A Quick "Get to Know Me" Post

I often want to know more about those I read on Substack, so here's me doing that for you

An archive outtake of me accidentally doing my best Philomena Cunk impression…

“Tell me about Catherine Summers - who IS she?” - and that’s where my dream ended.

This happened in one of my many weird dreams the other night where I was being interrogated by some loud, middle-aged male wearing braces and a bow tie, smoking a cigar and looking down on meek little me. (Think Gordon Gekko but more wisecracking.) I couldn’t get any words out and my feet didn’t move (you know, the feet-in-molasses dream scenario), so I guess my brain just went, “Okay Catherine, wake up now!”.

Anyway - the potential “Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?” question makes me panic a bit. I don’t exactly remember being asked this directly anytime in the recent past, but it’s one of those questions that I don’t feel I’d ever be fully prepared for. Every so often I’ll read some sort of freelancing or business article that makes me think I need an amazing elevator pitch in order to sell myself. Like, STAT.

Gordon Gekko: You! Elevator pitch! Now!
Me: Aaaaaaaarrrrggghhhhh noooooooooooo my mouth is dry I have no vocabulareeee

Or something like that.

What exactly do people want to know? My favourite colour? Where I was born? Did I enjoy school? What are my hobbies? Do I put jam or cream on my scones first?

(Jam. It can ONLY be jam. Anything else is wrong, I know that much.)

There is SO MUCH you could answer the “Tell me about yourself” question with, it’s way too broad - hence the panic stations.

What I’m trying to say is, don’t ask me to write an elevator pitch about WHO I am or WHAT my life is like. And as my line of work is as a self-employed writer/blogger, you can see why “selling myself” (you know what I mean…) is an important part of what I do.

(Just before the Gordon Gekko bit of my dream I’d had a teary, Friends-era Jennifer Aniston knock on my apartment door - I live in a house in a country town so not where I actually live - needing a shoulder to cry on. How I got from Rachel to Gordon I’ll never know. But I’m sure we chewed the fat talking about Ross and I tried not to mention WE WERE ON A BREAK…)

As you can already tell by the 350-odd words of waffle above, given half the chance I’ll witter on and on about pretty much nothing forever. And not because I have so much to say about how exciting my life is or about all the amazing things that I’ve done in my nearly 52 years on this planet, oh no. More because I think WHO I am is “Someone who likes to witter on and ramble a lot and pass it off as writing on the internet” - and WHADDYAKNOW I’ve come up with an elevator pitch.

Okay, it’s probably not the most flattering (or the most PR-friendly) pitch you’ve ever heard, but it is, at least, honest.

Why am I writing this Substack/newsletter/post, then?

I’ve been writing stuff on Substack since last year, and reading stuff on Substack for a bit longer than that. I relish the fact that this is a platform for writing. A platform for writers.

When describing Substack to family and friends, I say it’s like Instagram for writers, but where people pay to read your stuff (if they wish), much like a magazine subscription. But a lot of it is free to read.

They sorta get it, but then I see that glazed look I saw when I explained years ago I had a blog. And that I was on Instagram. And that I tweeted.

(I often regretted trying to explain to people what I actually did and wished I could go back and say that I worked for the government instead so I couldn’t talk about it… god why didn’t I do that?!)

What I love about Substack is that you don’t have a goddam, annoying bane-of-my-life algorithm dictating what you do and don’t see. And there are no adverts, so it’s more like Netflix and less like ITV or Channel 4 and not at ALL like Prime - which you pay for but STILL get ads.

(Add that to “List of gripes for another time”.)

Essentially, my aim is to write posts about my life and my thoughts with a storytelling element to them. Something entertaining. Something to make you think. Something that makes you go,

Oh YES I’ve been thinking that too lately!, or…

Now that makes total sense, why didn’t that occur to me before now?!, or…

Oh wow her storytelling is so witty and clever and I want her to be my best friend so I’m going to sign up for a paid subscription!

(You can’t blame a girl for trying, can you…?)

But you know all that already (assuming this isn’t the first-ever thing on Substack you’ve read… if it IS, I’m proud that I’m the popper of your Substack cherry) - what you DON’T know, however, is much about me.

Getting to the point…

If you’ve followed my blog Not Dressed As Lamb for a while, you’ll probably know me a fair bit. Same with my Instagram @notlamb.

If you’ve only ever followed me here on Substack, you might know that I wear whatever I like, I broke up with my long hair for good and I really do not rate autumn. I also don’t like my name being shortened but I love being a Gen Xer.

However, until I write more and get more Substacks behind me (and that’s assuming you read them all, and AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT) it’s not much to help you get to know me.

(Oh and is Substack a noun? Or are they “posts”?! “Newsletter” still sounds a bit awkward to me as I see this as my opportunity to write real-life stories and observations, rather than what I usually think of as newsletters, which is more of a retailer/brand thing to do.)

MY POINT, MY POINT (see, we got there eventually): when I read posts written by others I don’t know outside of this platform, I’m often in the dark about who they are. I like having a bit of background about the person whose writings I’m reading. About whose life and thoughts I’ve been lucky enough to be given a glimpse into.

