At eighteen you get a big sense of excitement about university and independence. At twenty-one you’re in your final year and graduating, having enjoyed three years finding out what it is you want to do in life. But at twenty-two… people expect you to have your sh*t together.

Monobi

Defence jacket

Levi's

Icy patchwork denim jacket

Whistles

Chunky funnel roll neck

Rampley & Co

Pocket Square

At eighteen you get a big sense of excitement about university and independence. At twenty-one you’re in your final year and graduating, having enjoyed three years finding out what it is you want to do in life. But at twenty-two… people expect you to have your sh*t together.

I’m out of university, freelancing for myself and it’ll be the first full year of not being in education. It’s very easy for someone who is young and working for themselves to not take everything seriously as you get to let yourself off the hook. Everything I’ve done before has come with the safety blanket of education and everything was a side hustle to learning. Now I want to take that side hustle and make it a full-time thing. Only a few months into freelance life I have to constantly be on emails sending off pitches and spending more money on trains than I do my social life. It’s good to take it seriously and put real work in, as the reward of working for yourself is fantastic.

So what’s the plan for this year? Simple. Work hard.

Looking ahead it would be great to make some real avenues within freelancing as I know it’s a slow burner. This is what I want this year to be. A year of progressing, making more contacts and effectively learning the ins and outs of what I want to be in, because if I don’t, what’s the point of it all? I’ll slowly learn when to put away the laptop and take some time out, but right now I’ll choose the extra coffee and say yes to everything (within reason).

Things are starting to come good and I'm now not only travelling to London for work, but overseas as well. I’ve been in Florence this week for Pitti and it’s been great to see people push their personal style and meet a whole new bunch of people. I was out working with Monobi, an Italian outerwear brand that focus on using only the best materials. Designed and made in-house just down the road from Florence, the coats and jackets are the real deal.

Thank you 22nd birthday for making me work even harder.jbicon