"I knew that to survive and future-proof the brand I was growing, I needed to work with a multiple clients, rather than rely on one or two big clients. As I started putting myself out there, I quickly discovered that it's a million times harder to promote yourself, than promote a company you work for. I started to understand how difficult and nerve-wracking it was for smaller business owners to put themselves out there and promote their own work. I didn't feel like I was good enough. As lockdown changed the way we spent our time online, there was constantly a new rule to learn or an algorithm change to master. I felt envious of other people who seemed to do their marketing so damn well. There were so many other freelancers out there, and I lacked the confidence to make sense of it all. My passion started to spread a little thin, and I thought about throwing in the towel plenty of times.

But there was one thing that helped me shift this mindset - my creativity. I stopped thinking of my brand as a direct reflection of me as a person, and started thinking of it as an entity in its own right. I stoped worrying about what everyone would think, and focused on sharing fun, creative campaigns that I loved, and my followers engaged with. More and more businesses and creatives started asking me for help. I started running free workshops for small local businesses to support others who struggled with their own social media marketing. I listened to what they had to say, I used my creativity to think of new ideas, and I finally started enjoyed doing what I do best."