It's taken me a little while to write this post - who knew that having a baby meant significantly less time at a laptop.

Throughout these last few months, I've learnt that if it can't be done one-handed with a phone at 3am, it isn't getting done anytime soon.

When anyone mentions the phrase "The Great Reset", conspiracy theorists will refer to 2020 and the pandemic. However, I will always look back on 2022 as My Great Reset.

Recently, I stood down as Co-Founder of The Idea Bureau, A business I started almost 10 years ago. During this time, I have been so lucky to work with brilliant people on meaningful, challenging projects that helped contribute to making the world a better place in a small way. I know so many people say that, but I actually mean it. When your clients are The UN, NHS, Girls Not Brides, and Consortium for Street Children, to name only a few, I know that we played a small role in helping those teams deliver on their objectives which would have made a real difference.

But everything ends eventually, and sometimes it just takes too much out of you to apply the same energy repeatedly on projects which can sometimes feel repetitive and predictable. If you can longer visualise what growth, success and happiness looks like, let alone have any idea on how to get there, I think it's time to take a step back and rethink the things that get you fired up and excited. It isn't fair to your clients or your team.

I want to thank everyone I was lucky enough to work with and who supported us throughout the last ten years, it's been a fantastic journey, and I'm really excited about starting something new - whatever that may be.

Coincidently our little girl Ava arrived earlier this year (I can't believe how fast the time has gone). Rebecca Griffiths and I decided that now would be the best time for me to stand down from The Idea Bureau and focus on looking after Ava full-time while Rebecca continues to grow her business which she's been working incredibly hard on for the last 4 years - Enable Futures Recruitment

Thankfully, with Rebecca working from home, she is only a short distance away when a nappy has been a "two-person job", so we felt this was the best course of action - Daddy daycare for me and business for Bex.

This has definitely been a tough transition, though. At first, there were a few mental hurdles to overcome - I mean, I have only ever worked, and in an industry like ours, it's easy to feel you're being left behind. Somedays, the FOMO was pretty hard to handle, especially when so many cool new things were happening all the time.

But eventually, I realised my worth and the skills I bring to the table. These are skills which aren't going anywhere anytime soon! Plus, having an inspirational wife who's building a profitable business that affords me the ability to not need to work is something I do not take for granted.

I'm so fortunate to spend every hour of the day with Ava. Watching her grow and turn into this beautiful little human is the most rewarding thing I've ever done and will probably ever get to do.

What's next

Ava is nearly 7 months now. Over the short term, my focus will continue to be on Ava and supporting Rebecca with Enable Futures (a business i've always been a director of). However, over time I will begin to transition back into my work either as an Independent UI/Product Designer + Webflow Dev taking on selected projects or exploring in-house opportunities or contracts which may come my way.

I'm interested in something different and open to new things regarding collaboration and working. Starting and running a business, finding clients, and managing a team have been fun, but it's exhausting on me creatively.

The industry is rapidly changing, especially in small agencies' roles and the challenges they face. I'll write about this later.

I appreciate the people who have already gotten in touch, offering me jobs and collaboration opportunities (news travels fast). It's super cool. But not yet, not yet. I still have a whole world of baby weaning to understand and high chairs to research!

As part of my great reset, this year I also decided to step away from Digital Somerset. I'll write more about this another time. There's about 7 months worth of stuff to get through.

Thanks for reading this far, and don't hesitate to contact me if you so desire.