It always feels great to be back and writing these newsletters after a holiday. I genuinely miss the communication and being away for a week reminds me of what a privilege it is to appear in your inbox week in and week out. You don’t have to open these Black Ballad emails and you don’t have to read my words, but as some of you have reminded me through emails, tweets, Instagram posts and in person - you do. For that I am grateful, so after a week away of sun, sand and sleep - I genuinely want to say thank you. Thank you for reading this newsletter this week, two weeks ago, two months ago and anytime you do. 

With that being said, the past week has definitely been one of the best so far in 2019, as I celebrated an important personal milestone last week and then on Thursday myself and Black Ballad’s co-founder stood in front of a panel of five judges and £10,000 in a pitching competition. As I reflect on a week that has been full of both personal and professional highs, I started to think about why these good things - the money win, in particular, had happened. While some of you may know that I am a Christian and do believe God plays a huge part in my journey through life - I also believe in the fact that I compete with myself and myself only.