Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Today, 21 June, marks the start of summer and halfway point through the year, and thanks to a close friend I have who lives in Ireland, Ive been doing some reflection on the year so far, how it has gone and what I want the rest of 2025 to look like.

So how has 2025 been for you all so far? For me, it can be summed up in one phrase, “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”

This year hasn’t exactly gone the way I hoped and thought it would go so far. It hasn’t been bad, just different, and I’ve had to respond and pivot/change accordingly. As someone who is #ActuallyAutistic, I absolutely HATE change, even when that change is a good thing, and there has been plenty of that this year along with all the uncertainty in the world.

I’ve summarised how my year has been so far along with some of my key achievements, and what I’ve got coming up next:

January

This month wasn’t too bad for me; I took part in the inaugural Worcestershire Tech Festival and spoke at an event at the end of the month about mental health in the tech and cyber security industry. Following my redundancy from Qualitest, I also sat down and had a think about what I wanted to do next. I had big plans for the following month onwards, and then….

February and March

…..I was hit with the WORST flu I’d ever had in my life, it absolutely floored me. In February I was appointed as an Ambassador to the Global Council for Responsible AI (I’ve now taken up the role of President of the UK Chapter), and I couldn’t go to the inauguration ceremony at the House of Lords because I was so ill. I also had to cancel a couple of other speaking engagements and events that I was supposed to be at, and I didn’t start feeling better until the end of March.

April

Having got #FluGate out of the way as I called it and finally feeling back on top of my game, I launched my first poetry book at Script Haven in Worcester on 3 April. Entitled “The Show Must Go On”, it is a collection of poems I’ve written over the years that focus on things that happened to me and my observations of life in general. I took the title of the book from my all-time favourite band Queen and Freddie Mercury, because despite everything that has happened to me in my life, and despite all the bullying, abuse and trauma I’ve endured, the show really must go on.

Some of you may not know that just as I was getting into the cyber security industry, I founded the Worcestershire Literary Festival in 2010. It was an incredible event which spanned 10 days and had over 150 events not just in Worcester but across the whole county of Worcestershire and was a HUGE success. I ran it again for the next few years, but I walked away from it in September 2013 when my unborn son was diagnosed in utero with numerous disabilities that meant I would need to be a full-time round the clock mother to him.

Sadly, he was born sleeping on 29 November 2013, from which I thought I would never recover, but instead of returning to the festival I launched a small charity to fundraise for the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in his memory called Frankie’s Legacy and threw myself into my career in the cyber security industry. The rest, as they say, is history, but I am considering a return to the literary scene with a new festival idea that I’ve got, so it is a case of watch this space.

I then spent the rest of this month catching up with myself and writing the first draft of a book I’ve been commissioned to write by Kogan Page Publishing entitled “Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Security: How Organisations Can Harness AI to Defend their Digital Frontiers”. The first draft isn’t due in until September, but I’ve already got a first draft of the whole book and I’m sending the chapters bit by bit to Kogan Page for review (ADHD hyperfocus comes in very handy sometimes).

I went to the National Cyber Security Show in Birmingham in early April, where I spoke to quite a few of my VERY trusted contacts there about my idea for a new entity that I want to launch later this year for the intersection of AI and cyber security. Everyone I spoke to there who are in my trusted network, without exception, said that I am 100% on to something with it and it is an entity that is desperately needed, so I know I am on the right lines with it and I’m excited to be getting it off the ground. I also spent the month working on landing my next opportunity that is suited to my skillset.

May

May got off to an amazing start when I found out that I had been awarded Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Information Security, I couldn’t believe it! I went through the assessment process in April, and it was a real eye opener to gather evidence and realise just how much I’ve done in the cyber security industry over the years. It was such an honour to be awarded Fellowship of CIISEC and add the letters FCIIS after my name.

On 3 May the inaugural BSides Birmingham (UK) took place, and what a great event it was! I enjoyed every second of it and it was amazing to meet up with Olga Zilberberg there, I could have chatted away to her for hours. Massive thanks and kudos to everyone involved, it was an absolute triumph and I’m already looking forward to next years event. Also this month I found out that I’ve been shortlisted in 3 categories for this year’s Women in Tech Excellence Awards and in 3 categories for the Women and Diversity in Channel Awards.

