Hello and welcome to my teeny tiny island on the internet.
If you’re up for an adventure you’ve landed on the right beach! All brave souls are welcome here. If you aspire to live your life in technicolour, and are inspired by things to bring you joy, then tie up your reading shoes and let’s go exploring. Or better still, take them off, bury your toes in the sand, and grab a glass of something ice cold with a salty snack (because every sundowner needs a canapé right?).
I’m Jessica Hepburn – an author, arts producer and adventure activist. There are a few more details about me below but for the full low down check out my website – www.jessicahepburn.com. Or otherwise, just subscribe, and we’ll stroll through it slowly.
There are two subscription options - ‘free’ or ‘paid’. All my subscribers get my FREE monthly newsletter - ‘Adventures in a (Mainly) Wonderful World’. But if you like the view you might want to consider going ‘paid’ and becoming a member of my ‘Big and Brave Family’.
To pay or not to pay – that is the question!
I deliberated long and hard about the paid vs. non paid thing on Substack. I’ve never been motivated by money – even though we all need to eat. But I do agree with many of the creators on here who have built much bigger internet islands than me that writers should get paid for their words. I also think that it gives you a choice about how much you want to hear from me and how involved you want to be in my work.
Paid subscribers (aka my ‘Big and Brave Family’) hear from me weekly – in your inbox or the app. It’s £5 a month (£50 annually) – the cost of buying me a weekly coffee and a doughnut (well maybe a bite of a doughnut given the price of them where I live). Free subscribers receive a monthly email with a round up of news. And there’s also a Founder Membership for the flush and fabulous amongst you. Please feel zero obligation to sign up as a paid subscriber though – even if you like me a lot. Cash is short / lives are busy. I get it!
Some More About Me
I spent most of my career working in the theatre (that’s the arts producing part of my job). For a decade in my thirties, I was CEO of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in London. But all the time I was doing that I also had a secret life – on a desperate mission to become a mother going through multiple miscarriages and round after round of unsuccessful IVF. Then, in my early forties, I broke up with my partner which heaped loss upon loss.
But…
I needed to do something completely different. I’ve always been the most unlikely athlete (I was the arty, not the sporty one in school) but I started undertaking massive physical and mental endurance challenges to heal my heartbreak. I swam the English Channel. I ran the London Marathon. And in 2022 (in my early fifties which frankly made it extra tough) I summitted Mount Everest. In fact, I have become the first woman in the world to do all three of these things - ‘The Sea Street Summit Challenge’. (Although there was a lot of shit involved in that too as I broke my leg in the Death Zone…). Nevertheless, these challenges changed my life for the better, along with another adventure I’ve undertaken which I felt much more suited to and adored – listening to every episode of my favourite radio programme turned podcast – Desert Island Discs. It’s one of the UK’s longest running and most loved BBC programmes and at over 3000 episodes was an Everest of listening. Anyway, the point is, all this has made me into an activist for the transformational power of adventure. And has inspired my personal hashtags: #livebigandbrave #yourshitisyoursuperpower
My life has also become the basis of my three books: The Pursuit of Motherhood, 21 Miles & Save Me from the Waves. I see them all as adventure stories - with a difference. You can order the latest from your preferred bookseller here. The true story of how I went from unlikely athlete to record breaker - set to a soundtrack of unforgettable songs.
Explore and Enjoy
So welcome to my island of art and adventure, music and mountains, sea and sunshine where the words are merry, and the colours are bright, and there are regular beach barbecues because food and booze is my unadulterated joy!
And ps. I love a message in a bottle – so do message me. I’ll always respond – even if it takes me a little time.
