ABOUT ME
ME & MY STORY
HELLO!
I'm Katie Portman, I'm 46, married and a mum to two children. I live in Barnsley, South Yorkshire but am originally from the other side of the pennines.
I work for myself as a writer and a personal stylist and spend my days juggling work and motherhood as best as I can. Some days it feels like a doddle, others not so much. Like for so many women, my life is busy and full, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
MY BACKGROUND
I started my career as a journalist and began working for myself way back in 2010 as a freelancer. It was then that I discovered the joy of blogging and the connection that it offers. I began my blogging career simply talking about my freelance experiences and when that wasn't enough, I created a separate blog Pouting In Heels that allowed me to talk about women's stuff - motherhood, fashion and life etc.
*Pouting In Heels changed my life. Launched in 2012, it won numerous awards, secured me a book deal, enabled me to work with household names such as John Lewis, ASDA and Cosatto to name a few and the best bit? It allowed me to connect with other women and make some lovely new friends too.
It was wonderful whilst it lasted. Sadly, in May 2024, I came home after a lovely family break, to discover that my blog had been compromised and after many fruitless battles to try and get it back up and running, I decided to be brave and start all over again. To see it as an opportunity to reinvent myself as a writer, now I'm a little older, (hopefully) a little wiser & into my middle years. And so, I bring you Daring Eileen.
WHAT'S THE NAME ALL ABOUT?
I thought long & hard about the name and wanted a new identity. At 46, I feel like I'm beginning to rediscover myself. In many ways I feel like I'm going back to my roots and so I wanted a name to reflect that.
EILEEN is one of my middle names. (Yes, I have two of them.) It was also my Gran's middle name. When we wrote to each other, we always addressed our envelopes to 'Eileen' & this always made me smile. The memory still does.
Symbolically, Eileen also seemed to just fit. In Irish culture, it means 'independence, bravery & strength' whilst in Gaelic culture, it means 'bright' and is associated with enlightenment.
All of these things, I hope to strengthen & discover within myself through writing this blog.
As for the DARING? Well this is for all of us really. A reminder that life is always sweeter & certainly more interesting when we act with courage.
Thank you for reading my blog. I truly hope you enjoy it. And if you'd like to get in touch, please do so. I'd love to hear from you.
"More power to your elbow!" (Thanks Gran.)