Then on 13 May #HubbyRuss got a new job in digital marketing which he started on 15 May, but there is one HUGE snag with it. His new employer does not allow remote working under ANY circumstances, so he is based in the office 5 days a week. I had to frantically sort my calendar out and change my plans for loads of things I had on that were in person. This meant cancelling some things I was really looking forward to, such as being at Infosecurity Europe in early June, as I need to be home to look after our elderly dog Poppy. #HubbyRuss has had to book holiday days with his new job for a handful of paid speaking engagements that I’m already committed to, which is stupid and annoying because there is NO reason whatsoever why he can’t do his job in Digital Marketing from home very occasionally. Anyway, more about this in a post that I’ll share soon.

I ended the month of May with the news that I’ve landed a new opportunity that I’ll be starting on 30 June which is absolutely perfect for me. Again, more on this to come later, but with that and the new entity that I am going to launch later this year the rest of 2025 looks like it is going to be a very positive and busy time for me, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

June – So Far

Having adjusted to my new normal of being at home to look after my Poppy while #HubbyRuss is at work in the office at his new job 5 days a week, I then landed my own new opportunity, however I’m waiting to hear if it can be fully remote/from home. It was advertised as such, but they now want someone who can go into the office every week, and as that is in London it wouldn’t be suitable for me regardless of having to be at home with Poppy.

I won’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t happen as I’m motoring on in the background with everything for the new entity I have in mind. I’ve also been trying to manage and regulate myself as much as possible during a heatwave that started around 14th June, so I lost quite a bit of time as I felt so hot and drained from the heat and humidity. I also had to clear my calendar of as much as possible during w/c 16th June onwards as my brain was complete mush from the heat and humidity. I’ve always struggled with hot weather throughout my life, and since going through the menopause my tolerance to it has got much worse. As I write this, it is Saturday 21 June and the heat and humidity is at its worst, but it is supposed to be getting cooler from tomorrow onward. Thank GOD for my trusty air conditioning units, in 2021 I invested in 2 of them – one for my bedroom and one for downstairs so my Poppy can be more comfortable – and they have been worth EVERY penny, I could NOT manage without them.

I’m in a journalling group chat on Facebook with my friend in Ireland, and she sent me the following summer solstice reflection task to do, here are the results:

Summer Solstice Blessing — A journaling Reflection

Today, the sun stands still — and so do we, just for a breath.

We meet the fire of the season with presence, gratitude, and grace. This Solstice, reflect on:

What has bloomed in me?

What has bloomed in me is a deep, unshakable sense of who I am and what I stand for. I’ve spent years battling to be seen, heard, and understood, often in spaces that weren’t made for people like me. But through it all, I’ve cultivated strength, clarity, and a voice that can’t be silenced. I’ve turned pain into purpose, using my experiences to advocate for others, to lead with integrity, and to carve out space where none existed. My resilience has bloomed into something powerful, and I no longer apologise for taking up space.

What still wants to be nurtured?

What still wants to be nurtured is my ability to rest in softness, especially toward myself. I’ve mastered survival, I’ve mastered fight, but I’m still learning how to fully receive love and joy in safety, due to being bullied and abused throughout my lifetime in every area of my life. There’s a part of me that still braces for rejection or criticism, even when I’m celebrated and that part of me needs compassion. I want to nurture trust in the idea that I don’t always have to be strong that healing can come through gentleness, not just resilience. I’m fed up of being told how resilient I am, I feel like I want to shout back at anyone who says this to me that I didn’t have ANY choice, that despite everything I’ve faced and despite all the bullying and abuse I’ve had to somehow find the strength every time to keep going in spite of it all.

What am I ready to burn away?

I’m ready to burn away the need for external validation and the remnants of shame that were never mine to carry. I’m done shrinking to make others comfortable or doubting my worth because of how others failed to see it. I’m ready to release the old stories, stories that told me I was too much, too sensitive and too different. They don’t belong to me anymore. I’m lighting a fire under everything that holds me back. What rises from the ashes will be fully, unapologetically me.

Let this practice be your offering to the sun.

A moving prayer of joy, strength, and intention.

Remember, goddess: You are the light. You are the heat. You are the wild bloom of the season.

Namaste 😊

2025 and Beyond

What has your 2025 been like so far? Have you smashed your goals, or have you had to pivot and change course? One thing I hope for the remainder of the year is that we see more stability and improvement in the marketplace when it comes to recruitment. For so many this year has been absolutely BRUTAL so far, and I very much hope it starts to get better.

As always, my inbox is open so if anyone reading this needs to talk or vent please reach out to me, I’m always happy to lend a listening ear, contact me via hello@cybergeekgirl.co.uk, and let’s go into the rest of 2025 with determination, grit and hope for a better future for us all.