humour in even the most unfortunate circumstances, giving rise to plenty of what are now well-known among friends as ‘Life Of Pippa’ moments. Therefore, I decided to launch my own blog called Life Of Pippa, focussing on some of my favourite things: theatre and books, as well as lifestyle and fundraising. From publishing my first post in January 2017, I have had more opportunities than I ever thought could possibly come from a personal blog.
I now professionally review theatre productions for Broadway World UK, whilst keeping up my own colloquial, chatty reviews on here. My bookish posts have sparked interest from publishers including Walker, Pan Macmillan, HarperCollins and more, all of whom have arranged to send me books to review. Just recently, I have begun to be invited to local events as press, reviewing shops and restaurants in the York area. I’m reaching a combined audience of around 9,000 people all over the world, and I couldn’t love it more.
Something I feel very strongly about is the unjust lack of accessible employment opportunities for those with long-term conditions: throughout the country there are people like me, graduates with a wealth of knowledge and experience, who are unable to work in typical occupations because of chronic illness. I’m very, very lucky in that occasional opportunities to help me earn a living come my way. If you’re interested in hiring me as a freelance writer, proofreader, social media assistant or essentially anything else under the sun, do drop me a message and I’ll send across my media kit.
To those of you who’ve read this far, it’s time to give yourself a hearty pat on the back. If you do think I sound like an alright human being, and you’d enjoy some occasional light reading on why musicals and theatre are the entire meaning of life and hold the key to the secrets of the universe and all that is contained within it, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. Or if wittering on about books is more of your thing, I’d love some more pals on Goodreads.
See you around! *curtsies*
Much love,
Pippa x
One Response
You make me smile 🙂 (thats a very good thing by the way….I don't smile in a twisted creepy way, more like that 6 year old with a sense of humour and a glint of impishness in their eyes kind of way!) xoxo