From Handbags To Hand Grenades

✨ Hello, I’m Fran, Your NLP & Business Coach. I’m exploring a wide range of business ideas and money-making paths, with practical takeaways you can apply.

In this episode, I'm interviewing Mark Robertson.

Mark Robertson spent most of his career as a theatre, film, and TV technician. Between rehearsals or at day’s end, he wrote to clear his mind. 

In 2015, he turned this pastime into a career, studying at the British College of Journalism and earning an HND. Since then, his articles have appeared in national newspapers and magazines, and he now works as a newsreader for two London-based radio stations. 

Based in Dorset, he is studying to become a light aircraft pilot after winning a competition for a pilot’s licence.

You can connect to Mark in the following ways⬇️
https://markrobertsonandkathrynwest.ampbk.com/
https://davidwalkerfj.wordpress.com/about/

Find me @ www.melancholymentor.com

As a coach, I listen without judgment, understanding that others views may differ from my own.

#nlpcoach #nlpcoaching #creativity #inspiration #transformation #author

Transcript

Welcome And Show Mission

Fran 0:00

Hello everyone, welcome to Melancholy Coaching Podcast. Join me as I interview firing business owners and self-improvement speakers while exploring business building, monetizing ideas and practical takeaways. Let's ignite our creative potential together. Hello and welcome to Melancholy Coaching Podcast, the show that highlights different business owners and ideas. I'm Fran, your NLP and business coach, and I'm pleased to introduce a motivational guest. Mark Robertson spent most of his career as a theatre, film and TV technician. Between rehearsals or at a day's end, he wrote to clear his mind. In 2015, he turned his pastime into a career, studying at the British College of Journalism and earning a HD. Since then, his articles have appeared in national newspapers and magazines, and he now works as a newsreader for two London-based radio stations. Based in Dorset, he's studying to become a light aircraft pilot after winning a competition for a pilot's license. Mark, welcome to the show.

Winning A Pilot Licence By Chance

Mark 1:17

Hi, and thanks for having me on.

Fran 1:19

That's okay. That's that's quite a thing, isn't it? Winning a competition.

Mark 1:24

It is. It was done in sheer by chance, actually. I uh I operate drones as well, and I do aerial photography, but as a bit of as a hobby, just to clear my mind, you know, when it's a busy day. And I was wanting to fly near a specific airfield in North Dorset, and you can't fly without permission. So I went onto the website to get the contact details. They were closed due to COVID at the time, but there was an advert on the front page of the website saying apply for a pilot's license, apply for the competition, win a pilot's licence. I've always wanted to fly, uh as you can see behind me. And I I thought, well, if I don't do it, I'll always be kicking myself. I did it, I beat everybody else, and I won.

Fran 2:09

Yeah, it's seizing the opportunities, isn't it?

Mark 2:12

It is, it is. It was by this one was by a sheer chance, but um I always believe that you should you should go out and grab every opportunity that you got you've got, no matter how small it is, and grab it with both hands, because you just don't ever know where it's gonna go.

Writing A Police Memoir

Fran 2:26

Yeah, amazing. So thank you for that. I was just intrigued about that bit. I've got a couple of pre-planned questions for you because I'm a curious being and I like to be prepared. Okay, yeah, yeah. So the first one is I know that you're an author. Can you share the title of your book and what inspired you to write it?

