Since leaving BGS, I moved to Leeds where I undertook a foundation course at Leeds College of Art and was able to explore a plethora of design and art practices. It was there that I found my love for Graphic Design and I immediately knew this was the career I wanted to pursue after completing my foundation course. For University, I landed myself a place at Northumbria University in Newcastle, at the time one of the top 5 design courses in the UK. It was here where I spent 3 years honing my design thinking and skills before making the move down to London to look for my first job. I spent my fair share of couch surfing and sleeping on wooden floors trying to secure a role from interning!

I eventually landed a job in design and since then, I have spent the past 10 years working both in-house and within design agencies working with some of the worlds most recognisable brands such as Pepsi, Ferrero, Gatorade, Poppi and 7Up to name a few. In November this year, I will be embarking on my freelance journey and setting up my own design agency with the aim to continue to work with some of the biggest brands in the world.

Who/what influenced your career choice, were there any particular teachers at Bury Grammar School that shaped your choice?

I've always had a passion and gravitated towards creative practices as a whole from a young age. In my teenage years, I would find myself infatuated and drawn to design Youtube tutorials in my spare time. I found a free download of Photoshop and started trying to emulate and create work from the tutorials and fell in love with design ever since.

Mr Burns was always somebody who believed in my creativity and saw that I had a passion and skill for art and design and pushed me towards pursuing it further as a GCSE and eventually at A-Level and I haven't looked back since.

What do you like most about your job?

The freedom to create and see the work that you have worked on for months, or even sometimes over a year make its way into the world. I don't ever think that feeling will ever get old. Seeing my work on social media and having it positively received is always nice as well.

Which skills do you consider to be essential for your job?

Having a strong knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite is a must (Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign) but I would say fundamentally, the most important skill of all is your conceptual ideas behind the work you're creating and how you can link this back to the brand and its consumers in a meaningful way. 

What is the biggest challenge that you have encountered in your current role?

A big challenge of mine when I first joined PepsiCo 5 years ago was imposter syndrome, which I'm definitely not alone in and seems to be pretty common within the design world. I was joining a huge company and a lot of my peers were coming from some of the best design agencies in the world and it took a couple of months to recognise my own self worth and to feel that I deserved to be there.

How did Bury Grammar School help you to be successful in your chosen career?

BGS gave me the ability to be curious and to follow my passions and help carve my own path and finding what inspired me. 

What career advice would you give to our current pupils?

Work hard. Don't be afraid to fail and take risks. Be authentically yourself. Find out what you truly enjoy and gravitate towards and try to make that your career. 

When you look back at your time at BGS, what are some of your fondest memories?

Sports days and house football were always a tasty affair and always very competitive, big up Derby. I think above all, my fondest memories are the friends I made along the way and some I still keep in contact with today and consider my best mates. Shoutout to the Fantastic Five.