Jackie:  mmmmmmah! Marina Gask-Ajani @marinagaskmedia is our lovely guest today – come join us any second now over on Twitter, just follow the hashtag…

Marina:  Ready and waiting – hope this won’t hurt!

Jackie:  LOL! No, it’s quite painless, promise! OK – let’s go! ‘Morning Marina, everyone – how r u today?

Marina:  Morning! Fine and dandy thanks

Jackie:  Excellent! To get us started, would u tell us something about your biz plse?

Marina:  I’m a journalist and press consultant, advising businesses on getting press coverage. I help them find their press USP basically

Jackie:  valuable stuff, so how does success look for u Marina – is it all about the £££

Marina:  Success is seeing my clients all over the press, knowing I’ve helped bring them to people’s attention in the first place

Jackie:  Which quality do u prefer to work with – maverick / entrepreneur?

Marina:  Maverick/entrepreneur? I genuinely like working with both

Jackie:  I know 1230TWC peeps have been glad of your expertise – when did u start to network & how has 1230TWC .

Jackie:  … how has 1230TWC been successful for u?

Marina:  I started networking in 2009. I met fantastic people at Bexley 1230TWC when I did a talk on business blogging – great contacts!

Jackie:  on the back of that, if u were to b one biz woman for a day, who would u b?

Marina:  I love Mary Portas @maryportas. She’s sassy, talks sense and knows her stuff. And great shoes

Jackie:  ah!!! the shoes! Do u have anything you’d like to promote with us?

Marina:  Doing a blogging masterclass at 1230 business school soon. I’ve taught journalism at Goldsmiths so I know the tricks of great copy

Jackie:  looking forward to that. Do u have a biz mistake u could share with us?

Marina:  Pricing too low to start with. You have to make your finances make sense if you’re self employed.

Jackie:  pricing – such a fine line… How do u spend your ideal Sunday?

Marina:  Watching my two sons’ football teams win, roast dinner, walk by the river

Jackie:  Gr8 to know! What’s to best piece of advice u can pass onto us?

Marina:  Play to your strengths but don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone occasionally

Jackie:  That’s good – we all need to be taking that onboard I’m sure. If u could live anywhere, where wld it be?

Marina:  New York. I turned down a job there once and I’ve always wondered if I did the right thing (I think I did)

Jackie:  ah well – think Edith Piaf! Non, je ne regrette rien

Marina:  One of my favourite songs (seriously!)

Jackie:  me too, such emotion…on your biz epitaph, what would it say?

Marina: “Her second career made her even happier than her first one”

Jackie:  Last Q coming up – I hope u’ve enjoyed & it wasn’t toooo painful! What’s the scariest thing u’ve ever done?

Marina:  Played the part of the good witch in a panto, edited a women’s magazine – both require nerves of steel and a good sense of humour!

Jackie:  Wow! to both – at least u were the good witch!

Jackie:  Perfect! Thnx so much Marina – *wave* to all, have a gr8 w/e

Marina:  *waves* – bye everyone – thanks for your hospitality

Marina:  Bye Jackie – thanks, it’s been fun

Jackie:  Look forward to seeing u all, same time, same place – thnx again

next 1203KISS with Susan Popoola @susanpopoola  10.30 am 21 March 2014