I’ve always been surrounded by cycling, with my dad being a keen cyclist. At the same time, I’ve always been interested in doing something creative. I started selling portraits at school and later went on to study Fine Art and Graphic Design at college. While I was there, I worked at a local wine bar and in my gap year I worked up to become Assistant Manager, where I worked on gaining experience in responsibility and communication.

I went on to briefly study Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University, but I quickly realised it wasn’t the right route for me. I wanted something more practical and fast-moving. That’s when I found a digital marketing apprenticeship, which turned out to be a great fit. I got hands-on experience with social media, SEO, CRM systems and did a small module on coding. I really enjoyed seeing ideas go from a concept to something real.

During my apprenticeship, I reached out to SHIFT and managed to get a week’s work experience. I loved the agency atmosphere straight away, it was quick, collaborative and being around cycling felt so exciting. I helped out on some work for the Uplift programme and later went to the International Women’s Day event at Rapha HQ, which made me even more inspired to become a part of this world.

Soon after, SHIFT advertised an Account Executive role. I applied straight away and was so excited to be offered the job. The first few months were full-on as I balanced full-time work with finishing my apprenticeship, but it was worth it.

Not long after joining, I bought my first gravel bike and trained for a gravel event with my mum, raising money for Action Medical Research. Training for, and completing the event made me feel even more connected to the cycling community.

Now, nearly two years into working at SHIFT, I get to work with cycling and outdoor brands I genuinely care about, and I’m part of a team that feels so supportive and down-to-earth – which makes all the difference.