The pre-cursor to my creative journey was when my youngest sibling died at aged just 16. They were full of life, planing on becoming a pilot, made music, played for a football team and already had a part-time side-hustle. I didn’t know how much of a light he’d been in peoples lives until he was gone. By this time in my life I was a single parent in my late 20's and I’d been offering careers related advice and guidance for 7yrs and had began training others. But when the tragedy occurred there was a void, I had never really noticed was there - I realised I had never even thought about what my passion was or what would made me happy. I’d dropped out of my creative arts degree at university got a full-time job, had a baby and focused on gaining qualifications that supported my career. We were all stunned by what happened to the youngest in our family, but I felt unable to move forward with my life or appreciate it in the way that I had. I invested time in healing, trained in different alternative therapies that had helped me move through the paralyzed state I’d cocooned myself in, and I had started volunteering. This created a new problem. I did not want to continue the career I had worked on for so long - what do I do next? I still had to take care of my family and take care of a home.

I started working at the organisation I was volunteering for and was delighted when I was able to work with them on creative projects such as film making, and crafts that were good enough to sell. It was never about the end goal specifically, for the young people attending the projects, it was about creativity, playing, escaping from their every day lives at home, coming up with ideas, going to new places, connecting with others and exploring. This experience changed something in me and I was again able to connect with the creative and entrepreneurial being within me. This experience led the way to me returning to university and studying the arts (textiles/fashion/surface design, art theory, philosophy, & history) and finding the courage to move to London and set up my own business as a designer, work or collaborate with different Artists, Arts organisations and musicians. I was alive again. Overcoming self doubt, procrastination and imposter syndrome with every new creative encounter. I overcame these fears, by learning from the best, forgiving myself, practicing self acceptance and surrounding myself with likeminded creatives. You can check out my credentials here, or ask me anything...  Yemi 💛