Adding value at every stage

The most important factor for any of us is when we perceive that the service we are buying has a great deal of value to it. Sometimes this is hard to discern initially, but comes to light as we go through the process.

I hope you can see through my reviews and even hearing my voice, that I care deeply about that aspect.

Your day is unique. You are unique. Your guests deserve the highest consideration at a wedding, and mourners require the best and most sympathetic care at a funeral.

Sometimes people ask me how many ceremonies I have performed. I reply it is not about the number of ceremonies, but what I bring to my celebrancy that counts. Here is where you start to see the added value.

When I set out on my first career as a teacher, I brought enthusiasm, passion and a sense of humour. I did not leave teaching because I wasn’t enjoying it, I left because there was still something more I wished to do. That was singing; opera and classical singing. I put myself right back at the beginning once more and re-trained to inhabit that role, not knowing whether I would succeed or not, but driven by passion and enthusiasm, accompanied by a perspective giving sense of humour.

You may not be able to quantify my value, but the many people I have worked for voice their gratitude and tell me how they feel. And that is what I value most highly, because you see, adding value to a moment in a life works both ways.

Being an International performer taught me any things. Things like adaptability, excellence in a specific arena, how to reach out and enbrace an audience; stage presence, being authentic (audiences soon suss you out if you are not) and performing under pressure (nothing like a red studio light for a live performance to find out if you are credible or not!). I learnt to connect with different people, whether singing colleagues or all who work to put on opera or concerts. I learnt to make last minute changes and stay calm under pressure, and from my teaching I brought the ability to notice when I needed to change how I was speaking or connecting, so that everybody felt included, and certainly, how to project my voice to fill the space so everybody can hear.

In 2012, I started broadcasting on a local radio station and discovered how to adapt the way I used my voice from projected speech, to close contact speech. I continue my weekly two hour programme of classical music to this day, unpaid, because I love educating and sharing. (And I still have my sense of humour!).

When I trained as a celebrant, I realised that I had been using all the skills I needed for many years. I was not learning on the job, I already embodied so many components that walk alongside all I do.

Along the way, I happen to have penned two very different books and honed my writing skills and, by taking courses in both Emotional Intelligence and Neuro Liguistic Programming, I continue to grow and develop as a person.

It is quite possible that none of this matters. I’d like to think it does,however, because it means you can trust me to bring my best self to you; the self that continues to strive and listens and hones everything she does; the self that has already been called upon to deliver at a high level under pressure on numerous occasions and proven her worth.

You may not be able to quantifiy my value, but the many people I have worked for voice their gratitude and tell me how they feel. And that is what I value most highly, because you see, adding value to a moment in a life works both ways.