Yo! Hope you’re all feeling great after the bank holiday weekend? It’s been a while (read forever) since I’ve graced these pages with my ramblings so I figure what better to get me back in the groove than a little 5 facts about me post…

5 FACTS ABOUT ME… HERE GOES!

ONE

I’ve been freelance since forever and sometimes have to laugh at how much it’s touted as the holy grail of careers right now. Honestly? It can be rough as all hell and it’s definitely not for everyone, no matter how much you want to be a hashtag entrepreneur. Not everyone is meant to work for themselves or run their own business and that’s more than ok. One is not better than the other, it all comes down to really knowing yourself, your traits and your appetite for risk. If you start to have a minor meltdown every time you get anywhere near to going into your overdraft, you’ll probably absolutely hate working for yourself. I have been both an absolutely useless self-employed person and now, thankfully, a relatively stable and successful one. It’s been a whole process though and I look at some of these 21-year-olds who are absolutely killing it, launching and running businesses left right and centre and I think… Wow, the only thing I was killing at 21 was my liver.

Damn. 

TWO

Growing up I loved being creative, I used to spend so much of my time reading or writing long elaborate stories. I used to stay up way after everyone had gone to sleep, drawing and designing my own ‘collections’ (which is jokes because now I couldn’t think of anything worse than working in the fashion industry). That or I’d feel the need for a totally new room layout (some things never change) so I’d start moving all my furniture around, sliding wardrobes as quietly as possible across carpeted floors… Most often falling asleep at around 2 or 3 am, halfway through the process… My mum would walk into absolute chaos in the morning.

Not at all like me to act without thinking or planning ahead. *cough*

Anyway, as tends to happen I sort of forgot about that freely creative side of myself and whilst I always had this vague, yet persistent, dream of having my own creative studio one day, for a long while, I couldn’t figure out how I would scratch that itch. Like, what would I be doing in this studio of mine? Well, here we are in 2019 and I have been slowly teaching myself how to use Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator… I’ve been designing websites for friends and offering advice and creative direction to anyone that’s asked and I’m loving it!! It’s to the point now where a good chunk of my income comes from branding and web design and I can actually see this being a viable business. It does feel like it’s taken me an excessively long time to get there but then, I never did do things the easy way. Any of you out there struggling to find your way, trust me on this, keep looking, keep learning and keep those dreams in mind, you’ll find your way back to them when you least expect it.

Mini-plug (sorry, it has to be done)… If you’re looking for any help or guidance with your brand or website then drop me a line at hello@studiobreaktheloop.co, I’d love to see how I can help you. For larger projects, I’m currently taking bookings for June onwards but I do have a few slots available throughout May for my ‘Creative Consultancy’ sessions. For £100 I will spend 1-hour brainstorming with you (via zoom). Expect honest advice, a fresh pair of eyes and lots of creative thinking to help develop some clarity and consistency, enabling you to move past overwhelm and into a clear vision for you and your brand.

Right, where were we…

THREE

I’m, generally speaking, a massive mash-up of contradictions. Hugely introverted but yet I can fully live up to my Aries star sign, the ram, I often speak before I think and can be quite loud. Occasionally even happy to be the centre of attention – I just need a few days of staring at a blank wall afterwards. I think my ability to switch, on command, comes from years of working as a model, being in front of the camera and on set for long hours, it’s a part of the job description to keep things fun and the energy high. Looking back it’s no wonder I (fairly spectacularly) crashed and burned after a few years. I generally don’t enjoy socialising in big groups at all and hate to fill my diary up too much or too far in advance which can be tricky given that Dan is a huge extrovert – the guy could spend 12 hours in a studio full of people and then still want to go out and socialise afterwards!

Any other introvert / extrovert pairings out there? Any tips on how you manage it argument free? Ha!

FOUR

I studied Dietetics at University as a mature student, I fought tooth and nail to get one of those coveted spots and then, at the beginning of my third year, I realised that actually, I didn’t want to work in a clinical setting, at all. I loved the clinical work but really disliked the environment. It was a tough decision to quit the course, made much easier by staring down the barrel of a long, unpaid, full-time placement that there was little to no chance of me being able to afford. It was 100% the right choice of course, I enjoyed flexing my mind while it lasted, filling it with new information, but I wasn’t meant to be a dietitian. Had I not made that slightly terrifying choice, I’d most likely be miserable right now. Don’t ever be afraid to do the right thing for you, especially when it comes to life and career.

Life is way too short and we spend too much of it working to be stuck in an industry that doesn’t make us happy. We each have a unique purpose in this world and it’s our job to find out what that is and then get on with it.

FIVE

I have an obsession with moving to America one day… Preferably when Trump is nowhere to be seen, obvs. It’s morphed over the years, mentally hopping from state to state but I currently have this vision of living in a relaxed beachfront house (a la Grace & Frankie) that I just can’t shake. This dream has been with me for a longggg time – since I was about 13! In fact, I almost moved to New York, about 8 years ago, maybe longer now (oosh!), I had my flight booked and everything… Then a friend persuaded me to go to Dubai instead and ever impulsive (and fairly easily led, back then), I booked another flight, set up meetings with an agent and that was the end of that.

Trust me when I say that I will make this dream happen, it’s just slightly more complicated now what with the house and general life commitments etc but where there’s a will there’s a way and did I mention I’m an Aries? 😉

I’d love to know a few facts about you guys but I’ve had to turn my comments off due to spam so let’s continue on the convo over on Instagram!?