Who Is Lesley Burroughs ?

Where shall I start? Well it feels like I’m talking to a counsellor! But seriously  ……..

 

ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD

I was born in Snodland Kent on the 23^rd of December 1968.  I was not due until mid January but I was impatient (story of my life!) and decided to give my mum an additional Christmas present.  I was born at home, which may well explain why I now love working from home 🙂

I can’t recall much about my childhood, not because it was an unhappy one or anything but because of later events.

I can remember my mum helped out at my school on swimming day, I played dress up with pretty pink glass slippers with a friend who lived around the corner from us, my family going on holiday to the Isle of Wight (picture of me on the ferry … arrrr)  and visiting the Blackgang Chine attraction, and also going on holiday to Tunisia and bringing back some tom-tom drums and a pretty pink cape!  Apart from that things are a little vague.

I had a good upbringing though, with mum at home as a full time mum and my dad working as a bank manager in central London for the HSBC.  I was, and still am, the closest with my mum and my sister who is 2 years older than me was closest with my dad. Unfortunately whenever my mum didn’t want to go out and do something with my dad it was always my fault! Again another cause of how I feel about things today. We also had a black dog called Suzy who was a Labrador/Dalmatian cross and she had a distinctive white chest area.

We moved to a brand new house in Orpington Kent which enabled my sister and I to go to a private girls school in Chislehurst Kent. My parents were great in teaching me the value of working for my own money and as we lived across the road from the station I used to help out in the little sweet kiosk in the station ticket hall which I thoroughly enjoyed because of the customer contact and money handling, but also because I had a slight crush on the guy I was helping out 😀

My education saw me achieve a scholarship to Babington School for Girls which meant my private school fees were reduced, but this was short lived as my parents split when I was 12, my father left to be with another women (which may explain why I now have trust issues and have never therefore been married 🙁 ).

I was pleased my time at Babington House was limited as we had Latin lessons which never appealed and we also had to wear straw boater hats, oh so sexy! Also during my time at this school I had an accident whilst on a trampoline and found my front teeth imbedded into my lower lip area, Yuk!

When my dad left, my mum, sister and I moved to Folkestone Kent to live with my grandparents until we found a new home in which to settle. The house we found was an upside down house? The house was set against the side of a steep incline so 2 bedrooms and a shower room were downstairs with a bungalow style upstairs. During our years in Folkestone my mum did not want us to go short of anything just because my dad had gone so she went back to work.  We also unfortunately had to have our dog Suzy put to sleep after she developed a stomach tumour; this was a very sad time 🙁

Now being used to earning my own money at a very early age when we moved I got myself a job as a breakfast waitress in a hotel in Folkestone Kent and occasionally helped out with lunch service when required.

I have never found it easy to open up to people and have never found it easy to make friends as a result. In reading this today you are learning more about me than anyone else ever has!

I only ever went round with 1-2 people at school and found myself bullied when I dyed my hair in my later years at school which unfortunately resulted in name calling which hurt at the time, but has also made a lasting impression I guess as I am always very conscious about what people think of me.

The friends I did have during my younger years helped me enjoy many hours in the Rotunda Amusements on the Folkestone sea front.  I also enjoyed Roller Skating and sometimes spent my Saturday evenings at the Roller Skating Disco. I found myself watching many a horror movie which has now resulted in me having numerous fears: water, sharks, heights, rollercoasters, glass lifts etc. but I always face the fear and do it anyway so have thankfully not allowed any of these to hold me back.

 

MY WORKING CAREER

Now maths was always my favourite subject at school and I took my O Level early and passed with a B grade.  I then went on to pass other O Levels and CSEs before finishing my schooling.  As a result of my enjoyment with numbers and money I had always seen myself following in my father’s footsteps by going into Banking.

I applied to the NatWest Bank and was successful in getting a job, so left school on the Friday and started work on the Monday, no rest for the wicked!

I worked in Branch Banking for my first 3 1/2 years in the NatWest, and I then transferred to central London to work in customer support for the Bank’s new online customer banking software.

