About My Freelance Career!
Discover my journey to multi-disciplinary digital creative and professional educator with 3 decades industry experience!
My Freelance Journey to Pro Educator!
More then 3-decades of no excuses!
In April 2027, I turn 50.
For over three decades, I've built my career without a safety net—no sick pay, no holiday pay, no guaranteed income, and no one else to answer to. The trade-off has been real freedom: full responsibility, hard lessons, financial highs and lows, and complete ownership of every decision.
It hasn't always been easy—but it had always been the right path for me.
But now I start a new chapter (whilst still keeping one-foot in the world I've always known).
Here's my journey!
I started work at 13!
I began my freelance career in September 1998 (19 years old), at a time when the digital world was still largely unexplored and Google was just an idea! Born in 1977, I belong to the last generation to leave school without formal access to computer education. Computers were rare, internet access was unheard of for most households, and digital skills were reserved for a privileged few.
I remember my uncle showing us his mobile phone which was larger than a brick and had an antenna! The world was on the brink of a digital revolution, and I was determined to be part of it.
By the time I purchased my first home at 19, dial-up internet had just begun to emerge. That connection marked the start of a self-directed journey that would shape my entire career.
From a Pre-Digital Education to a Self-Taught Web Career in 3 years!
My working life began early, washing dishes in seaside cafés along the Felpham and Bognor Regis seafront (during the tourist summer seasons) at the age of 13 for £1 an hour! My first paycheque was spent on a black shell-suit with go faster colour strips on the sides! I thought it was the bee's knee's!
I left school at 16 without ever having experienced a computer lesson, bought my first home at 19, and launched my freelance business the same year.
Aside from occasional bar work during university and short contracting stints in telesales and gym sales while travelling in my twenties, I have never held a PAYE role in industry. I've never had a formal interview, never answered to a boss—and equally, I've learned that no work means no pay.
Choosing University Later in Life
Between the ages of 24 and 27, I chose to enter higher education as a mature student at the University of Portsmouth, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Computing the year before Facebook launched and before the term social media had yet to enter every day language!
The degree blended core computing skills with optional modules that allowed me to specialise in website development, graphic design, and emerging e-commerce technologies. There was no digital marketing strategies or cyber-security units in existance. Just strong coding fundamentals, problem-solving, and building for a web still finding its direction.
That timing mattered. It shaped how I think, design, and adapt—skills that have outlasted platforms, trends, and tools.
Living the Remote Work Lifestyle Before It Was Mainstream
By my mid-to-late twenties, I shifted focus from rapid technical expansion to application and strategy. My skills funded a location-independent lifestyle long before “remote work” became mainstream.
I worked with UK clients while travelling internationally, collaborating via early messaging and VOIP platforms—effectively living as a first-generation digital nomad nearly two decades before the pandemic made it commonplace.
That flexibility then went on to permit me to be a present, stay-at-home mother (and later a single parent) while raising my two daughters, without stepping away from my professional identity whilst spending quality time with my girls when they were young.
Building Integrated Digital Systems and Marketing Automation
As content management systems and early email marketing platforms emerged, my work naturally evolved. I began developing API integrations, enabling websites to connect with third-party services such as accounting systems and marketing tools.
This technical crossover pulled me into the wider world of digital marketing, automation, and sales funnels due to Facebook taking the world by storm.
To build effective integrated systems that my clients now expected as part of my skill set that flowed between social media platforms, websites, CMS systems and e-commerce technologies, I needed to understand more then just how technologies worked together, I needed to understand the marketing flow of the customer journey through all these technologies combined, working as one digital funnel. This digital marketing exploration still continues to underpin my work and teachings today.
Transitioning from Freelancr to Educator
With the digital landscape having matured, I have been ready for a change of pace. With my daughters now older teenagers, the timing felt right to move into teaching and mentorship.
In the summer of 2025, I started to transition into post-16 education as a lecturer, sharing nearly three decades of real-world experience with aspiring developers, creatives, and entrepreneurs. My primary subject specialism is Computing, with a focus on web development, alongside a strong interest in business studies, game development, and graphic design.
My goal in education is to bridge the gap between academic learning and practical application—preparing students for the realities of a fast-evolving digital world while balancing curriculum constraints with industry relevance.
In the longer term, this path also opens the door to teaching internationally, combining structured education with continued freelance and creative work and my passion to explore the world!
The Future & The Next Two Decades
Today, my focus is firmly on impact. Alongside teaching, I continue to build and experiment through mobile app and game development, retaining a small select number of website development clients, this website (hand-coded once again as a full-stack web development project) growing my YouTube channel for this website and my YouTube channel for Point & Click Puzzle Games), and practical courses and programs designed to help business owners confidently embrace digital technologies.
My work is driven by a simple belief: when people truly understand the tools available to them, they can build sustainable businesses, meaningful careers, and live their lives on their own terms!