I’d always loved looking at all the adverts in magazines like Vogue when I was younger so knew it was something I wanted to go into. l didn’t necessarily want to go to university but when I heard about the course I thought it sounded right for me – really good connections with London which is the hub of advertising in the UK, so it was perfect. I wouldn’t have known how to get in to advertising industry if I hadn’t done the course.
The mentoring scheme really helped me to understand what I needed to do to progress as a creative as the industry is so competitive. Getting in is hard but once you’re there you have to do it over and over in order to thrive and progress to management. The scheme also helped us to get contacts to get our books seen, which is one of the hardest aspects – as we’d email 50 different creative directors and get a response from only a handful, so having the contacts really helped.
In five years, I’d like to be a senior creative and looking to become a creative director. It’s difficult to imagine wanting to leave Iris now but creatives in advertising tend to move around the sector if they want to progress.
I would consider moving abroad and it’s definitely an option as I'm working in a worldwide agency. You could go to New York, Sydney or Singapore, even if it’s for a couple of weeks’ experience to get a flavour of what it’s like.