Let's go back to the beginning

My story begins in school, I was a student who loved art, design, and textiles it was where I found my mind felt at ease. But at the same time, I wasn't the stereotypical creative student. I loved research, data, method work, and strategies - I just didn't know where those contradictory skills would land in the "world of work".

STEPPING INTO THE CREATIVE WORLD

I chose to study fashion at college and in hindsight I'm not sure how conscious that decision was. All I knew is that I was creative and that I didn't want to study A-Levels (it also didn't hurt that the college where I could study was by the sea).

I spent two years learning the process of design, from concept to product. This helped me understand the importance of research and exploration.

After 3 years at college, I applied for university and got into Kingston University.

It was at this point where I suffered with my first bout of bad mental health and I dropped out after 18 months. This was a pivotal moment for me because it was the first time I had to quit and it taught me that quitting is not failing, but a redirection to something else.

Redirecting into something new

I had 3 months off and In an attempt to feel "happy", I dedicated that time to figure out what really made me excited and passionate in life.

Weirdly, I went back to the idea of research, data, method work, and strategies.

I applied to study a buying and merchandising course at The Fashion Retail Academy - it seemed to strike the perfect balance between creative and strategy. From there I created a career in buying working for UK giants such as John Lewis.

But like everything in life, the buying industry wasn't as it seemed.

It was heavy on the admin and light on the pay lol.

I wanted a role where I could feel mentally challenged.

Redirecting, again.

So I moved onto a Product Management role, where I was overseeing the process of digital products being built. This was my first insight into the world of UX and UI. After a year, I again realised the role wasn't for me. I was getting bored and at this point, was realising that my strengths do not align with being the perfect employee.

Redirecting… again.

It was then that lockdown hit. So guess what I did… I quit my job again. I used this time to completely pivot and explore new terrain in my career. With my newly gained knowledge of the UX UI process, I started to design screens in Figma for apps that I had made up. I developed these into case studies and then published them as case studies.

I became obsessed.

At the same time, I was also becoming fascinated with the businesses being built during the pandemic and spending a lot of time on Twitter. One day, I saw a tweet from an editor at Business Insider who was looking for stories. I thought, "Well, I have stories but I'm not a writer", but I didn't have anything to lose so I wrote up an email and pitched him my idea "3 women who have turned their lockdown side hustles into businesses" and within a month my article was published. I then went on to publish a series of articles on lockdown businesses.

I was still working on my portfolio in the background and had reached out to a designer I had been following, James Frewin, and asked him to review my portfolio. Amazingly, he saw some potential in me and hired me as a freelancer to work with his agency, OCTOBER.

I've arrived.

Since then, I have worked as a freelance product designer working with start-up companies to design apps and websites.

My story isn't a story of success, but one of continuous discovery and failure and I appreciate companies that embrace that same approach. If you want to join me and work together, please shoot me an email and we can get going!