Down, But Not Out! Dodging Life's Punches

Reclaiming post-break-up life through boxing

All The Tw*ts I Met Along The Way by Carolyn Hobdey, published by Filament Publishing onBlue Monday - January 18 2021. Carolyn is available for media interviews, editorial commissions etc. Digital and paperback ARCs are available upon request.

A 47-year-old high-flying HR Director turned to boxing to help her through the biggest transformations in her lifetime: losing her home and her job, and the end of a toxic relationship. Over the past two years, Carolyn Hobdey has turned to exercise to help her rebuild her life and discover a new, happy, confident version of herself.

Carolyn, who is single and lives in Harrogate, spent decades climbing the corporate career ladder as a highly successful business leader in HR—she regularly smashed career goals—yet her personal life rivalled Bridget Jones'. There were love triangles, divorce (albeit amicable) following the discovery her husband of 15 years was gay, a car crash, and domestic abuse. Despite facing these challenges, she never thought to give up. Instead, she has transformed from believing she was ‘trouble' and that if she wasn't ‘nicer' she'd spend her days alone and unloved - to a bold, proud, successful and brave woman, starting her own business as a life mentor to help others managing personal or professional change (MayDey Ltd)... and she has boxing to thank for a lot of this transformation!

After Carolyn's world imploded in July 2018, when she lost her job, home and ‘ready-made' family, she went to a retreat. There, every morning, she was taught some basic boxing. She realised that the daily exercise and mindfulness afterwards made her feel great for the rest of the day.

"There was something about the boxing in particular that really clicked with me. Probably because it involves your mind as much as your body. So, I signed up with a boxing trainer and was hooked. It transformed my mind, my attitude, whilst toning my body. I took control of my diet much more to enable me to achieve my training goals and then applied the same attitude to other areas of my life. The transformation in me is not only physical, my confidence has gone up so, so much! I have a great social life, am happy, focussed, strong and totally back in control."

Carolyn now trains five days per week - a mixture of weights and boxing. "I cannot believe that at 47 I now have the body I am most proud of in my life. Or that I am confident in the gym and so driven by it. Even on the cold, wet, dark days when you least want to go, I come away feeling so great."

Lockdowns have been challenging, with gyms being closed. It has made Carolyn realise how much fitness helps her mental health and she disagrees with gyms being forced to closed at periods throughout the pandemic saying, "They are a lifeline to so many. At a time when people are struggling with weight-gain due to lockdowns and restrictions, and knowing that being overweight has a detrimental impact on our ability to fight coronavirus, gyms should be consistently open."

About the book
All The Tw*ts I Met Along The Way

What happens when you so deeply believe something you were told as a child that it becomes the driving force behind almost every thought, feeling and action for the rest of your life - until you decide to take complete control and change your life entirely? For decades, Carolyn Hobdey believed she was ‘trouble' and if she wasn't ‘nicer' she'd spend her days alone and unloved.

All The Tw*ts I Met Along The Waytells Carolyn's tales of crappy boyfriends, sickening sexual encounters, manipulative men, love triangles, unsupportive and unsupported medical diagnoses... and that's just in the first few pages. From porn-addicted boyfriends who go from fitties to owners of ‘dad bods,' to car crashes and boob jobs. Marriage to a lover who became more like a brother (and who came out as gay after their 15 year relationship) and later a relationship with a man and his ‘ready-made family' that exposes a damaging case of coercive control and narcissism. Carolyn's story exposes the unrelenting pull of the child-parent relationship - even in adulthood - and all the messiness, self-esteem issues and confusion that can cause. As she writes, "I didn't want to be the trouble-maker, the one to cause my parents concern, anymore."

"All The Tw*ts I Met Along The Way is Carolyn Hobdey's story that a million and one women are going to resonate with, laugh along with, sigh and cry with. It's a story of growing up, moving on, falling down and getting back up again. Transformation and acceptance, strength and resilience."

About the Author

Despite 20 years spent building a successful corporate career working for some of the world's largest employers, Carolyn Hobdey's personal life has been a mess. So she began to write about it. Carolyn's progressively more senior roles had earned her a seat at the boardroom table leading internationally recognisable brands where, whilst specialising in Human Resources, she was required to operate across all business disciplines. She supported her practical experience with a post-graduate qualification in HR at Leeds Metropolitan University, where she won the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (West Yorkshire) Student Award. Later followed a Masters in Lean Operations gained at Cardiff University where she was the first HR specialist in the 13 years of the course and became the winner of the inaugural Sir Julian Hodge Prize for Logistics, Operations & Manufacturing. Carolyn is now Founder and CEO of MayDey Ltd.

Potential talking points for interviews/commissions:

• The transformational power of exercise to help survive relationship breakdowns and life challenges.
• Heart-breaking news that having children was not an option for Carolyn, who was told at 32 that she'd already gone through menopause. The shift in identity that came from the news and a realisation that her menopausal symptoms had started as young as 24.
• Using career promotions as a distraction from personal relationship and health problems.
• Discovering after 15 years of marriage that her husband is gay.
• Enduring her most miserable Christmas in history - torn between the ‘safe' comfort zone of a marriage more akin to a sibling relationship, and a steamy love affair with the (as it turns out rather narcissistic) boss at work.
• The reality of living in a domestic abuse situation with a narcissistic man you believe you're incapable of leaving.
• The difference between the strong, confident, successful working woman and the peacekeeping, fearful woman at home, trying to maintain harmony in the face of a partner's frightening rages.
• Homeless and jobless in the space of a day: how Carolyn's friendships saved the day.
• Dealing with a boss bully: work turned from being the happy, harmonious refuge away from home to a place of dread.

ESSENTIAL DETAILS

Title:All The Tw*ts I Met Along The Way

Author:Carolyn Hobdey

Genre:Memoir, Self-Help, Women

Publisher:Filament Publishing

Publication date:Blue Monday - January 18 2021

Availability:Paperback, eBook

Price:PB £14.99

ISBN:978-1-913623-33-3

Page count:368

Press folder:bit.ly/ATTIMATW

Online profile:www.literallypr.com/public_relations/file/Carolyn-Hobdey.php

Connect online:

carolynhobdey.com

twitter.com/carolynhobdey

facebook.com/carolyn.hobdey

For more information, extracts, editorial opportunities, interview requests or review copies please get in touch withhelenlewis@literallypr.com