Who am I?

I am an ENFP – in short, I am extroverted, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving all according to Carl Jung and Myers Brigs. So, I may not be typical corporate boardroom material but I have some great attributes as a brand marketer for small to medium businesses. Ideas are my thing, ideas and people! Genuinely I am interested in folks and I am naturally curious to help. Using feelings and perception to get to know you and my intuition to tune in to who you really are. I pride myself in being able to interpret you and your business creatively. I want the true ‘you’ to shine through with confidence in your brand.

My Beliefs

Introvert or extrovert, not everyone is a natural salesperson. By using the right person to translate your story into the visual, you will be able to market and sell your products and services with confidence. Good personal branding photography, social media, and ace headshots are a fabulous starting point for your journey.

My aim as a Brand Marketer

I want to capture the heart, soul and essence of you and your business. Bringing it alive in images, pictures and stories for people to connect to. My aim is to get to know you and your business by actively listening and using my creative (sometimes quirky!) brain to deliver your message to the world. I aspire to help you find the true authenticity of your brand and to show the world what you stand for. We can generate passion and buzz for your products or services together through the photographic medium.

“If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it’s already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.” Eve Arnold

My journey to being a Brand Marketer

My interest in photography goes way back to being a young child and persistently playing with Mums’ camera. I loved being creative, making things and was very inquisitive even back then. One could say in a very practical family I was the token odd one lol. You would find me painting and sketching and actually taking pretty weird/random pictures. It’s safe to say I had to REALLY fight hard to get Mum to agree to an Arts Degree at Uni! A ‘Photography in Design’ degree was not what she had in mind for me, I can tell you, but I have never looked back.

First jobs

After Uni I went to live with family in London and landed my first job in a lab in a makeover studio. I loved working with people behind the scenes, but I was keen to get in on the action with the other photographers. My hard work was rewarded and it was a fun time in my life.

By chance I met a lovely lady who was working in a further education college, teaching adults with severe learning difficulties. I was invited to shadow her and before long found myself teaching for the college. I worked very hard part-time at both jobs. When business at the makeover studio eventually slowed I was made redundant but I had already been taking on much more work at the college.

For around 6 years I taught photography on HND’s, BTEC Nationals, and other courses at higher education level. Being part of the Specialist Learning Difficulty Team (SLD) was great. I was able to support a number of students with issues such as dyspraxia, learning difficulty, autism and challenging behaviour. The SLD team was later to be disbanded in the college and so I made my decision to move on.

My first business

2004 saw the start of my own photography business. I started off photographing families, maternity, portraits and the like. I set up a craft stall selling my own prints to satisfy my own creativity. People wanted me to photograph their merchandise, clocks, flowers, jewellery and the like. This was my first step into brand marketing (I just didn’t know it) and it soon took over my craft stall and portrait business. I continued to network and build a great business for myself.

……and things changed

In 2010 I was mugged at knifepoint in Wandsworth. This rocked everything and I had a period where I feel I lost myself. A number of other personal events happened as I was trying to rebuild myself and it all felt like an uphill struggle. I knew I had to go out and meet people but after the mugging I found that so so difficult. I had lost trust in others and after 2 years of pushing myself I got quite poorly.

2012 a move to Hampshire

Once in Hampshire I gradually started to network and get back into my photography. Working mainly with headshots and brand photography to start with. I have noticed my clients have changed and their needs have shifted overtime.

What??… you DON’T want to sell your soul?

People want to sell their business but not their soul is the message. They want a business that ‘expresses them’ is what I have been repeatedly hearing.

My journey as a brand marketer continues embracing the naturally nerdy techy in me, don’t laugh! Experience of my own websites, social media, branding and building businesses has helped. Organically, my business has morphed into helping others market themselves authentically. One of my skills is connecting and I love connecting with clients. I thrive on helping them see the connection between what they love and how it becomes a business. I see my role as understanding your calling and translating it so it becomes a business before you even know it.

“To get you to a place where you know it in your bones”

Skills

I know how to put you at ease quickly in front of the camera based on my experience in headshot photography and makeovers. I can capture your image in a way that makes you look familiar and people will warm to you. My background in product photography is all about using pictures for creative conversation and communication. I am practiced at using imagery so that people will build trust in you, your business and your brand.