How life-long adventurer and author Beth Kempton unlocked the key to freedom

The Southampton mum has worked for UN agencies, global brands and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), advising on corporate social responsibility, instigating projects that have raised more than $10 million for charity and earned a Masters degree in Japanese along the way. She has worked alongside celebrities and public figures including actors, athletes, musicians, world leaders – even royalty.

That was all before she founded her company Do What You Love, which offers online courses to help people find personal, professional and financial freedom.

But Beth has revealed how the success of her company coupled with life caring for two small daughters, Sienna and Maia, left her feeling trapped, missing that youthful feeling of freedom – the very opposite of what she was offering to others!

And this has inspired her to research and write her self-help book Freedom Seeker – Live More, Worry Less. Do What You Love which is published next week.on Tuesday, April 4 by Hay House UK.

The book draws on her own experiences from high spirited risk taker to wife and business owner. Its aim is to inspire those suffering from anxiety, depression, physical pain, exhaustion and feeling disconnected to liberate themselves and find joy and fulfilment in life.

Beth said: “The irony is my company was getting bigger all over the world; I’d had a baby and was pregnant with my second and was saying yes to everything and I felt trapped. So I had this big question about how do I get back to feeling free. I’m very grateful for my family – they are the greatest gift but how do you do that? It’s a modern conundrum – we go after things that make us happy but what’s missing is that feeling of freedom.”

Some 35 people were interviewed and feature in the book all with different stories but Beth’s story is the thread throughout.

It includes Beth’s transformational tools – ‘freedom keys’ which she says can unlock someone trapped in a metaphorical cage.

Beth was hard working and ambitious even as a child when she was set on being an accountant! She applied to do work experience at 11 (turned down on age!) and studied book keeping at night school aged 13! But at 17 the former Peter Simmonds student had a ‘Eureka’ moment: “I was a straight A-grade student heading for Cambridge University but then I did the Tall Ships Race from Weymouth to Spain across the Bay of Biscay. I was the youngest on board and it was kind of strange as I’d never even been abroad before. We went through a few days of storms and came through it to see a blue sky and dolphins dancing round the front of the boat and I had this massive ‘ah-ha’ moment. I just thought I don’t want to be an accountant; I don’t want to be stuck in an office.

“I wanted to feel like life is an adventure and said I can’t do Economics at university. I said I want to go on an adventure. I applied to Durham University to study Japanese. I’d never even studied a language before!”

In her first year she also worked on the university radio and newspaper. The second year was spent in Japan.

“I fell in love with the people and the culture and lived with a family who didn’t speak a word of English.”

Incredibly Beth was soon working as an interpreter for the Japanese government and, having done work experience for BBC Radio, she landed her own radio show in Japan too.

“I got recognised by a monk once coming out of his temple – it was crazy!”

Then in 2002 Beth went to Tokyo and worked on the FIFA World Cup.

“I was 23 and responsible for all the accommodation of all the teams. I was then asked to manage Libya’s bid to host the World Cup (even though it was never going to happen!). This was before all the problems. Colonel Gaddafi’s son ran it and I was working for him. We had bodyguards with us because there were no women’s toilets in the building!”

In 2003 Beth went to Bath to do her masters degree where she received a phone call from UNICEF in New York asking if she would like to work at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 for UNICEF. They were running a youth camp for future athletes and needed someone to organise it .

The job was managing the partnership between UNICEF and Manchester United.

“So at 28 I moved to Manchester and essentially my phone was full of footballers’ numbers. They were amazing and helped a lot. I brought Ryan Giggs and James Nesbitt on board as official ambassadors. I made videos with players talking about the issues involved, and I went on Man U’s private jet on tour in the summer to the Far East and South Africa. My job was about getting the players voices to influence their fans and also fund raising.”

On one trip Beth went to Thailand to meet children whose homes had been destroyed by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Beth was also involved in London’s winning bid for the 2012 Olympics and helped argue that they would use the Olympics to inspire children into sport all over the world. They succeeded in their aim to get 12 million children in 20 countries into sport by the time the torch was lit in London four years later.

After this Beth became involved in London’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018. As head of legacy development, she travelled to Zurich with David Beckham, Prince William and David Cameron.The highlight was “sitting next to Gary Lineker on the mini bus” along with a host of football legends. She was devastated when they went out in the first round.

“It was unbelievable – a massive stitch up that lost us millions. Everyone was so angry; I felt physically sick and I quit my job at UNICEF,” she says.

Now she concentrates on helping individuals through her online self-help courses. Husband Paul is “the backbone” of the company, managing the finance and team working across the UK and Spain.

It was during her five month maternity leave that she came up with the book proposal for Freedom Seeker.

She found her ‘dream publisher’ through a literary agent specialising in self-help books.

You can join Beth at her free book launch for Freedom Seeker on Wednesday, April 5, 7.30-9pm at Mettricks Guildhall.