Mark 2:46

Well, again, it goes back to the, you know, I was grabbing every opportunity. So the title of the book is From Handbags to Hand Grenades. It's a true story based on the 30-year career of a female London Metropolitan Police Officer. And it's about her career from 1990 through to 2020 and everything that she experienced from before, during, and after. So I'm the kind of person who likes to go out and do lots of ambitions. I've done Route 66, I've driven across most of the continents on the planet in a car that costs less than £100. I've uh had things brought up at Prime Minister's question times. I've gone out and done skydiving and wing walking, and I'm now currently about to go and attempt a Guinea's World Record, but that's that's a different story. Um but with the book, it's just an ambition that I've always wanted to do, something that I've always had an idea to do, but I've never known what to write about. And this kind of fell in my lap, really. A few years ago, I was working uh in London with a friend who's the lady in the book. Her her name is Catherine West, and she was she was venting frustration one day. She was telling me about um a particularly hard event that she'd had to deal with firsthand. Now, I knew that she worked in the police force, but I didn't realise exactly what she did. She was just telling me about this particular bad bad day, and it was quite uh quite a horrific event that uh that she had to deal with. And it just it just sparked something in my mind. I thought, right, I've always wanted to write a book. This is a good topic and subject that people would want to read about because it's the background of what happens within the Met without really releasing too much information. And it's also about the the highs and the lows and the good and the bad. So it's not all about bad things. There's a bit of humour in there as well, just to break things up a little bit. But it's quite an interesting and varied career. And I just said to her, Have you ever thought about having a book written about your life? And she said yes, but she couldn't uh do it at the time because she still had a couple of years to go before she retired, so we then waited, and then then COVID happened, so we had to wait a bit more, and then uh bit of a personal tragedy this end, so we had to wait a bit more, but then we eventually got round to doing it, and we sat down and I said, Right, tell me your story. And and I have to admit, even though I've known her for several years, and I yes, this might be a slightly biased opinion, but as I'm sat listening to what she's telling me, my eyes were opened up wide, and hopefully I've done the justice by then passing this on in the form of the book.

Fran 5:26

Yeah, trans translating that into words.

Mark 5:28

It it was I was actually sat there just listening to what she was saying, and I'm thinking this was just incredible. This really was incredible. She started off as a as a young promotioner, um, originated from Cornwall, moved up to the big city, and and then eventually became like uh the the lioness of London. It was it was quite quite something. Yeah.

Fran 5:53

That's the thing, isn't it, about um stories. You know, I I believe that we've all got a story to share. Absolutely. Yeah, whether or not other people want to either read that or watch it, you know, that's another thing, isn't it? So you know, not only did you see the opportunity for an amazing story, it's them putting that into words and translating it into a a package that's you know digestible.

Highs Lows And Dark Days

Mark 6:17

It was it was quite quite quite a journey to to actually do. Like I say, it's been always ambition. I've always wanted to do things, I've always gone out and grabbed things, like I say, with both hands. You just don't know where it'll take you to. But it it was quite it was quite an eye-opener when uh when we started to talk, and and she told me about the the things that she'd worked on. She she dealt with she dealt with the Grenfell Tower fire, she dealt with the Tavistock Square 7-7 bombings, she dealt with the Westminster Bridge attack. But then there's humorous things, you know, where she's dancing badly at the Notting Hill Carnival and bumps into this really gorgeous hunky guy that she instantly fell in love with wanting to find out he was married. So that there's you know, there's definite highs and lows.

Fran 7:03

Yeah, definite highs and lows in there.

Mark 7:05

So yeah, but but she she's like I said, she started literally as a probationer where and a female where she wasn't even allowed to touch the handles of a police car, let alone riding one. And that was back in 1990. And eventually she worked her way up, she worked and she worked and she worked, and she worked her way up to become running for a period of time the main control centre in in Scotland Scotland Yard for all the big events, the New Year's Day parades.

Fran 7:36

Incredibly inspiring. Because that just shows you how um, you know, if you ebb and flow through life that sees those opportunities and and those career paths and where that's going to take you.

Mark 7:47

That's right. I mean, you know, she had the hardship as well. It's not all, you know, not all about the roses. She she went up, she went down, but she did did make it in the end. And like I say, she was running the big events in London at the end of it. So yeah.

Turning Passion Into Media Work

Fran 7:59

Amazing. Right, thank you. That's like a really, really big there's loads of big topics within all of that. But I'm gonna move on very next question. Um, which is what advice would you give to someone looking to turn a passion into a career in writing or media?