This line of work made me realise I had an interest in how the technical side of the software worked, so I took a test to become a computer programmer within the Bank.  Now IT was very much a male dominated environment within the Bank but my skill level saw me as 1 of only 2 females to progress into programming using one of the hardest languages, Assembler; this gave me a great sense of achievement 🙂

I didn’t realise at first but when my dad left and chose to have nothing to do with my sister and I, as his new family had 2 boys to replace us, I seemed to develop a drive to show that he was no great loss in that I could still make a success of my life. I guess you could say I felt I had a point to make and wanted to show him what he had rejected!

So because I had very few friends and very few interests I found my drive to achieve in my career build.  I found myself living and breathing work, striving continuously for promotion.

My move to work in London also found me moving away from home, but this was eased by the fact NatWest had a Hall of Residence where I could rent a room.  This was an experience as it was in the Kings Cross area so was not the sort of area you found yourself walking around in late at night!  I still travelled home most weekends so I didn’t cut the ties completely.

My mum decided she would like to work in London aswell, which found us firstly renting rooms in a shared flat in Battersea and then my mum buying a flat in West Kensington, just around the corner from the Queens Tennis Club where the pre-Wimbledon Stella Tournament is played each year.

My mum and I are best friends so with us both living together again in London meant we could enjoy regular West End theatre visits.  During our years working in London we saw numerous musicals, dramas, thrillers etc.  The most memorable being The Phantom on the Opera, Starlight Express and Cats.

It became time for me to invest in bricks and mortar as the NatWest at that time offered its employees a reduced rate mortgage, so we decided to sell my mum’s flat in West Kensington and jointly buy a house in Welling Kent.

 

Now it was during my time with the Bank in London that I was introduced to Network Marketing.  I was shown a way to leverage my time, a way of working smarter rather than harder (after all what spare hours did I have with living and breathing NatWest 24/7), and which would also give me a fantastic pension in later life.  So I got involved and started to do something for me, not just working all day every day for a boss.

So I continued to work in various roles within the Bank’s IT division until I started to think, as do many people, the grass is surely greener on the other side.  So after 11 ½ years I decided it was time to move on and seek pastures new.  My spare time business at this time was not strong enough to provide me a full time income so I looked for another job.  I found myself in a predicament when I was offered 2 very attractive jobs, but after weighing up all the pros and cons I decided my future lay with IBM in Hampshire.

My mum did not want to move to Hampshire with so it was time to fly the nest, we sold up and she moved back to her place of birth in Erith Kent and I moved to Yateley in Hampshire, buying my very own house (scary).

I enjoyed my new job with IBM for a short time but then departments started to be restructured and responsibilities changed and my confidence started to slip away. I was still living and breathing work so I moved to a position within IBM to work with a man I thought would be a great mentor for me, but the day after I took the job he told me he had been headhunted and was himself moving on!

His replacement was an American lady.  Now I have always found I make friends better with men than women, which is quite strange when you think back to earlier events.  So when I started to work with a female boss I immediately started to have problems.

During my years at IBM I found myself achieving very little with my home business as it involved selling which was simply not my cup of tea, but then I discovered another Networking company which marketed its products in a simpler way.

My new home business was achieving greater results so when my job started to depress me I decided it was time to get out.

My main concern however was that even though I got up early every day for a boss I was not convinced I would have the same discipline for myself!  So I decided to take a part time morning job to ensure I got up but giving me the afternoon and evening to work on my own business.

Unfortunately earlier that year I had lost my Gran which left my mum to look after my Grandad.  My mum took early retirement so as to be able to look after my Grandad properly but this found her living in the lounge of his one bedroom flat rather than in her own house. She therefore started to look for a more suitable house where the two of them could live more comfortable but really for the money they would have there was very limited choice.

I took stock of my own situation and suggested I could do my bit if we all sold up and threw everything into one pot and bought something between us all.  We didn’t really have anywhere specific in mind and on looking around we found ourselves moving from the South of the country to the North in 2001.  My best mate Nick also decided to pack up and come with us.

 

MAKING MY BUSINESS MY SOLE SOURCE OF INCOME

My mum’s sister had died at the age of 60 in the year 2000, and it made me realise life is too short and is there for living.  So when we moved I made the decision to focus solely on my business rather than finding another part time job so that I could have a good balance between work and life.  I knew this would give me the time at home to help look out for my Grandad so that my mum had the time to pursue her love of golf.

