Introducing (drum roll please) …
Kerry Norman
Born on Easter Monday, I was a long suffering victim of horrendous haircuts (the big fringe that got bigger each time it was cut) and terrible glasses. A keen gymnastic but clearly not stupid enough to fling myself backwards on a tiny beam or around the bars so I spent most of my time doing exercises. I lived in Suffolk for the first 10 years of my life and then moved to Lincolnshire, a place people rarely know or even recognise as a County. Fast forward to 2003 when I left (escaped) Lincolnshire to study Sociology and Cultural Studies at Manchester Met Uni, a course that I’m sure wasn’t particularly useful but University life gave me the independence and confidence to find “me” and to fall in love for the first time – with Manchester…! As soon as I visited the city I knew I loved it, I knew it was the place I was meant to be and 19 years later, I’m still here, just a little bit older and potentially a tiny bit wiser.
In 2006 I received my degree (achieving a 2:1 after getting a 3rd in my second year) and fell into my first recruitment role before I officially graduated. I spent my first 6 years in recruitment specialising in Social Work and Substance Misuse for BBT / Randstad Care and loved it – and I was good at it! I only left due to a broken heart and the need to travel the world. So off I went, drinking my way around the world and 6.5 months later I came back in desperate need of routine and excited about putting my faux fur coat and warm boots on. It’s funny what you learn about yourself when you’re out of the daily grind; I love the sun but I love seasons more. I like eating weird things but I still love a good English roast. I loved traveling and I absolutely LOVED Australia but I missed Manchester (and my friends and family) and I just knew it was where I needed to be.
I dusted off my suit and secured a role with Sellick Partnership where I spent the next 8.5 years. My time there was really happy, I learnt a lot and spent much of my time there laughing with great colleagues. But all good things come to an end and it was time to move on.
In March 2020 I travelled solo on a trip of a lifetime to Bali to join a yoga retreat and then to meet my friends who were going to visit from Australia. Things weren’t quite that straight forward though! Firstly, I found out I was pregnant 3 days before I was due to leave – there goes holiday beers! Secondly, the dreaded COVID-19 began rearing its ugly head. I managed to get there though and what an experience it was. I’m a huge believer that everything happens for a reason and despite the fact that nothing really turned out the way I’d planned, e.g. my Aussie friends couldn’t join me, I was evacuated at very short notice off Gili T island after only being there for 24 hours, my flights were cancelled on the way home and I felt sick the entire time, I knew that I was meant to be there, with the people I met, at that exact moment in time. Perfection (if a little stressful at times)!
2020 continued to be filled with change; furlough, pregnancy, home working, lockdown, spending a lot of time with my partner (we both agree, way too much), growing vegetables for the first time, slowing down (this was definitely a new concept for me!) and generally getting used to this new “normal”… and then my son arrived. I finally understood what change really was; a gorgeous, confusing, heart-warming, challenging kind of change.
Now sitting here writing this, I’m exactly where I should be again. I’m Co-Founder of an amazing new business with three people who I’m genuinely proud to call my friends and partners. We all found ourselves available at the same time and now we’re doing “work” our own way. A flexible, happy, hilarious, grown up, learning as we go (especially with IT) way – a way that is perfect for us! And we’re confident this will shine through to everyone we come into contact with.
If the last two years has taught me anything, it’s that life really is too short and I want to spend my time being happy and content with a peaceful mind, with people who genuinely care about me and make me cry laughing on a daily basis. And that is Medlock Partners. To me that is success.
So here’s to being brave and changing things up to chase your dreams. To trusting that things do happen for a reason and to noticing when something just feels right. And to 2022, the year where Medlock Partners do amazing things.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me for a confidential conversation, my email is kerry.norman@medlockpartners.com
