'This is your Everest' - the ultimate motivational sports talk, Jim Telfer 1997 in South Africa

At the age of 54 yrs having spent years & years pleasing everyone but me (and by that I mean EVERYONE - bosses, parents, wider family, my ego, society and my bank account) the decision suddenly became so easy to make - WORK FOR MYSELF!! 'Why don't you set up on your own?' is a question I was asked so many times - I guess there was the fear of the unknown, scarring from prior experiences and the pressure of day to day things such as bills and lifestyle.

Anyway I've done it and for sure there is only one way to move forward and that is with unadulterated purpose and enthusiasm. Those that know me are well aware of these behaviours in me - detail is not always my thing but exuding energy, passion, vision and good judgement are some things my parents brought me up with. I am sure someone once said this about me: 'I won't dwell on Mike's academic achievements because nor did he. He is more about raw talent than tuition'. A fair summary but there remains plenty of emotional intelligence, diligence and positivity which will hopefully take me a long way on this next journey.

So here we go, Thorpe & Partners is underway and I still possess the determination to make this the best venture yet. There is no re-inventing the wheel here, simply building a relationship driven business in the way it should be driven - with passion, with honesty, with care and with people at the forefront of everything we do. Recruitment is not rocket science, the execution of it is often more complex than the business world may recognise but with the benefit of 27 years behind me I am blessed with relationships with some of the most impressive people in the technology leadership community.

I have already had the most generous and heart warming messages of encouragement from all walks of my life including some incredible work from @MikeCook who has allowed me to go from an idea, to registering the business, to bank account to website launch in 3 weeks flat. He has always been an inspiration and excellent advisor and this has been a very exciting few weeks!

Please do support us where you can. The website is www.thorpeandpartners.com - if you're a leader in any part of the technology world please get in touch. We'd like to work with you.