Carrie Baker – The Growth Collective

You may be new around here, or maybe you’re an old face looking in to see if I’m actually going to do anything… at all, with my pages.

Let me introduce myself, because I don’t think I have really done that yet!

As you already know, my name is Carrie. At the wonderful age of 41, I feel as though I have finally decided what I want to be when I grow up! I also feel like I am almost my fully formed self. Took me a while…

I am, at the heart of me, a writer, and a woman of many words.

Some things you will want to know about me; I am a person of faith, a very fortunate wife (no, I really am, he does the dishes every night!), I am a mum of 3 kids, aged 16, 10 and 8, they are amazing and I love them, but they can be hard work.

My day job is loving toddlers and their grownups, (including admin time) 4 days a week. It’s busy, noisy, fun, exhausting and takes up the majority of my time and energy – and is so completely worth it.

I am currently writing a book called ‘Let Joy In’. A book I needed to read back in 2020. I felt compelled to write it when I was told in various ways by God, that I needed to. I will be sharing some chapters as I finished them, I will be happy for feedback!

Do you know why it took me a while to get to this place in life, of almost having it all together?

Because somewhere along the way, I dug a deep hole and abandoned my dreams and talents into it’s depths. I listened to those around me speak of me in a way that tore me down, and after a while those words worked their way under my skin until I believed I was that way all along.

I carried the marks of those words on me for years.

Sometimes my buried hopes and dreams tried to raise themselves from the dead (so to speak), but then I’d see those marks on me, remember those painful words and shove them back down into the grave again.

Until one glorious day I made a choice. I didn’t want those marks to define what I could and couldn’t do anymore. I spoke new words over myself, rewriting those that had sat deeply under my skin for too long.

When those words were gone from me, leaving only a small scar on my heart, I dared to dig out those precious dreams again, brushing the dirt gently off them. They had changed over the years, but they were still mine, still me. I found they had somehow changed enough to fit with this version of myself.

I love to write because in some form or other, I always have. I write because I’ve learnt that words have power, and if write some good ones, maybe I can encourage someone or make a small impact on the world for the better. I write because I love stories and words, and the desire to get them out onto paper to see what they say, is sometimes like an itch, and I’m restless until I let them out.

I also write because my story is sadly a common one. Dreams packed away because no one believed in them, especially you. Because maybe for you, the words someone spoke over your life chipped away until it seemed there was no hope left for those beautiful dreams. But there is always hope…

I believe that we are all beautifully created, just as we are for a reason, for a purpose. I believe that each we are each given dreams, gifts and talents for us to use, to enjoy and to share them with the world around us, however that looks.

I believe in a creator who made all things, made you and me, and gave us precious things to bring us joy and a fulfilled life. By living an authentic life, being fully the person you were created to be, makes the world around you, a better place.

My dream, is to see others live life to their full potential, a life of purpose and joy.

I would love to help you live the life you are created for.

I hold out my hand to you as an invitation to come with me. Let help you, encourage you, and join you in the journey of stepping into your dream.

Will you come with me?

Sending you love dreamer,

Carrie xxx