How did I get here?

The year is 2007. As the car slowly prowls through the local town's high street, a young primary school boy and his mother are in joyful conversation. Moments ago, they passed the local French restaurant and conjured up an exciting new slogan for them. As the pair continue to make their way home, the smiles and laughter continue.

Once they return, the boy swiftly swipes all the paper he can lay his little mitts on, then sets out in earnest developing one of his personal brands. He isn't interested in playing football with his friends — no, no, no. He is far too occupied with the much more important, indeed all-consuming question of which logo to work on today. "Blackfin?" "Bluesphere?" Whatever he decides, one thing is certain: there will be a lot of tidying up for the parents…

Over the years, that little boy becomes a teenager. His peers are far too busy on BlackBerry Messenger and playing on Call of Duty. But that teenage kid isn't; instead, he's far more interested in daydreaming about making his own website and stressing over the small details of the graphics he's making on his trial version of PowerPoint 2013.

One of my first YouTube banners, made in PowerPoint when I was aged 13 years. The circles shown in the lower-right make up one of my first personal logos.

As I look back on that childhood of mine, those memories are just a few of the many fond ones I cherish. But there was an unfortunate sad undercurrent.

School never did do much to make me feel good about myself. I was quite different from my peers and, of course, that meant I got picked on. I thought I was doing something wrong, I thought I wasn't good enough and I consequently exerted immense effort to be someone I just wasn't to gain people's approval. Inevitably, my G.C.S.E. grades suffered as a result and the whole experience felt truly exhausting.

The one genuine positive constant? As I closed my front door on another long school day, marketing was my escape. I didn't have to worry about anything else but having fun messing around in PowerPoint and jumping on the trampoline daydreaming about designing brands.

Fortunately, things at school improved as I progressed through my A-levels. I worked hard and, fortunately enough, my results turned out to be good enough to secure a spot in the University of Liverpool's Marketing course.

I was delighted. For the first time, I had my own place. I met some amazing people. And in my second year, I even had the opportunity to live in Montréal. Finally, like a plane reaching full speed, my life began to take off.

Enter the Coronavirus pandemic.

The effects of those lockdowns really took their toll. Close friends were now literally out of reach. University life was shot to pieces. And getting back to that high point seemed a distant dream. I felt as though I lost myself all over again.

But after working very hard — and not accepting the idea of giving up — I eventually graduated University with a first class honours degree in Marketing.

I've come to believe the common theme behind successes in life is perseverance. For anyone who hasn't watched it yet, I'd like to point out the excellent Richard Dimbleby lecture Sir Gareth Southgate gave on this topic, which I'd recommend to anyone but especially young men like myself who've struggled with perseverance or confidence in the past. I believe it's such an important attribute and it has truly become my north star.

So, all this brings me to a recent diving holiday, during which I met some of the most incredible people, including Jess Cox, the owner of the dive centre organising the trip. At some stage on that holiday, something in my head switched. It was time to put my degree to use.

Once I got back home, I set out to find a job doing something I loved. I would push the anxiety that had built up over the years to one side, brush up my C.V., write applications, practice psychometric tests and get my life truly back on track.

In amongst all of this, out of the blue (pun intended), Jess sent me an email asking for my help with her marketing.

Ben and Jess diving in the Red Sea, Egypt. Photograph: Robert Reeves.

And, hand on heart, I'm not sure I've replied with a "yes" so quickly in my life.

At that moment, my business was born.

So, here we are!

I'm excited to begin this journey. I'm absolutely certain there will be bumps along the way, but my goal with this blog is to share how I develop with you all. I'll also be sharing some of my thoughts on the marketing industry, commenting on recent developments and some tips & tricks.

And… if you're looking for someone to be your marketing partner, someone who loves branding and someone who will genuinely care about your output, please do get in contact. I'd be delighted to meet you.

Thanks for reading. I do hope you'll come along on this exciting ride with me.

Ben