Welcome aboard Amy Taylor

Amy Taylor joined the crew recently as a digital marketing apprentice with hopes of carving a career in a dynamic and creative industry. Here, Amy discusses how she arrived at The Bigger Boat and how she’s spent her first few weeks.

Originally from Dewsbury, I moved to Mirfield in 2001 with my mum and we’ve been here ever since. I was always a creative child and loved getting new art supplies for Christmas and birthdays, which was a far cry from my family’s scientific roots. Although I was very capable of technical subjects at school, and was particularly gifted with mathematics, my vocation was always for art and design, which I pursued throughout my education.

When it came to choosing my A-Levels, I was encouraged to choose subjects I enjoyed rather than think about an end career goal, as this tends to fall into place later in life. With this in mind, I picked Maths, Fine Art and 3D Design, with a vague idea of working towards a design-based course at university in the years to come.

In 2016, I enrolled at the University of Huddersfield to study a BA in Illustration. I believed this would be the perfect course for me as I always had a love for drawing which I could now progress into a professional skill to be used in industry. Unfortunately, being creative and developing artistic ideas to tight deadlines left me completely burnt out and I stopped enjoying the subject as a whole. This led me to drop out of university in my first year, and I decided not to pursue art-based subjects anymore, as they were much more enjoyable as a hobby in my free time.

When I’m not working or catching up with friends at the pub, I try to get away with my family as much as possible. We often travel to the coast at the weekends and have recently gotten into stand-up paddle boarding (and I am currently saving up to buy a board of my own). I try to travel down to Cornwall at least once a year as it is an ideal place to go paddle boarding and surfing with its beautiful views and clear waters. 

Although I do not have a degree like many of my colleagues here, I do have a strong willingness to learn. I will be studying digital marketing at Calderdale College alongside my job here, although with the training I have received already, I imagine I will be much further ahead than my fellow classmates.

I have chosen to pursue digital marketing as my ideal career as I think it perfectly encompasses my technical abilities, while still being able to work in a creative environment. While I will not be directly responsible for any design tasks, being surrounded by creative individuals and working alongside them with my own analytical work is the best of both worlds. This is one of the many benefits of working for an agency, there are many opportunities for collaborative work and the tasks are always varied.

I am very excited to start my new career journey with The Bigger Boat, and learn all the new skills that come with this. I am only in my second week and have already learned so much from my crewmates, so I can’t wait to see what the next few years will bring.