So I’m doing for you what I’d like others to do for me. Now, I’m not literally asking all the Substackers whose posts I read to sit down and write a “This is me” post. I’m not that presumptuous (or demanding). I just figured that if I’d like others to do this (for me), then maybe some of you will like this (from me).

(And if you absolutely do not want that, then maybe just hang on in there till my next Substack post. It features stories of grown adults dressed as sheep., i.e. exceptionally riveting country stuff. But good LORD you’ve done well to make it this far into the post and only now realise you don’t want to read it…)

Shall we begin (even though I’ve prattled on and on so much already)?

Who IS she?

If you heard the late Big Brother alumnus Nikki Grahame saying that in your head, then we could be friends in real life.

As this post has become WAAAAAAY too long now, the actual subject part of “Hi, get to know me!” is now going to be relegated to bullet points. And to be honest, the waffling above will almost certainly tell you what to expect from my writing…

Super brief stuff about me

• I’m (almost) 52

• I’ve been with Keith for over 20 years, married for 18, no kids

• I had a very brief (what I call) “starter marriage” which I’ll chalk up to a big fat error by my 20-something self

• I’m a dog mum to Suki the greyhound

• I’m British, born in London and grew up in the south of England

• I moved to the Westcountry in my 30s where we live now (I’m aware of the hypocrisy of putting jam on my scones first even though I live in Devon¹)

• I come from a large family and have so many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews that I’ve lost count

• I did a photography degree in the early 90s and have always loved it as an art form

• The degree was followed by teacher training and I’ve worked as a photography teacher, retail staff trainer and marketing manager

• I started the blog as a creative outlet to combine my love of writing, photography and fashion (and because I was bored in my office job)

• I became a full-time blogger in 2013 when I realised I could earn enough to become self-employed

• The blog started as a mostly fashion (personal style) concept but has developed into a platform for me to talk about health, well-being, ageing, menopause, etc. as well as a bit of style thrown in now and then

• I’m super proud that I’ve won a few blogging awards… not least being the UK Blog Awards Fashion Winner two years in a row, in 2017 and 2018

• My hair is always changing in various shades of red (sometimes pink) and I’ve been in two TV hair colourant adverts for L’Oréal

• I’m perimenopausal, am currently battling sciatica (I won’t lie, it’s a bitch) and have found out how hard dealing with and looking after elderly parents is when they’re 90 and 95 and one has dementia

My likes and dislikes

• My favourite colour is orange (especially when paired with pink, yellow, coral and any other warm colour)

• I have a passion for astronomy, the “world’s greatest mysteries”, phraseology and etymology, people watching, true crime stories, regional accents and British royal family history

• My absolute FAVOURITE things in life include giraffes, every dog ever, the summer, anything salted caramel-flavoured, Harry Styles, cherry lip balm, Leonardo DiCaprio movies, freckles and chocolate marzipan

• My LEAST favourite things include bubble baths, biscuits dunked in tea (why would you do that?!), Strictly Come Dancing, coffee and All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey

• I firmly believe that “age-appropriate” anything is absolute nonsense, especially when it comes to what women wear

What led me to write here…

• When the pandemic hit I’d been happily working as a full-time blogger for seven years - the sudden lack of income hit me hard (like it did for many other freelancers)

• I then had about two years of practically no work coming in but things picked up a little in 2023

• Sadly, brands just don’t pay what they used to so we now struggle to make ends meet, yet I’m doing the same amount of work (if not more) so I’ve had to think differently about income sources

• I found out about Substack and thought it was worth a go… it dawned on me that, like magazines and books, it was okay to ask people to pay for what you wrote. I still find it a little awkward, though…

And that’s kind of it. Hopefully this has given you a little bit more insight into me, my life and what I’m into, and what to expect from my Substack content.

I’d normally write some sort of wistful, reflective paragraph here. I wouldn’t normally end something so abruptly, but you know what? That’s exactly what I’m going to do.

So if you also like giraffes, ramblings about ageing and chocolate marzipan then let’s be friends​… and if not, let’s be friends anyway 😊​

If you enjoyed this post then please click the Like ❤️ button to make it more visible to non-subscribers (even better leave a comment!), thank you so much x

I’m a self-employed writer and blogger, and I hope you agree with my belief that all creative work should be paid. I’ve been happily writing my blog for free for 13 years (thankfully brand sponsorship just about keeps it afloat) but if you think my Substack content is worthy of - and you’re able to afford - a paid subscription*, then my food cupboard, mortgage provider and I will be very grateful.

Either way please like, comment and share the heck out of my content if you can, it’s all appreciated. Thank you so much for your support, whatever form it takes!

*When I turn this feature on, which I’m planning to do soon for some bonus content

1. The scone debate is a big thing in the Westcountry. The county of Devon says that the right way to eat a scone is (clotted) cream first and then jam, but the county of Cornwall says the right order is jam first and then cream. No one ever concedes.