Tees Life editor Julie Burniston.
Into the lion’s den
Tees Life editor and events manager Julie Burniston reflects
on her first few months at Resolution Media and Publishing
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W
hen you make a decision to
change your life, you may as well
go the whole hog.
Back in June this year I was sitting in my
home office in a London suburb. The new
neighbours had decided to have a (very
loud!) rap party starting at 8am on a Sunday,
the 16-wheelers were roaring past the main
road outside, and to top it all my stepfather
had taken very ill the night before. I was
fed up, overworked, lonely and stressed. I
missed my family. London had long since
lost its sheen. I wanted to go home to
Teesside..
I picked up my phone and sent a text to
an old friend and former work colleague,
Dave Allan. “Gis a job” was the underlying
message. You’ve heard of serendipity? It
was certainly in force for me.
Dave and co-director Martin Walker
had so much going on that I’m surprised
they had time to sleep. They were about
to advertise for more staff. Bingo! After a
series of talks they kindly brought me on
board to not only head up Tees Life but to
write for Tees Business and organise their
events too. It’s a good job I like a challenge!
Fast forward six weeks and I was firmly
installed in Boho Four. As an initiation I
wrote not only the cover story for Tees
Life – singer Paul Smith – right up my alley,
piece of cake – but the cover story for
the autumn issue of Tees Business. I will
be honest – it was my first ever business
interview. Thank God Karl Pemberton was
a talker. It was summer, I was nervous, I
recall sticking to his plastic chair – not a
good look!
I’ve learnt so much in the months since
then and met the most incredible people.
Being the events manager for the Tees
Businesswomen Awards allowed me
access to some of the country’s most
incredible and inspiring ladies.
I cried along with Cath Devereux and
Jane Turner; I laughed with Ann Stonehouse
and Victoria Lynch – and was inspired by
each and every nominee. The awards night
itself left me feeling overwhelmed and full
of pride – it was another career first.
Writing this piece, it does make me
wonder why I ever left the area as a
teenager. Perhaps it was to enable me to
fully appreciate just how great Teesside is
when I returned.
As I go from one networking event
to another and form relationships with
contributors, business leaders, charity
workers and our readers, one thing really
amazes me. Not the lack of traffic on the
roads – though isn’t that a great bonus
of living in the North! – but the way the
community sticks together, encourages
and supports each other.
I spoke recently to a fellow journalist
and we were both in a quandry. While we
are justifiably proud of our region, want
it to do well and shout its achievements
from the rooftops, we also – selfishly –
want to keep it to ourselves, because it is
so special. I’m still working on that one…
Moving forward, it’s an incredibly
exciting time for Resolution Media and
Publishing. As well as Tees Life and Tees
Business, there are two new publications
due to launch very soon – Wear Business
and This Is Tees Valley – plus we have the
Tees Tech Awards in April.
I also have a couple of other projects up
my sleeve – more about that later. Not that
I’ve told Dave and Martin about those yet.
Being metaphorically thrown into
the lion’s den with two established
personalities on the Tees business scene,
I’ve learned to choose my moments.
But if they’re anything, they’re
ambitious, forward-thinking and want to
grow. So there’ll be more to come from us
in 2020.