Bad Song Lyrics, Emotional Fathers and a Turning Point in Peru
My story has a beginning but it doesn’t have an end.
Like the choose-your-own-adventure books I enjoyed as a kid, it’s always been more about the journey than the destination.
According to my mum, I always liked to write. It started with bad song lyrics. It evolved through diaries, blogs and best man’s speeches. For a while, it took an academic turn and produced articles, papers and a full-blown PhD.
I’ve always written to engage, convince and persuade people of something. And most of my professional writing has been done as a communications and marketing specialist.
Before all that though, I was an enthusiastic – albeit tragically unsuccessful – keyboard player in various 1990s bands. I soon switched creative industries to advertising. Over ten years, I led accounts including BT, IKEA and Waterstones at London agencies such as St Luke’s and Rainey Kelly/Y&R. Eventually, I became Joint Managing Director of Manchester agency LOVE.
Those experiences gave me the skills to think strategically and creatively about marketing. They taught me how agencies work and the fundamental importance of good client service.
But they also taught me that the corporate world didn’t always reflect my values. And that I’d reached a point where I needed a change.
First, I went client-side as Acting Head of Marketing for BBC iPlayer. Then, following a couple of months of volunteering for CREES, observing blue-headed macaws in eastern Peru, I started working with non-profits. I became Head of Marketing for blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, then eye care development NGO Orbis International.
These things were more up my street. But I discovered an intellectual itch I needed to scratch.
“I learned how agencies work, how to think strategically and creatively about marketing, and about the fundamental importance of good client service.”
During a partial career break, I completed an MA at Sussex and PhD in Contemporary History at Cambridge. My thesis was about the emotional lives of fathers and sons in post-war Britain, and I’m still working on turning it into a book.
At Cambridge (where I now live), I was lucky enough to learn about research, critical thinking, teaching and making an argument from some of the biggest and brightest minds around. I also became interested in storytelling and how the best history is a well-told story.
I continued to consult and write in the charity sector while studying and lecturing. And I began to think about storytelling for social good.
When the first lockdown hit, a colleague asked me to lead the messaging and communications strategy for Glam Up & Give, a 20 country-wide social fundraising campaign to support more than 200 charities on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was lucky enough to learn about research, critical thinking, storytelling and making an argument from some of the best minds around.”
From there, I didn’t look back. I’ve worked full-time with purpose-led creative agencies and clients as a Writer, Brand Storyteller and Consultant ever since. I’ve told stories for clients including the NSPCC, Scope, Cancer Research UK, the WWF and the UN Environment Programme.
In 2023, I launched my brand and the website you’re reading now.
I still don’t know exactly where all this is heading.
But I’ve never enjoyed the journey more.
