Marshall Cavendish Author Profile

Name: Jeremy Kourdi
DOB: 26 September 1964
Birthplace: London
First job: Lots of student jobs – working in a betting
shop, nursing, chopping wood at a hotel, gardening,
driving my grandfather’s dumper truck…
first job after university was a trainee accountant.
Current job: business writer and executive coach.
Home: anywhere the heart is. Currently that’s Kettering,
Northamptonshire.
Car: Toyota Prius.
Favourite book: Guns, Germs and Steel by
Jared Diamond.
Favourite film: I love films! Too many to choose from.
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ ‘Gallipoli’ ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and
‘The Dark Knight’ are all superb with lots of story, great acting and a point.
Favourite music: Currently a fan of Nouvelle Vague although singer/songwriters
are usually best e.g. Coldplay, Beatles or the Eagles.
Favourite gadget: I asked that question at home and the iPhone, Nespresso
coffee maker and digital radio all started arguing with each other.
Favourite website: BBC News
Best holiday: Driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles through Big Sur
with my daughter. Awesome.
Career highlight: working for The Economist Conferences and meeting
an unusually large number of Presidents and Prime Ministers – fascinating!
Also, introducing the new IMF representative in the Ukraine (an Australian)
to the Ukrainian Finance Minister. It was like a Monty Python sketch.
Career lowlight: not being paid for a piece of work I completed for a huge
corporation that was my biggest client. They liked the work, they just said
they didn’t want to pay. The invoice was for £ 1200 and I was outraged
– and powerless.
Normal working day: I work from my home/office 4 days each week,
in which case... get up, quick game of backgammon on the iPhone, get ready
then have ‘first breakfast’ with BBC TV news,
the BBC News website and the radio (I’m a news junkie!) before starting to
write, coach or email. Chat with my wife at 10am over coffee and second
breakfast. More writing or research from 11-1.30 then a salad (again, an excuse
for my wife to reappear). Telephone coaching or writing from 2-8. Realise
I’ve gone far too long without a meal so get cooking while listening to sport on
BBC radio 5, then crash out in front of the TV or a movie with supper at 9.
Sleep by 11.30.
Downtime: visiting Cambridge (how can one town have so many interesting places?),
visit the gym, cooking, reading (mostly current affairs or history, rarely fiction),
write children’s poetry, watch movies, see my nieces (aged 5 and 9).
Best piece of advice: it’s not what you know that matters, but how you react to
what you do not know.

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