About Louise
Louise Atkinson is a passionate advocate of women supporting women, believing in the power of shared purpose and connection. She devotes much of her time to supporting and cultivating communities, creating safe spaces for women to be honest, vulnerable and real.
For the last two years, Louise has worked to harness the magic of these communities driven by one vision - every woman has an incredible story to tell. Stories that may seem commonplace and unremarkable on the surface; Louise has flipped the narrative to demonstrate that these every day stories are what make all women extraordinary.
Louise launched Project Sunlight in 2022 – working with women from all walks of life to tell their stories, in their own words. Project Sunlight was created to celebrate these women, support others in sharing their own stories, and serves as the inspiration behind Her Voice.
Louise has spent most of her professional life working in large, corporate, male dominated organisations and is currently a senior leader in the Defence industry. She regularly speaks at industry leading events and is a mentor to women inside and outside of work. She is proud mum of two, and lives with her family in Hampshire.
The story so far…
September 2022
(Un)inspired - the ultimate mansplainer
At a leadership conference, I eagerly anticipated a speaker on High Performance. I juggle long hours, two children, and exercise, feeling overwhelmed. However, the speaker's generic advice—prioritise effectively and know your circadian rhythms—felt irrelevant. My circadian rhythms are different every day of my cycle, because I am a woman. I looked around and realised everyone else, mostly men, was engaged, but his message didn't consider the unique challenges women face. So, I went looking for a female-centric approach to high performance. I started by reaching out to the remarkable women in my network—business leaders, doctors, and mothers—to uncover what drives them and how they thrive.
January 2023
Reading and talking, and writing a lot of nonsense
I’ve started doing a tonne of research into a female centric approach to life. I’ve read a couple of really interesting books - the first one was Invisible Women - exposing data bias in a world designed for men, by Caroline Criado Perez. I thought I was pretty well versed on this stuff, but it just blew my mind! I can’t believe this isn’t talked about more. How are some of these facts not part of our basic education? It’s also really depressing.
The other book I read which I loved was Doing Harm - the truth about how bad medicine and lazy science leave women dismissed, misdiagnosed and sick. From here I read a tonne of academic papers and was fully immersed in female biology and how little we understand it.
I started writing. Capturing the key takeaways and the things that were stuck in my mind. By complete chance at this time I met a women called Nia, who I had a great conversation with about her experience trying to get a diagnosis for Lupus which she had been suffering with for a couple of years.
I realised these things I was reading and learning about come to life in a different way through the power of storytelling.
March 2023
Turns out this is harder than I thought
I’ve started conducting interviews, and it’s quite challenging! I’m eager to explore the lives of women and learn how they succeed. However, I struggle with structuring the conversations to get valuable insights. Sometimes, I feel the dialogue is too one-way, especially with women who don’t know me, making me think about how to create a balanced exchange. To connect with more women, I’ve asked friends for introductions, which eases my nerves about ensuring good discussions. I’ve had a couple of enjoyable meetings with some brilliant women and recorded our conversations, but I’m unsure of the next steps. Despite this, I’m committed to continuing my research and writing, excited to see where this journey leads me!
August 2023
I’ve got a complete block. Am I crazy?
I’ve written an extensive amount, but I find myself thinking that most of it is rather rubbish. Recently, I have been diligently summarising the various things I’ve been reading and reflecting on what themes have been emerging from our conversations. However, I must admit that the interviews themselves are still proving to be quite challenging. At times, I truly feel like I’m flailing a bit in my efforts. What I really feel I need is a solid framework to hang all of these ideas and thoughts upon, but I am determined not to let it devolve into one of those eight-step self-help models that I find so distasteful! I certainly do not want it to transform into a feminist rant, yet the more stories I hear, the more anger and frustration I feel towards the world around us.
I’ve also been dedicating a considerable amount of time to it, writing during holidays when I should really be enjoying precious moments with the kids. Unfortunately, I’ve encountered a bit of a creative block that is hindering my progress.
September 2023
I’ve nailed it!
I did an interview with one of the amazing women on my list, and she showed me the way! We did it on Teams, and I took a transcript. This meant I could just listen to her, and I didn’t have to take notes or write anything down. I also mastered the interview technique…finally! Instead of asking questions, I simply asked one…tell me a story. Or rather…tell me something that has happened in your life that has taught you something, or shaped who you are, that you would like to share with other women. And then, I just listen. The transcripts always come back a bit garbled but I can pick through them and form the story. And it works!!
