My journey

My product team leadership stood out amongst the other departments, and I was asked to replicate initiatives across the wider business. The success of these led to my promotion to the senior leadership team, where I worked alongside the company directors to run and grow the business. During this time, I became the go-to person for public speaking engagements: I represented the business at industry events, public-facing talks, radio interviews, and lectures at Brighton University.

 COVID Hits

After twelve years in the Travel and Tourism industry and having reached senior leadership level, I felt it was time for a change. Having always been interested in heritage, history and museums, I began a Master's Degree in Art History and Museum Curating at Sussex University. I just adored being back in academia, researching, writing, learning, and being challenged. I focused all my assignments on various aspects of fashion and dress, with my favourite projects being writing an acquisition proposal for an early 19th-century maternity dress and developing an exhibition proposal about the interconnectedness of global fashion history.

With a love of fashion history and culture, I was over the moon to secure a student placement at the V&A in The Clothworkers' Centre. As my first practical role within a museum, I learnt a great deal about object handling, documentation, conservation, and research. I was also fortunate enough to be involved in the decant project, helping during the early stages of moving the collection from Blythe House to the new V&A East Storehouse.

However, in March 2020, my world was turned upside down. The COVID-19 pandemic hit, lockdown was imposed, and my placement was cancelled. My role at Rickshaw Travel was made redundant, and the closure of all museums meant I had to completely rethink the topic of my Master's thesis. Despite the stress of writing my thesis in the middle of lockdown with no job security, I secured a Distinction, something I'm particularly proud of to this day.

Developing a love for the user

With my MA firmly under my belt but the world still reeling from COVID, it was time to secure some income. After a brief stint working in a library and a good amount of time working as a freelance career coach, I was fortunate enough to secure the role of Content Manager with The RSPB, working on their website and newsletters.

A key project I worked on was migrating the old website to a new platform. This involved working with developers, content creators, and UX designers. We worked in a Scrum team using an agile methodology, and I loved this empowering and collaborative way of working.

The organisation really encouraged my natural empathy with the site's users, and I completed the Google UX Design Professional Certificate in my spare time. A lightbulb moment for me was the method of testing ideas on real users using low-cost prototype versions. These could then be tweaked and re-tested so that when it came to spending money on the final version, it was more likely to resonate with users and, therefore, be successful.

Delving into history

After a couple of years at the RSPB working remotely, sitting behind a computer all day, I felt like it was time to move on and pursue my passion for museums and heritage. Although I loved contributing to such a fantastic cause, with the dust finally settled on COVID, it felt like the right time to put my MA into practice. I was lucky enough to secure a job as a Collections Assistant at Stourhead. After 7 months, I was promoted to Collections and House Officer, and I haven't looked back!

The core of my role was looking after the house and its collection of over 8,000 objects. But I also took on additional responsibilities in Visitor Experience, including managing a large team of volunteers, writing exhibition text and curating displays. I was even lucky enough to support the team filming Hidden Treasures of the National Trust for the BBC and couldn't quite believe it when my interview made the cut! I absolutely adored the curatorial aspects of my job with the National Trust and am most proud of the following projects there:

Finding my passion

Three years at Stourhead helped me realise that curation was absolutely the role I wanted to be in. I was so lucky to have the opportunity to curate three exhibitions and improve the experience for children and families in the house. I just loved the combination of creativity, research, collections care and empathy for the visitor. 

The only thing that was missing was a fashion collection. Stourhead had an incredible collection of furniture, books and paintings, but the textiles were mostly furnishings.  So I kept my eye out for a curatorial role, preferably with a fashion collection and was incredibly fortunate to secure a maternity cover role as Assistant Curator at Fashion Museum Bath. 

It's my absolute dream job, without a doubt. Handling one of the world's most significant fashion collections sends goosebumps down my spine. I've been able to do things I'd never done before: I helped with the installation of the Zandra Rhodes exhibition at the Holburne, Bath; acted as an object courier for a loan to The Garden Museum, London; and accessioned my first object. But my favourite part has been researching the collection and working with amazing colleagues to plan new permanent galleries in the new museum, from object selection to providing feedback on the minutiae of case design. I've learnt so much, and now know for certain that fashion curation is the role for me.

So, that's my world of work from my perspective. Find out what it's like to work with me from colleagues throughout my journey: