ABOUT ME
ME & MY STORY
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HELLO!
I'm Katie Portman, I'm 45, married and a mum to two children - a daughter, 12 and a son, 8. 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 (if you'd like me to help you feel and look fabulous, you can find out more about that here) 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.
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WHAT'S THE NAME ALL ABOUT?
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I thought long & hard about the name and wanted a new identity. At 45, 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.)
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