I was just a video game nerd in the 2000s that started making my own minigames. I did it for fun. Then years later I got into public speaking and wrote a book about something completely different. Now I just started making some mini programs/products that people can subscribe to off the back of the coaching I have done on and off over the last 4/5 years.

When I first finished uni, I wanted to get into publishing but a saturated market, lack of experience, and a foreboding financial crash mean that there wasn’t the opportunities available at the time and I got into marketing instead. I wanted to keep connected to my writing community though, and that’s where side-hustles came in from running my own workshops to supporting community based companies to run their events programmes. Despite trying just to have a 9-5 for a while, having multiple focuses has always worked better for me, and now I realise that the learning facilitation part of my portfolio is as important as the content creation and marketing.

What made me start was a curiosity about overlapping sectors and how my experience, knowledge and network could contribute in other areas.

Public policy formation —-> Housing Policy ——> Speaking gigs and delivering training in Housing events —–> Advisory positions advising on the Sector —–>

My Portfolio Career is exciting, the next opportunities are unknown, I’m reminded of the words from the great Joe Strummer, ”The future is unwritten”

I wanted to get my PhD but wasn’t willing to stop working and do it full time. I found a lot of ’traditional’ marketing roles weren’t super flexible and that made it difficult to fit study into my work life. Having a portfolio career just made sense – it meant that I could create my own balance and focus on the things that were important to me.