Mark 8:22

Good question. If you've got a passion, don't put it to one side because it'll it'll just eat to wear you anyway. So just go out and do it. Look to your field, look to where you want to go, but don't just to work towards a goal. Because if you work towards a goal, you know, you're missing all the bits and pieces in between. Do it in stages. I used to work in theatre, film, and TV. I used to write just to where clearing my mind at the end of the day, but I always had a passion in news. So I just went back and I did distance learning. I didn't set out to be a news reader on the radio. I started out just by writing articles for for magazines and newspapers, and and steadily it grew from there. I'd like to work in television one day. If I see the opportunity, I'll go for it, but I'm not using that as a final goal to work towards because otherwise I may never possibly achieve it. Media is a difficult entity to get into. Now, take this as you will, but uh I I found that females can get into media better than males. That's one of the things that I've learned. Doesn't mean to say that it's an equal balance. If you're working within radio, the female voice is much more easier to listen to than a harsh male voice. And it's just one of those things that you've come across.

Fran 9:43

That's that's an interesting thing because that's a very it's a very overarching statement, isn't it? You know, for people to take as they will. Because personally, I actually prefer to listen to a male voice, funnily enough. I do. Um because I listen to a lot of YouTube things and I will gravitate towards male voices. Now that's interesting. Yeah, or a specific tone of female voice.

Mark 10:10

When I um when I do my broadcast pieces, I do twice a week for the London station. So I'm based here in Dorset. I have a professional studio in another room in that in the house. So my voice is fine for doing gravitas for some very serious international events. But if I or if uh if another presenter is doing an announcement of a school fate for argument's sake, or an event for somebody to go along, then my voice is the is completely the wrong kind of voice for that. And you you then need to have somebody which is much more lighter and aerated for a lighter event to happen. But going back to social media itself, like it as to answer to your answer to your question, there are highs, there are lows. There is no one quick, easy fix. You're better by starting out in a voluntary capacity and working for a local newspaper or a newsletter for a village hall or something like that, to learn your craft, to hone your style, and then you can expand on there. You can't just jump into it two feet first. It is a difficult media to get into medium to get into, but uh and and can take around about five years before you actually get recognition. But when you do start to recognition, it does become easier, and then you can't exactly pick and choose, but you then find attaining jobs can be slightly easier. Yeah.

Fran 11:39

Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And again, it's it's an interesting topic, isn't it? You know, it isn't just the voice, it's the tone of the voice, it's the pacing. It's there's so much more involved, isn't there?

Mark 11:50

Yeah, there's there's a lot of it involved, and especially with obviously the kind of events that uh with some of the things that I've covered. I've I've covered some very serious, significant events, but I've also covered things such as the preparation launch for the world's fastest land speed record car, the one that beat thrust SSE, or beat thrust SSC. I've worked on some the product launchers, I've worked on some party political events. It's it's a whole wide range and spectrum that you have to uh to have to take on board, and you need to be able to adapt to that, but you do get to go and be invited to some pretty cool events, I will say.

Setbacks Blogging Growth And Next Steps

Fran 12:29

Amazing. Right. What I want to ask you now is what's next for you? There's there's an awful lot that's packed into this, and not only into the book as well, because we'll go back to the book in a moment, because there's there's a lot to unpack in there, and I want to leave that for the readers to get into. You know, there's there's some very, very big topics within that book, but generally, what's next for you?

