I am so fortunate to know so many incredible women from so many walks of life.

Some of you are businesswomen, running your own companies and building your own empires, and I’m so proud to be one of you. We are changing the face of our industries, and I can’t wait to see what we’ve all achieved in a few years time.

Some of you are building your careers – and are going to go on to do some amazing things, and I’m so excited to see what you achieve. Some of you are still figuring things out – but you don’t need me to tell you that’s fine, because at some point things will fall into place.

All of you are amazing in your own way, and you all inspire me so much. I’ve known some of you for decades, others for just a few weeks or months – but you have all impacted my life in one way or another.

I’ve known some of you for up to 20 years, and I can’t believe how much we’ve grown and how much we’ve learnt in that time. I may have drifted from a lot of you, but you’re still in the back of my mind, popping up every so often as I wonder what you’re up to. I’ve known some of you for a far shorter time, but I hope that in 20 years time I can say the same about you all. I’m sure I will.

Above all though, I want to say thank you.  Thank you for the years of conversations and coffees, the shopping trips and the cinema trips. For talking endlessly about what we’re going to do with our lives – where we’ll work, where we’ll live, who we’ll be with. Thank you for the shoulders to cry on when life gets tough, or when I’ve been heartbroken. Thank you for inspiring me to be the best I can be, and to care less about people who have cared less about me. I really hope I’ve been as good a friend to you all as you’ve been to me.

So  – here’s to laughing and crying, and laughing until we cry. Here’s to holidays and day trips and coffees and cake. To heartbreaks and dating woes and anecdotes of the most ridiculous situations you could possibly imagine. Here’s to falling in love, starting new jobs, moving to new cities and everything else that we’ve shared and have yet to share.

Here’s to friendships that have lasted 20 years, and friendships that have only just begun. Now, let’s go out into the world and be as badass as I know we can all be.

All my love,

Lizzi  xxx