First job - summer 1980 - freelance graphics packaging
illustrations for a York printing company.
October 1980 - a post in PR at of Yorkshire Water Authority
head office. Part of it was designing angling and staff newsletters but also organising
a carnival float for Leeds Lord Mayor’s parade. I left in summer 1981
Moved to part-time work in Bradford University Educational
Development department, producing visual aids materials for all the University
departments. They put me in touch with a small design company in central
Bradford. So I did mornings at one site and afternoons at the other.
1982 - left for a similar but full-time post at Huddersfield
University, where I stayed for 4 years.
1986 - Similar audio-visual post at Sheffield University,
more money. Made animated sequences, generated on a Matisse workstation, for
inclusion in teaching materials.
Married in 1989, had 2 sons by 1992, having given up my
marvellous job to be a full-time mum.
1994. Domestic finances necessitated further employment.
Worked at a nearby health service management consultancy, mainly doing
Powerpoint presentations, but left because they were fat cats basically robbing
the NHS and bothering my conscience.
1995 - Designing ads using Freehand and Quark Express in the
advertising section of Huddersfield Examiner newspaper. Over the next 8 years
the design element reduced significantly reducing creative requirement and the
work became mainly desktop publishing, including importing images from ClipArt.
Time to look for something different - in that geographical
area, design opportunities were rare, so after a market research foray,
examining what careers were crying out for recruits, I enrolled on a local
degree course in Podiatry, having more than adequate qualifications and got a
bursary. I really enjoyed learning a completely different discipline, surprised
at my ability to absorb and assimilate information at the great age of 44. 2005
- Qualified with BSc (Hons). Got work initialy as locums, one for Scholl,
another with York NHS Trust, eventually landing at Bradford NHS. 2006 - left for a permanent post at Kirklees
& Calderdale Trust. Almost as soon as I started there, Bradford advertised
for a higher grade permanent post, so I went for that, having already
experienced the work there for nearly a year. Remained in that role for the
next 15 years, specialising in nail surgery (yes, removing ingrowing toenails)
- demanding but rewarding. Worked almost throughout Covid, transitioning into
wound care, particularly for diabetic patients.
2022 - Wanted to reduce working hours to 15 weekly, but this
wasn’t an option. Spent my final year managing a private podiatry practice near
home, 15 hours a week. Sorted.
2023 - Retired. Comparing graphic design with podiatry may
seem from sublime to weird, but really appreciated both my careers, with the
change probably providing a sense of adventure.
