Before books like The 4-Hour Work Week or Squiggly Careers made it trendy, I was already carving out my own path in the digital economy — building an unconventional career where its very “squiggliness” became my edge.
That spirit was already at work in 2009, when I entered the legal sector to train as a solicitor while also tapping into my background as a graduate linguist and early experience in the translation and localisation industry. What began as a side project to clear graduate debts soon grew into a thriving online marketing agency — one I later built up and sold. That success, combined with a growing portfolio of websites and copywriting work, convinced me to focus on developing my skills and experience in the digital industries and marketing full-time.
From there, I steered digital marketing campaigns for tech firms and start-ups as a consultant, before pivoting into professional and executive education. I became a subject matter expert, examiner, and moderator on digital skills programmes — including Squared Online, Google and AVADO’s trailblazing digital marketing leadership course. By 2015, I’d been invited to help deliver and assess digital marketing apprenticeships for a major provider, and that’s where I discovered a passion: shaping talent and innovation in the further education sector.
Since then, I’ve assessed, designed, and moderated a wide mix of apprenticeship programmes, higher education qualifications, and micro-credentials spanning marketing, business, and beyond. Backed by advanced degrees in educational leadership, ageing policy, and gerontology, my work now centres on building inclusive apprenticeships, advancing professional skills, and opening up fresh opportunities for lifelong and later-life learning.
I am also lead editor for Leadership Connections (an academic magazine by the Centre for Education at University College London) and review submissions for the Journal of Interactive Media in Education (JIME), linking research with practice in digital learning.
Most recently, I founded AccessHeritage.org, inspired by my late father’s work on accessibility and inclusive heritage, to champion the belief that cultural heritage should be open to everyone. Watch that space…