What is your most recent creative project?
I specialise in non-fiction writing and writing for the web, so I’m not sure whether that qualifies as being creative?! At the moment I am knee-deep creating a new website from scratch. The purpose will be to provide useful articles (blog) and recipes for anyone that has dental braces and is looking for information on what they can and can’t eat. Once the blog and body of recipes is built up, I will use the content to create and publish a book to accompany the website. www.foodforbraces.com This is the same process that I followed for my first book, Nail Your Renovation Without Getting Screwed.
Why do you love what you do and what inspired you to begin?
I have always had a love of learning and analysing information. In an unusual career path for a writer, I completed an IT degree as a young 20-something. I then entered the workforce as a computer programmer, coding on mainframes. My career morphed over time, and I now find myself with skills in small business management, website development, digital marketing and writing optimised content for the web. I believe there is both a science and art to delivering the right content to provide the answers to the questions people are searching for online. I love that in doing this, I can combine my interests and skills in information technology and analysis with my love of writing.
If you could collaborate with any other creative in the world, who would it be and what would you make together?
I would have loved to work on any project –book, TV show, interview, website, heck I’d settle for a selfie – with the late Anthony Bourdain. He was one of the first travel documentarians that explored food and the people behind the food, off the beaten path. I loved that he was raw, real and did it all with a tinge of humour. There was none of the pretention that you see on glossy fake travel shows that make everything seem blissful. His untimely death was a tragedy, he had a lot more to give.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given that you try to incorporate in your approach to work and creativity?
Follow the NIKE tagline – Just Do It! Don’t overthink it. It is impossible to have all the answers ready before you begin. Once you get started, more ideas form and can lead you down a path to possibilities. If you don’t start, you don’t get anywhere. Just begin and see what happens.
When you’re not working on projects, how do you relax?
Finding work and life balance is something I value greatly. It is easy to work long hours every day, but I don’t believe this makes you achieve more. I force myself to take time out and mix it up as much as possible, so I don’t get bored. Activities include walking our dogs, riding my e-bike, yoga, cooking, occasional swims and weekends away from time to time.
What’s your guilty pop-culture pleasure?
My adult-aged daughter and I hit the car karaoke pretty hard, singing trashy pop songs. We are terrible singers, get the words wrong often and are nearly always out of time. We love it!