My Story

Since an early age I’ve always had a love for art and design. I’d spend much of my childhood drawing, colouring, and building Lego for hours on end – with creativity being something that came naturally to me. I might not have fully understood it on a conscious level as a child, but the process of bringing something new and unique into the world always filled me with a great deal of accomplishment and satisfaction.

As I moved into my teenage years and joined secondary school my creative hobbies began to dwindle, and a new passion for sport started to develop. I became fascinated with health, fitness, and exercise physiology, and would spend my weekends watching football and playing for my local team.

Approaching the age of 18, I realised three things: 1. I’m not going to make it as a professional footballer, 2. teenage acne is relentless, and 3. I’m going to have to decide pretty soon what I want to do for a living. I didn’t have a specific career path in mind, but my studies were going well, and I made the decision to go to university to study Sports Science.

Following my graduation, it was finally time to kick-start my career, but in what? I still didn’t know. I was never too proud to admit that there were people better suited to a career in Sports Science than myself. So again, I started to consider what I was going to do for a living.  

Quickly I managed to secure my first full-time job with a FTSE 250 recruitment agency specialising in Finance & Accountancy. It was a steep learning curve – but before I knew it, I was a 22-year-old, who was uncertain of his own career, yet contacting Finance Directors and advising them on theirs. Recruitment is relentless, and I never experienced two days that were the same.  On any given day you could be meeting clients or candidates, negotiating salaries/contract rates, running interview sessions, or trying to finalise deals. As tough as it was, it allowed me to develop a valuable skillset.

As much as I appreciated developing these skills, I soon resigned myself to the fact recruitment wasn’t the career for me. I had a constant feeling that I was missing out on something better for myself; I started to reflect and think about what I enjoyed most. Asking yourself this question often takes you back to what you would do as a child, when you had no worries, and it was all about making the most of each day. How could I experience the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction I felt from being creative as a child? I was determined to get there.

It was time to start again. I knew I was creative, detail-orientated and possessed a healthy degree of perfectionism, however I was well aware these soft skills alone wouldn’t get me the all-important foot in the door. I began to learn the principles of design and study current trends, soaking up as much knowledge from experienced designers as I could. Then came one of the most important parts - building my portfolio… from scratch.

2020. A year that started with a sense of excitement and optimism. I was working towards the career I wanted, and this was going to be the year I’d get there. Less than three months later came the start of a global pandemic: a lockdown, furlough, and a hell of a lot of time spent at home.

With a portfolio steadily taking shape, it was time to tackle the final hurdle – my limited experience. Working in recruitment, business development and approaching prospective clients was a task I was all too familiar with.  However it was now time to market my own creative services and generate some part-time business.

Overall, 2020 and the pandemic proved to be an extremely difficult time for most, with very few avoiding loss, anxiety, or depression as a result. In July that year these experiences were felt close to home, with the sudden and unexpected passing of my Mum, and a subsequent redundancy only a matter of weeks after. Suddenly my risk-averse plan for a career change needed to accelerate – and it needed to happen during a time when motivation, inspiration and energy was hard to come by.  

Application after application was made, and the ‘thanks but no thanks’ emails arrived one after the other. Self-doubt crept in. I constantly questioned whether I was really capable of changing my career, and if I was even talented enough. What kept me going was an unshakable belief that every day I was working towards a career I’d love, and the further I threw myself in, the more my passion for design grew.

Then suddenly… it all fell into place. Following an incredibly difficult 2020, I was lucky enough to end the year on a high as I received a call from Kuehne+Nagel on the 23rd December offering me the opportunity to join them as a Graphic Designer.

Today I can say that I feel very grateful for the opportunity to pursue a career I can honestly say is a passion of mine. I feel proud I’ve made it possible to make a living doing something I love, and I owe it to myself and to anyone I complete work for to continually push myself to become better and give my all to every project.

My life has changed completely – I feel like a different person. No more ‘Sunday night dread’. Instead I wake up every morning feeling happy, excited, and motivated to continue to grow as a designer and as a person.