‘Ahead Of Her Time’: Tell-all

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‘Ahead Of Her Time’: Tell-all memoir of one revolutionary businesswoman

This inspiring read takes readers on a journey through Judy Piatkus’s life as she built her publishing empire while juggling motherhood and her career.

‘Ahead Of Her Time’: Tell-all

Image: Supplied

In a time where being a working mother and female entrepreneur was not the norm, Judy Piatkus broke through social boundaries and established herself as a powerful thinker, businesswoman, and a force to be reckoned with in the publishing world.

Within the pages of her memoir, Ahead Of Her Time: How A One-Woman Startup Became A Global Publishing Brand, Piatkus transports the reader back to the publishing scene of the 1980s and shares with the reader her inspiring story of professional success and her journey of self-discovery that has led her to where she is today.

‘Mind, body and spirit’ going mainstream

Covering a broad range of topics and chapters in her life, Piatkus invites the reader into her life as a entrepreneur and trailblazer, as well as diving into her life as a single mother of three children, one of whom has learning disabilities. She also recounts her experience of working in a male-dominated field and all the struggles she had to deal with as a result of this.

Through her determination and bravery, Piatkus gave rise to the cultural and professional perception of personal growth and mind, body and spirit development through her decision to publish and introduce books from this as yet unexplored genre into the mainstream market.

‘Simple yet completely enchanting’

This memoir is not just for people who know and like the publishing world. I knew very little about it before I picked up this memoir, but I had a vague interest in it. This book took me completely by surprise when I found myself engrossed in Piatkus’s life and her world of publishing.

It was impossible to put down and I flew through it, enjoying every page. Piatkus’s style is simple, yet entirely mesmerising. Her tone is casual and welcoming; it makes the reader feel as if Piatkus is telling you her life story over a cup of coffee in her living room.

The book leaves readers with a sense of wonder at this wonderfully powerful woman and all she has accomplished.

‘Ahead of her Time’: Memorable quotes

  • I was in [my parents’] eyes, fairly willful and in their quest for the “perfect daughter” they didn’t know how to respond to the freedom-loving rebel in me.
  • I believe that everyone does have a story inside them, a story that they want to tell, a story that is bursting to come out.
  • Sometimes I have thought that if I had been given £10 as an apology for every middle-aged man who has patronized me in my life, I would have been a multi-millionaire before I was in my forties.
  • I didn’t want to be seen by men as “other”, simply wanting to be treated as and regarded by them as equal. I didn’t need people to like me, but I did want to be respected for the quality of my work.
  • I believe that each of us comes into the world with unique talents and gifts, but not all of us have the opportunity to use them in the way we would ideally choose.

More about the author

  • Judy Piatkus founded her business, Piatkus Publishing, from the bedroom of her home in Loughton, Essex in 1979.
  • Piatkus Publishing soon became renowned for being pioneers in the area of personal growth, and throughout the 1980s as well as the 1990s, they explored a wide range of topics like reflexology, aromatherapy, tai chi, mindfulness and meditation, reincarnation, and other topics that were relatively unfamiliar in the United Kingdom’s book world at the time.
  • Judy Piatkus is regarded as a risk-taker within the publishing industry, one who is unafraid of trying new things and exploring new ideas.
  • After the establishment of her company, Piatkus studied for three years to qualify as a psychodynamic psychotherapist.
  • In 2011, Piatkus went on to create the global non-profit organisation called ConsciousCafé, which connects people around the world and hosts events that focus on conscious conversations, self-awareness and the exploration of new ideas and issues.

Ahead Of Her Time is published by Watkins Publishing. For more information about this book and where to purchase it, visit the author’s website.