Name Rachel Bridge Education University of Cambridge | Role Journalist | |
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Books My big idea, How I Made It: 40 Successf, You Can Do it Too: The 20 E, Starting a Home Business, The Great British Entrepren | ||
Rachel Bridge is a British journalist, author and public speaker. She is the former Enterprise editor for British newspaper, The Sunday Times, and now writes about small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs for The Telegraph. Bridge attended Wimbledon High School, London [1] and graduated from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge in 1989 with an MA (Hons) economics degree. She lives in London.
Contents
Journalism
Bridge's first job was with the Investors Chronicle magazine where she was employed as a companies reporter. She went on to become a business reporter for the Evening Standard.
In 1995, Bridge moved away from the UK to live in Sydney and became an Australian correspondent for The Times for three years. Afterwards, she moved to Bordeaux and became The Times' French correspondent for two years.
Upon her return to the UK in 2002, Bridge became the small business writer for the Mail on Sunday before joining The Sunday Times as Enterprise Editor in 2003. She now writes an opinion column about small business issues for The Sunday Telegraph and writes the Festival of Business page for small and medium sized businesses on The Telegraph website.
Published Works
Bridge's first book was published in 2004, shortly after her return to the UK. To date she has authored five published titles, the most recent of which was published in September 2012. Her sixth book, Ambition: Why it is good to want more and how to get it, will be published in March 2016 by Capstone.
Each of Bridge's publications includes interviews with successful people.
How I Made It: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Made Millions: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal All
How I Made It was Bridge's first title, published by Kogan Page in the UK in 2004.
The book is a collection of case studies taken from the rise and fall of 40 entrepreneurs who went on to make a fortune. The interviews featured in How I Made It: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Made Millions are a collection of those published in the Sunday Times.
How I Made It features interviews with Duncan Bannatyne from the BBC television series Dragons' Den, diet expert Rosemary Conley, Prue Leith and Julie Craymer, producer of Abba musical Mamma Mia! on stage and screen. The book was described by Sir Richard Branson as essential reading for every budding entrepreneur, claiming:
"[How I Made It] has perfectly summed up the passion, the commitment and the sheer excitement of being an entrepreneur and will help encourage many others to do the same."
You Can Do It Too: The 20 Essential Things Every Budding Entrepreneur Should Know
You Can Do It Too was published in April 2008 by Kogan Page.
In You Can Do It: The 20 Essential Things Every Budding Entrepreneur Should Know, Bridge goes on to collect the wisdom of several successful entrepreneurs in a bid to produce the 20 key elements that go into building businesses that work.
You Can Do It Too reached the Amazon best-selling list shortly after publication.
My Big Idea: 30 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Found Inspiration
My Big Idea was published in 2006 by Kogan Page.
Following a similar format to How I Made It, My Big Idea: 30 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Found Inspiration book explores the inspiration that guided successful entrepreneurs Bridge has interviewed.
My Big Idea also reached the Amazon best-selling list.
How to Make a Million Before Lunch
In August 2010, Bridge moved to Virgin Books to publish her next title.
Following the ideology, 'Take every shortcut you can... and get there fast', How to Make a Million Before Lunch explores the pitfalls to avoid in making a fortune quickly.
At the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Bridge performed a one woman show based on the publication.
How to Start a Business Without Any Money
How to Start a Business Without Any Money is Bridge's fifth title and was published by Virgin Books in 2012.
In this latest title, Bridge draws on the experience of successful entrepreneurs to demonstrate how to build a business without significant start-up funding. She also describes starting up her own micro online business, Entrepreneur Things (www.entrepreneurthings.com) selling mugs and bags, to prove it can be done.
Other
Bridge has also helped businessman and Dragons' Den judge Peter Jones write his book Tycoon.
Jones thanks Bridge for her involvement in the credits of the book.
She has also helped three other successful entrepreneurs write books, including Tim Roupell, founder of Daily Bread, whose book Bread and Butter was published in 2011.
Public Speaking
Bridge has ten years' of experience in public speaking, specifically about entrepreneurs and small businesses. She regular makes public appearances at conferences, hosts awards ceremonies, runs workshops and round tables and gives after-dinner speeches.
In August 2010 she took her one woman show How to Make a Million before Lunch to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it played to sell-out audiences at The Pleasance.