Thank you! It’s super to be here. Ok, here goes: in the world of work, I trained as a graphic designer (a few years ago now) at Northumbria University. I then spent 3 years working as a packaging designer in London before deciding it was time for an adventure. That’s when I packed my bags and moved to New Zealand! I spent 4 years over there and loved it! I travelled round almost all of the country including taking a convertible around the South Island and a camper van to the first place to see the sunrise in the world. I started writing for design magazines and I learnt to hula hoop!

Work wise, I clocked up another 2 years as a packaging designer before deciding it was time to branch out. That’s when I moved into a strategic role. It was during these 2 years that I discovered the wonderful world of design thinking and service design. I’ve always been really interested in psychology and getting inside people’s heads so this way of working immediately made me happy!

After a 3 month jaunt around South America, I am now back in the UK and excited to have found the lovely people at Snook. Other things that make me happy include: travel, sunshine, hiking, The Design Museum (old one while it’s still standing), jaffa cakes, swimming, watching Mad Men (only 2 left), making things, yellow VW camper vans, cosy cottages, cosy pubs and tea!

My time at Snook so far has been awesome, as the Kiwis would say! Although I had the opportunity to work on a couple of public sector projects in New Zealand, the bulk of my previous experience has been in the corporate world so the thing I have loved the most has been really ‘using my skills for good’. It feels like a whole new world to me and I’m very excited to be a part of it.

I was hired to work primarily on a DfE funded project, exploring how technology can support young people in care. This has been my focus over the last few weeks. The project is off to a great start and our first workshops with young people are due to kick off in the next few weeks. We’ll be working with young people between the ages of 12 and 21 to understand how they currently use technology and what the opportunities are in this space to help keep them safe, help them manage their emotions and behaviour and aid their communication. It’s a really exciting project that has great potential so I’m loving it.

I have also attended a couple of great events. My first day was spent at the Age of No Retirement event in Manchester and this week I popped along to the National Co-Production Conference in Scotland hosted by The Co-Production Network. Both events were very inspiring and what a great way to spend my first day at a new job!

Ooh so much! I’m looking forward to the official beginning of Snook London, acquiring a desk and a pot to put my sharpies in! I’m looking forward to our first workshops for the DfE project and seeing the opportunities emerge. I’m also very excited to be working with Portsmouth University and Affective State on this project as I know their technical wizardly will be marvellous. Lastly, I’m looking forward to spending more time with the wonderful team at Snook and working together to help make people’s lives more awesome!