Mark 12:56

Well, uh, it's it's it's slightly difficult for me to answer that because you could say that within the past five years I've learned how to fly a plane, I'm about to become a Guinness World record holder, and I've become a published author. But at the same time, I'm also finding it difficult, despite what I've just been said a few minutes ago, I am finding it difficult to get some work at the moment. It's just because of the way of the world. Things have changed and they're entirely on the on their head. When I get back uh with my feet under the table, I will be carrying on doing more writing. I did have a personal tragedy that that did set me back quite some time. I've now working my way through that, things are improving, I'm sorry. And I want to carry on doing more of the more of the writing. And I've I've now started, I've taken a step back to take a step forward. Yeah. So I'm doing less on the magazines and newspapers and more on the online blogging right now. And for me, that's working. It's getting me back into the swing of things. I'm now having between around about 2,200, between that and 2800, 3,000 weekly views of blogs that I'm doing. And I start with zero. So it's it is it is doing, it is getting back into it again. It's been a lot of hard work, and I'm hoping that from there I can piggyback on and then start to get some form of income. But I I I had a big, big personal tragedy, and it it just knocked me for a while. Now I'm moving forward again. So long term more broadcast work, be on the telly, let's see what happens from there.

Fran 14:38

Yeah, so I'd ideally, workwise, what would you like to you know bring into your world?

Mark 14:45

Work-wise, I would like to work more within television media. That's where I would like to go towards. It is a different world from the radio, so I'm happy to continue with the with the radio side of things as well because that's that's quite a quite a thing to do. And it's quite a fun environment to work in as well. It's hard work, but you get a great group of people that you actually work with, and I do like that. So radio is fine, but TV is where I want to where I want to head towards.

Fran 15:14

Okay, thank you. Your book. Okay, so there's a website for the book, isn't there, where people can find it.

Mark 15:24

There's several. The the easiest way to do it really is just to go into Google and just type in the put in the title from handbags to hand grenades. I'm told by the publishers that the paperback version, because it's paperback, Kindle, and audiobook, and I'm told by the publishers that it's currently being sold in 86 different countries worldwide. So this is that. But the best way to find it, uh, you can do all that, you can do the Waterstones with the Brady Smiths, the Amazons of this world, or or if you just want to put in the title into Google from handbags to hand grenades, I do believe that um I think we're taking up the first four pages of Google on every single uh every single website. So go for it. That's the best the best way in which you can find it, yeah.

Fran 16:10

Okay. So thank you for sharing some of your insights there and a bit of your journey. So with the names there, so your your book is Mark Robertson, and then you're actually right, you're rot blogging as well, aren't you?

Mark 16:23

That's right, yeah. So I uh I have a blogger under WordPress, I have a blog under WordPress, and that goes under the name of David Walker, which is another name that I that I often go by. I've found throughout the years that sometimes it's easier to have a pen name, because obviously you need to separate personal from private life and and things, or a commercial life, and that's why the the book is under the pen name of Mark Roberts, but my blogs are under an alternative name of David Walker.

Fran 16:53

Which is fascinating, isn't it? Because I'm I'm in the world of performing, because I also do some burlesque performing, and every performer has a performer name. Um I couldn't even tell you what their other names were, and you know it's like a stage name, then isn't it?

Mark 17:06

Yeah.

Fran 17:06

It's a stage name, yeah. So you get a pen name, a stage name, a working name. A lot of actors and actresses they work under a different name as well, don't they?

Mark 17:14

That's right, that's right. Yeah.

Fran 17:15

So just make sure that everybody can find you.

Mark 17:19

Under my my blogs, it's a WordPress. Uh, the name there is David Walker.

Pen Names And Closing Message

Fran 17:24

Amazing, thank you. And the book is Mark Robertson. Thank you very much for explaining. Right. So if you're interested in more content like this, be sure to visit www.melancolimentor.com, follow us for the latest updates, and the latest podcasts go through that as well. And until next time, stay curious, keep igniting your creative potential. And if you want a nice juicy read, then find Mark Robertson's book. And if you're interested in what he's been blogging, then you can find the blogs under WordPress of um David Walker.

Mark 17:58

That's great. Thank you very much.

Fran 18:00

Thank you for joining me today.

Mark 18:01

Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Fran 18:03

You're welcome, you're welcome. Thank you for listening. I'd love for you to subscribe and visit www.melancolymentor.com for the latest updates. Till next time, stay curious and keep igniting your creative potential.