When I was 18, I got made redundant from my first job. I loved this job, even though, it wasn’t really what I wanted to do, I worked in a jewellers and every day I would day-dream on my way to work about working as a designer and creating my own styles for shoes and jewellery. When I lost my job I felt really down, but decided not to let it get the better of me, I now had a lot of time on my hands so I would often sit at home drawing and sketching out my ideas. I soon got another job working in a discount low price clothes shop where I wasn’t treated very well and the pay wasn’t good, but still I said to myself everyday “I’m lucky to have this job”, it gave me money and enough time to work on my designs.

For Christmas that year my Mum bought me a copy of The Secret. I liked everything I read and started to understand the teachings really quickly, this wasn’t a new idea, this was something that some of the greatest thinkers of our time had applied to their everyday lives. These people didn’t focus on things that made them unhappy, they where far too busy thinking of things they loved. They didn’t live in the past, they thought about the future and created exactly the kind of future they wanted.

I started saying “Thank you”. Thank you for my friends and family, thank you for the people I work with, thank you for nice customers. I turned away from the things I didn’t love, I didn’t give them a thought or any power whatsoever and as far as I was concerned, they didn’t exist because their was no room for them in my future as a shoe designer, in a well paid full time job where I could be creative and also learn lots of new skills. It was a blessing I lost my first job, I’m thankful for it and now I can tell you this…

Earlier on last year I did some modelling for a friend of mine who owns a vintage shop. The make up artist who worked on the shoot told me how she worked as a part time sales assistant in a bridal shop who where looking for a colourist/ designer to work in the design studio. I applied for the job and on the day of the interview got all dressed up, my hair and make up done in a 1950s style.

Despite never having gone to uni, and ending up with a fashion design degree, I have always been great with clothes and customising outfits, my style has always been a little “out there” and in the past I have been told to “tone it down” but this time I was going to be myself 100% and express my style. What other people had said in the past wasn’t important and didn’t matter. My new manager told me she was so impressed by the way I interviewed and loved how I was dressed that she hired me on the spot!

Now it’s been nearly four months and I love my job. Every morning I wake up and I have to pinch myself to check I’m not dreaming! I’m finally doing something I competely adore, something that challenges me and where I can express myself.

Three years ago I was living this dream in my head and doing everything I wanted and now I am doing it for real. Once again. “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you” for everything, This is just the start of something that is fantastic, if this has worked for my job I can’t wait to apply it to every other area of my life. Don’t listen if someone tells you something is impossible, but don’t argue with them either, just turn away and concentrate on you and what you want out of life. Visualize doing whatever makes you happy, whenever you can and live your life as if you already have everything you want. I did and I know this is just the beginning…