My first ever job was as a pizza maker at Domino’s, a place I’d genuinely dreamed about working as a kid. I wanted the cap, the free pizza, and the one minute commute. In May 2020, when schools closed and the world went quiet, I got all three. It turns out production environments are fast paced and unforgiving, which is something you learn very quickly when the lunchtime rush hits.

I studied Economics at Manchester, starting in September 2021. I started on a BSc before switching to a BA, less interested in the models, more interested in the reasoning behind why people do what they do. That curiosity led me toward development economics, and later, toward data.

After graduating in June 2024 with a 2:1, I joined Footasylum as a Merchandising Assistant. It was commercially driven, fast moving, and genuinely taught me a lot: how large businesses are structured, how decisions get made under pressure, and how to prioritise when everything feels urgent. I got good at reading spreadsheets quickly. What became clear over time, though, was that the analytical side was what I actually enjoyed and that fast fashion wasn’t somewhere I felt I was contributing anything I was proud of.

That honesty led me to The Independent. It was a different world: people who moved quickly, challenged each other and actually cared about what they were putting out. For the first time in a professional setting, I felt genuinely stretched, working on something I believed in, surrounded by people who raised the bar. It pointed me firmly toward data and analytics work and made clear what kind of environment I want to be in.

At the start of 2026, my partner and I moved abroad for his internship. We’ve been based in the Balkans since March, which has been equal parts adventure and productive chaos, and I’ve been using the time to build data projects, sharpen my skills, and work toward the kind of role I actually want.