What I DoHello. My name is Cheryl Rickman.
I’m an author, ghostwriter and positive psychology practitioner.
I write books to help people fret less and flourish more and I help bring out the book in wellbeing experts, TV/sports personalities and business leaders who don't have the time to write their own manuscript.
Three Lionesses: Find your team, build self-belief and embrace your inner Lioness is out now!
Writing BooksI knew when I was about eight years old that I wanted to a) help people and b) write books. So I sometimes pinch myself as I realise that I get to write helpful how-to books. Yay!
I've written 13 of my own books, including, You Can Flourish, Tree Glee, You Are Enough, Navigating Loneliness, which has a Foreword by Terry Waite, The Happiness Bible, and a best-selling business start-up guide with a Foreword by Dame Anita Roddick.
I've also written a how-to book on digital business, a a colouring-book for grown-ups, The Flourish Colouring Book, and an empowering gender-stereotype busting children's book, called YES YOU CAN!
Other recent books include: Be More Wonder Woman, The Little Book of Serenity and The Little Book of Resilience.
Tree Glee - How and why trees make us feel better, was published in October 2022. and kindly endorsed by Dr Jane Goodall and Dame Joanna Lumley. You can find out more over at TreeGlee.co.uk.
And, a decade after my first self-help book was self-published, I've written a brand-new version called YOU CAN FLOURISH, a workbook to help you thrive. Published by Vie (Summersdale) in February 2023.
I'm also super-excited to announce that I've been working with three inspirational England Lionesses - ELLA TOONE, GEORGIA STANWAY and NIKITA PARRIS on a book called THREE LIONESSES: Find your team, build self-belief and embrace your inner Lioness (available to pre-order now).
After 18 years as an author and ghostwriter of business and self-help books, I now focus on writing books which help people fret less and flourish more.
I’ve ghostwritten a total of 13 books over the past decade, taking my total tally to 26 books. I've ghostwritten for TV personalities, business leaders, psychotherapists and more.
I’ve been a professional writer for 17 years and self-employed for 21.
During those years, I have worked alongside leaders in their field, interviewed hundreds of popstars and business personalities and had work published in The Huffington Post, Better Business and Psychologies Magazine, among others. I am also an Ambassador for The Network of Wellbeing and had a Lifestyle column in The Daily Echo for a couple of years.
They have also written about my various shenanigans, including my recent #43ActsofKindness. (which is jolly nice of them).
FlourishingAs well as writing, I run an annual weekend workshop on how to flourish in life and be more positive, resilient and authentic. Then there's The Flourishers Facebook group that I run. Some might say I’m a kind of "Optimism and Resilience Teacher".I qualified with a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) in January 2017, so have added a "Positive Psychology Practitioner" string to my bow.
Yes You Can Climb Trees and Play Football!
I also created some characters called the Climbing Trees girls (see below) who have their own mission: to help children to see past gender-stereotypes and be proud to be all that they are.
Yes You Can!YES YOU CAN! is a children's storybook in which the Climbing Trees Girls have been brought to life. I wrote the book (inspired by my football-mad daughter) to challenge gender stereotypes and help children to see past them, show kids that all toys, colours and hobbies are for everyone and encourage them to be proud to be all that they are. In order to get the book published, we launched a Kickstarter (crowdfunding) campaign so we could hire the illustrator and editor and pay for the book to be printed and shipped. I'm thrilled to say, the Kickstarter campaign was a huge success and was funded 10 days before the campaign ended. Check out the campaign video here: http://kck.st/2pUPIDk
The book is now available on Amazon here.
- Shop
For books I've ghostwritten or collaborated on, visit www.writer.uk.com
You can buy the books I've written under my own name on Amazon worldwide - click the book covers below to buy or, if you'd prefer to buy via your favourite independent bookshop online -
visit my Bookshop.org bookshop here.
Intro
Intro
Absolutely all that I do is about helping people to FLOURISH in their life, in business and in childhood; to create new empowering habits.
To blossom from seedling to spruce.
To nourish the roots of positivity and sow seeds of hope.
To adapt to change in a resilient way like trees to seasons.