During the next 7 years my business remained constant because I took advantage of having time for my family. However, in 2006 my business made it possible for me to qualify for an all expenses paid trip to Rio de Janeiro, which was absolutely fantastic. In 2007 my business also made it possible for me to qualify for an all expenses paid trip to Mauritius, which was breathtaking. But then unfortunately we lost my Grandad.

You would have thought this would have freed up my time to get back to my business with no longer needing to be at home to watch over my Grandad, but to be honest the past several years had allowed me to become lazy!

I enjoyed not having to get up early and leave for work, I enjoyed watching daytime TV, and I enjoyed pottering around at home doing nothing!

Now I have been fortunate throughout the years to enjoy many holidays abroad, but in 2008 because of having my own business I was able to take a month off to enjoy a holiday in America. My mum, my best mate Nick, and I travelled premium economy with Virgin Atlantic to LA…

we went to Memphis to see Elvis Presley’s Graceland home, Orlando to enjoy Disney/Sea World/Universal Studios etc., Tampa Bay for Busch Gardens, and Miami.

 

 

What boss would allow you to take a month off work?

2009 saw yet another change in my life, my best mate Nick moved on so the work he had been doing in the business until then all passed to me. Many people thought I would not keep doing this additional work but I have!

Even with this additional workload I was still able to enjoy my holidays. Christmas 2009 saw my mum and I enjoy two weeks in Cancun Mexico.

Then in March 2010 my business once again made it possible for me to qualify for an all expenses paid trip to Cape Town South Africa.  This was a real experience as we were taken in to the townships where we saw millions of people living in tin shacks, with limited lighting, and portaloo facilities etc.

We are so lucky in the UK to live the lives we do, to have the facilities we do, and even when times are tough they are nowhere near as tough as how some others have to live around the world.

October 2010 my mum & I enjoyed a week in Portugal, Christmas 2010 saw us enjoying two weeks in Egypt, and in March 2011 we enjoyed a week in Marrakech Morocco.

2012 saw me achieve my olympic gold by facing my fear of water and venturing out to Egypt once again to enjoy a week’s Nile River Cruise .. wow it was amazing!

 

BUT THEN THINGS CHANGED

Over the following years I became a little lazy with my efforts so in 2014 I took the decision to go back to employed work on a part time basis to reignite my work ethic.

In 2015 I went back into Banking with The Co-operative Bank and after just 7 months part-time my employer approached me to go full time to take on a more managerial role so …

2016 however saw me made redundant! But just as this happened The Co-operative Food Store was recruiting for a new store being built in my village just 2 minutes round the corner from my house. In a part-time role this was an ideal option to give me back the time to continue with my business.

Working my business again around my job life was ticking along nicely until 12th April 2018!

 

It was a sad day when on 12th April 2018 the British Network Marketing company I had been working with for 20 years, Kleeneze, ceased trading after 95 years.

 

THE BEST IS YET TO COME THOUGH

As they say, when one door closes another one opens.

 

With the demise of my Kleeneze business I had to increase my hours at the Co-operative Food Store to replace the income I lost.

But having been employed and self-employed I know which I prefer.

 

In May 2018 I started my new venture with Avon Cosmetics.  I am excited by my new prospects and can’t wait to see what I can achieve and help others to achieve.  Watch this space!

 

And now there is a new name in Home Shopping … VivaMK (meaning Forever My Kleeneze).

 

Gone are the days of me keeping all my eggs in one basket.

My aim is to go back to being lazy, to get up late morning, to work the hours I choose from the comfort of my own home, and to have the many holidays I so enjoy, … this is the lifestyle I once had and will have again … why not join me!

 

Update for 2019: I took the decision I needed a new challenge in terms of my job, whilst I continued to build up my Avon and VivaMK businesses. I therefore left the Co-operation Food Store and started work full time for British Garden Centres.

I still look forward to the day when my home businesses give me an income sufficient to live the lifestyle I choose, this gives me my motivation and drive to work all the hours I can in the meantime.