What do you do to relax?
I am very much a TV person (Friends specifically). On top of that I’m a huge WWE fan, and will spend hours on The Sims.
What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
There’s not one key piece of advice that I highlight as the best advice I’ve ever received, but my parents always encouraged me to believe that if there’s something I truly want to do, I can do it, I shouldn’t have to settle because it’s the safer, easier or in the short term the ‘better’ thing to do. You’ll thank yourself later.
What is your biggest challenge to date?
When I worked as a freelancer. As a recent graduate at the time it wasn’t easy finding consistent work. Getting my name out there was so important and I just didn’t have the experience to do that successfully at the time.. but it definitely gave me a sense of reality and made me pinpoint exactly what it was that I wanted to do, which was to work within a team, which lead me here so it all worked out eventually.
Who are your heroes, both in and out of business?
I don’t really have “heroes” per se. In the business there are aren’t specific people that I idolise or credit as key influences, for me my inspiration comes from everywhere, whether it’s a specific person’s work or just designs I see walking around town, but if I had to mentioned somebody I always love work by Risa Rodil. Outside of the business, the people around me are what influence me the most.
What made you want to work in the design industry?
Being creative has been at the forefront of my whole life, and ICT grew to be my strongest subject academically, along the way I started combining the two, and discovered that I loved creating work for people to enjoy, which nicely transitioned into what I do now.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
Getting this job! It’s my first full-time employment and it is the subject I actually studied at college and graduated in. It seems like a rare thing for people my age these days.
What is your key tool in any marketing campaign?
In 2015? Social media. One tiny misuse of it can destroy a campaign completely (there’s countless evidence), but when it’s used right and you’re able to successfully reach and connect with the public organically and get a message shared to thousands of people around the world, it can make such a positive effect on the business.
What is the best thing about social media?
Speaking of. The best thing is being connected to everybody in the world and being able to access that anywhere. It takes the same time to share something on Twitter with someone sitting next to you than it does to do the same with someone at the other side of the world. Pretty amazing. It also gives such a bigger outreach for smaller businesses to get their name out there which is always a great thing.
What is your favourite aspect of your job?
The sheer diversity of it. I could be coding one day, designing an infographic another. Creating a PowerPoint one day, working on a print job another. No two days are the same, and along with that, this industry is always evolving and new technology is constantly in development, so what I work on in a few years time could be completely different to the work I do today. It’s ever-changing.
Favourite quote….
“Welcome to the real world.. it sucks, you’re gonna love it” – Monica Geller