I also had to take a looooong flight to Canada via Washington, on a work trip. I was travelling for about 12 hours in total and worked on the book the whole time. I managed to get it into really good shape, the structure, the chapters, the key messages. I honestly don’t think I could have made this sort of progress without that dedicated slug of time all in one go. I’m excited now!
December 2023
Oh, the stories…
Now I’ve got the technique for gathering stories nailed, they are flowing! I’ve got 15 stories so far, and they are all beautiful. I can’t believe how easily they have gelled with the information and data gathering I have been doing alongside - the books and articles - it’s all coming together really coherently. I’ve also realised something really important - project sunlight isn’t about an approach, or giving advice, it’s just about the stories. They are enough. They are more than enough! I can imagine people reading the stories and really relating to them, and that giving them comfort or inspiration, or maybe something new to think about. That is what they have done for me. And now, finally, I can see this being a book. So I’ll keep going!
March 2024
Maybe I’m ready to dream
I have an impressive collection of 28 stories! These 28 chapters encompass nearly 70,000 words of carefully crafted writing. Each of the stories is thoughtfully built up with additional information and profound insight to enhance the reader's experience. Remarkably, it actually works! I find myself feeling prepared and eager to start exploring whether this might be something I could eventually get published.
But, I’ve just started a new job and I’m absolutely snowed under with responsibilities. I am truly adrift in a vast sea of self-doubt, paranoia, and absolute terror regarding the job I have taken on. At this moment, I don’t have any available headspace at all, yet I simply can’t resist the urge to keep taking stories! It is such a profound joy! In fact, I am discovering a remarkable sense of joy and escapism in Project Sunlight. However, the thought of getting published? It feels overwhelmingly daunting and intimidating.
May 2024
Which publishing route?
I have had a couple of insightful calls now with various literary agents, as well as engaging conversations with people who have successfully published their own books. It seems I have three distinct options to consider moving forward:
Traditional publishing can feel like a sacrifice. Your manuscript gets tossed into a “slush pile” where it’s reviewed by someone who might be an unpaid intern. If they like it, it moves on for a thorough review. Only about 1 in 6000 manuscripts succeed. If yours does, you lose creative control; the publisher can alter your book and take a significant portion of the royalties. This feels unfair. Project Sunlight was never about profit; it aimed to share stories with the world. However, traditional publishing increases the chances of your book appearing in stores, which was a key part of my dream.
Self-Publishing - I could hire an editor and freelancers to help turn my work into a book and publish it on Amazon. However, this feels empty; I need more support from someone experienced.
Hybrid Publishing allows me to receive editing help while maintaining my creative control. The downside is the cost, which could be a few thousand pounds, and my book won't automatically appear in bookstores; I must handle that. However, using a Hybrid publisher gives me an ISBN number to approach bookstores for stocking my book.
June 2024
I’m going Hybrid…and it feels like it was meant to be!
Somehow (I’m not sure I can even remember how) I was introduced to Sophie of provided a really incredible and personal story for Project Sunlight, and it turns out Sophie runs a PR company called Moja…and she is just about to branch out into publishing! So it would be a hybrid route. There’s something really beautiful about the fact that she is supporting my project, and I am supporting hers. Her business seems to be mainly women, too, so there’s just something that feels right about it. It’s costly, but it feels like the right route.
I’ve signed a contract with them, and now I need to get the manuscript finished. They’ve produced a timeline for me which says it will be complete in October / November time. So now I need to get on, and get it finished! I still have 2 or 3 more stories to collect…I’m going to have to stop at some point!!
September 2024
To launch or not to launch
It all feels a bit joyless. The editing process has been hard. It’s difficult reading feedback and comments from people on your work, and responding to challenging editing comments. None of it has been particularly negative, in fact, the Beta readers all said beautiful things about it. But getting into the details of every little word, it is a colon or a semi colon, it’s hard work.
The hardest part has been having to remove stories based on the feedback from the editor. I had to reduce the word count significantly, and it was so difficult choosing! But in the end I went with the advice from the editor in terms of how it all hands together and keeping it balanced. It’s been hard breaking it to the amazing women who shared their stories with me that they’ve been edited out. I feel so ungrateful.
And I can’t decide whether to do a launch event or not. It’s a LOT more cost. Trying to get a venue in London to host it for less than 10k is almost impossible! I was hoping people , especially women, might be inclined to give me some discount or help support me, but no! I have found a venue I love, and I really always dreamed of bringing together all the amazing women I have met through Project Sunlight. But again, the voices are loud - that I’m totally getting myself at it. Who would come?!
But I’ve booked it. Full of fear and self-doubt.
On the plus side - I have chosen a cover design and I LOVE it!!