I started designing websites and forum templates at the age of 13. These were mainly for fansites at the time. From there, I learnt basic coding and web formatting.

Starting my professional career, there was not much room for me to include my design skills within the roles I was given. So naturally, I started making promotional posters for the local music scene, band logos and merchandising design - all for free!

I also started providing work on Fiverr for much of the above including web design. However, I found myself ringtied to Customer Servive roles professionally, where my only outreach to include design was within seasonal events.

I continued to provide illustration commissions in my free time and earn some money from that, as well as still being able to express myself artistically. I started a Customer Service based role for a Digital Banking company. Here, they let me work with the main designer and create some new icons and branding for their social media posts. From here, I was able to create a strong portfolio and with the addition of my freelance work, I was contacted by a marketing agency and offered a Designer job.

From there I was able to learn from the head designer until he resigned. I was then appointed lead designer. I lead client meetings, discussed and created identity briefs and managed marketing for them. Some clients only wanted a simple logo, or identity brief. Others wanted a two year posting schedule and regular daily graphics for social media.

The business was then sold on and I have since started working for a Medcomms company, which has been very inspiring! As a Creative Operations Executive, I have had to manage freelance designers, schedule jobs for multiple areas of the business and watch designs come to fruition.

However, it has made me miss designing and concepting work myself. It's hard to be in a position where you have so many skills you can offer, but you are limited within your role. I continue creating branding and websites everyday, as I have always refused to let something I am good at go to waste. I utilise any lessons I can learn from different people in different positions and will always push myself to evolve.