Vanessa Sanders

Theatre Studies, 1986

I am a graduate from many years ago – 1986. My journey has been wayward starting out with a degree in Theatre Studies with all good intentions, but then I was lured to the dark side and into the depths of taxation. First becoming an Inspector of Taxes for HM Revenue & Customs and then training as a chartered accountant with Big Four firm E&Y in London qualifying in 1992 as the first and at that time, only graduate from Theatre Studies.

I have never checked to see if my ground-breaking transgression across to the other side was followed by anyone else – I wonder! After 30 odd years of being an accountant, I decided to dig deep and rekindle the flame of my artistic youth to study for a Masters in Creative Writing & Publishing. As a consequence I set up a tiny publishing house in partnership with my daughter who found herself turfed out into a COVID-stifled marketplace offering few opportunities for employment.

Fresh-faced and full of the energy I lost to experience, she has helped me to take the brand forwards and we are delighted to announce our first book in the series (four more are at the printers, and five in the illustration stage). The idea is to grow a community of children with the stories of ordinary women achieving extraordinary things from herstory offering inspiration in difficult times to just go ahead and do it! Lydia offers talks, presentations and workshops to primary school children as the author of these hysterical herstories to spread the word.