What do you consider your biggest failure? And how did you persevere and grow from the experience?
I started and ran a shop for three years, where I did up second hand furniture. It wasn't technically a failure, as it made just enough for me to live off. I had lots of lovely customers who were very nice about it. Still, if I'd thought about it more carefully, I think I could have guessed that I'd find the day-to-day side of running it quite unstimulating. I loved the buying and the merchandising but largely realised it absolutely wasn't for me. I guess what I took from it was some real understanding of how a business works on a fundamental level, and also the creative skills of buying etc., are ones I still use now.
How do you overcome self-doubt and fear when working on a new project?
I really think there is only one piece of advice when it comes to this, and that is: to just start. I kept reading things that gave this advice in various forms, but I never really absorbed it. Then my brother bought me Jimmy Carr's book 'Before and Laughter', which I very unexpectedly found incredibly inspiring. The basic sentiment was: get going and do it now.
Do you have any rituals that help with your work or mental health?
In 2020, in lockdown one, I started dreaming of running every night (not sure what Freud would say about that). Eventually, at the grand old age of 30, I bought myself some trainers for the first time as an adult and started the classic Couch to 5K. Pretty quickly, I had that cliched realisation - exercise isn't just for people who wear expensive athleisurewear and don't have to stop every so often to catch their breath. It sounds so silly now, but I was so nervous about people seeing me running, what my body would look like, how slow and how red I'd appear. I think so much of that comes from horrible experiences at school. But I got over that very quickly and getting into proper exercise as an adult has been absolutely transformative. It helps clear my mind and allows me to process the day ahead.
I have a routine that I try my very hardest to stick to because if I give myself an inch off, I know I will never run the mile. I so rarely feel like going, but I have never, ever regretted going once. Thinking about it, this is a rule I could probably apply to quite a few areas of my life - writing, drawing, cooking. Most of the things that make me feel better by doing them.
I ran a half marathon on my friend Jen's birthday in 2020, and what she had told me was absolutely true - that achieving something you didn't know you could do physically would help you be braver in other areas of your life too.
