This is Me!

Gail McGowan

the beginning, the middle and the answer to your

'What Next?'

You are restless, looking for your 'What Next?'. That was me. So because we have this similarity, you have found your way to me at the cleveredge. I backed myself, took the step and am now watching you as you consider the same questions about how you want your future to look. And the future you are pondering could be as close as your next breath.

I stumbled across digital marketing and immediately knew this is the 'space' I have been looking for. I have learnt a lot. This is how everything unfolded.

As a child...

The heat of my small hometown, in the lower end of a beautiful valley, sometimes had my family dragging its mattresses outside to sleep on the open veranda floor, because the breeze drove away the mosquitos and gave us respite from the heat. On a lucky night we would hurriedly drag our mattresses back indoors as the heavens opened and a very welcome downpour quenched the garden’s thirst and allowed us to drift back to sleep with the sound of the rain beating down on our tin-roofed house.

The heart of this small mining town beat around family and friends, a busy school life, two public swimming pools, our bicycles and the freedom to roam as long as we were home by sunset. I participated in every sport and school play there was and years ahead of its time, we were taught coding and told programming would be the way of the future. And look now, we are working with AI!

One of my fondest memories is of a dance performance one evening in the town hall, where we brought Neil Diamond’s ‘Skybird’ to life. I don’t recall who dance teacher was, but thank you for that beautiful memory. I have that song humming in my mind now as I write.

Friday’s treat was a trip to the local cafe for a banana boat .. sliced banana, ice cream, cherries, nuts, fruit, chocolate sauce ... it was heavenly!

Our town was deemed too hot for a high school, so at age 13, we peeled away from our families to complete our schooling in a town two hours away. As a boarder returning home 3 times a year for the holidays, I was fortunate to spend five happy years with friends, getting up to good clean hostel fun, again enjoying all the sporting activities and school plays, until our final exams were done!

After school...

I honestly didn’t know what to do after school so my first qualification was a secretarial course which became my ticket to earning an income when travelling through Europe as a young adult. But I needed a career with variety and returned to full time study in public relations management, which after a few years of work experience, was also the doorway into lecturing in my field for several years. Before that I had worked at our city’s stock exchange where public speaking before audiences ranging from high schoolers to business men and women and tourists, gave me invaluable experience for later in life.

What is the wildest thing I have ever done? The famous fire walk, along a 7m fire pit! This was an incredibly uplifting and exciting week end. What did the coals feel like? Well, for me its was like walking along hot beach sand. No burns, no pain, no marks. Our minds are pretty powerful things.

My youngest daughter has talked me into doing a skydive with her this summer .... oh my word!

Family and returning to the work space ...

When my daughters were very young I left the corporate world to focus on being there for them but also helped in my husband's business. Needing additional stimulation though, I bought a beautiful mac and played around with graphic design and also marketed the Livescribe Smartpen which was everyone's answer to recording meetings and niftily sending playbacks and notes to clients or colleagues. After marketing that for a while though, it just wasn't hitting the mark.

The short story from there is that I stumbled into a temporary post at the school where my children had been, became permanent and have been there for almost thirteen happy years. My teacher friends are truly focussed on what is best for each child and in doing this, they have grown a truly caring culture.

But again, as happy as I am, once my children became independent, I found myself lifting my head once again to see what else I could do. I watched my friends retire ahead of me and just can't see myself accepting a retirement 'thank you' handshake one day and sitting at home after that. Hence my search for something else once again.

After searching and researching, I finally found a new space to 'be'.

After scrolling social media, I stumbled upon digital marketing. I purchased 4 courses in all, before finding where I am after being on the free webinar. I followed my instincts and bought their comprehensive courses covering course creation, SEO (search engine optimization), social media marketing and advertising, email campaigns, automations and everything else needed. I am using SEO for internet driven exposure to find and nurture business leads. My website is the result of the Captivation Hub training I took in design, copywriting and SEO and the years of experience in the public relations field.

I'll help you find your 'What Next?' through digital marketing

Knowing how I feel about having a 'What Next?', I’ll help you find yours and guide you towards success. Why digital marketing and not something else? Because this is such a versatile field.

You can sell or promote any physical or online product in any field from speech therapy to growing succulents to teaching sign language.

You can develop your own products, including writing and self-publishing that book you have always wanted to write ....... so these would be creating your own digital products/courses using a course creator tool, fleshing them out with all the value and depth they deserve and presenting them to your niche market, selling them at 100% profit.

Or find products you like and believe in and sell them as an affiliate marketer, creating an income through commission.

Or provide any number of marketing services to businesses.

I know all about self-doubt and how it can immobilise a person. I have been there. I overcame it by listening to podcasts and webinars and reading books about self development or motivation.

I have been interested in the power of your mind and similar topics for years. So the timing in beginning my own digital marketing business and having the confidence to forge ahead has been interesting.

I connect well with people wanting a business of their own, a space that reflects who and what they are.

I can guide you through the digital marketing maze and offer a wealth of resources to put you on the road to succeed.

If I can do it, you can!

Join me. Turn your interests into an income. Become your 'What Next?'