To attract abundance and wellness like sweet blossom attracting bees.
To fertilise and ripen fruitful dreams.
- Because this really is our one and only ACTUAL LIFE. Happening right NOW!
If I can help just one person feel less “hmpf” and more “yay”; less pessimistic and more appreciative; less hard on themselves and more proud of themselves… then I will feel like I’ve served my purpose and done what I am here to do; to enable flourishing so people can do what they love, love what they do, and better connect with others and the natural world, to live their best possible life.
Because life is short and precious and wonderful.I want to live in a RESILIENT world where we are better equipped to deal with stress, cope with hardships and make the most of whatever life throws at us, even the heart-wrenching hard stuff.
I want to live in an ACCEPTING world where we have the choice and freedom to be our true whole authentic selves instead of feeling forced to conform to limited definitions which restrict our ability to shine with confidence and flourish.
So that is what I aim to do through the words on the pages of my books and the guidance at my annual workshops. If you’d like to hire me to ghostwrite your book, want to learn how to flourish in life or help your children to do so, please drop me a line here.
A bit more about me...I was born in Southampton 48 years ago, spent 12 years living in a tiny village and currently live in a country cottage in the Hampshire countryside, surrounded by fields and trees. I LOVE trees, friendship and fiorentina pizza. I love stretching out on the sofa with a good book and stretching my legs on daily gratitude walks. I once fell off the stage into the band. I love to read, learn and grow. I also (obvs) adore my daughter, who is my complete and utter sunshine.
It's been a rollercoaster ride of journey so far.
Thank you for popping along to my little web home.
Mum once said, 'I may not be able to walk, but I can watch you grow.'
I realised then that how you chose to SEE life and REACT to what is thrown your way really matters in how you get through life and what you get out of it.
Simultaneously I knew from the first time I read Charlie and The Chocolate Factory under our Indian Bean Tree that I wanted to write and that I wanted to work from my home and garden.
Writing from home became my ambition and, today, it is my complete and utter passion (along with reading).
The Journey To FlourishingI decided to study positive psychology – the study of optimal human flourishing.
I wanted to write a book that carved the core pillars of well-being into an easy to read practical guide that could equip people with strategies and habits, whilst taking them on a journey to flourishing step-by-step, month-by-month.
I was drawn to this topic because I had witnessed first hand how different approaches to life can have a huge impact on how we live it and what we get out of it. Life that is.
DadDespite his love for music and his awe-inspiring gardening, dad found living a strain. He had always found life tough, from childhood until about 8 years ago when he finally found the job of his dreams, dancing on cruise ships. That was when he started to really LIVE his life, finally.
Unlike my disabled yet smiley-faced mum, my able-bodied yet depressed dad struggled with life and with her disability. Mum and dad were polar opposites – my mum was confident and positive, my dad shy and depressed.
That said, dad was one of the nicest and funniest men you'd ever meet.
But also, behind closed doors, one of the saddest.
...To help people to make the most of their one precious life.Not to participate actively in the role of victim and waste the life they had, but to "celebrate everything until further notice" and, if dealt a particularly rough hand, to somehow find the strength and support to navigate through, bounce back, find the learning within it; to seek out the silver lining somehow and get on with living, against the odds. I knew that was possible.
The business of livingFlourish was born and I decided to evolve my ghostwriting business from writing about how to make a business flourish to writing about how to flourish in actual proper LIFE.
Now, as well as penning business books that enable businesses (and thus the economy) to flourish, I also write about resilience and positivity, about gratitude and grace, about purpose and connection.
I recently collaborated on a colouring book too :-)
Writing books which help people to cope with and cherish life is my passion.
This is what I completely LOVE to do.I also take a bunch of 40 women on a Flourish Seaside Weekender every year.
It's empowering to get away from it all - and it's rewarding to see like-minded-ladies being themselves, enjoying themselves, giving themselves a break.
A healthy dose of refreshing self-careMostly mums, this group of women have something in common; they often put everyone else first. Self-care takes a back seat while they care for others. This weekender gives them a chance to grab a well-earned high-dosage of self-care before they return to their lives; ones which are dominated by wanting the best for their children.
