I opened my first shop, Bootique Shoes, at 21. Nobody warns you that selling shoes is really about people: why one person walks straight past the window and another pops in “just to look” and leaves with three pairs.

Then I ran a team at Peter Alexander, and that’s where I fell head over heels for branding. Every new starter learnt the founder’s story and the company values before selling a single pair of PJs. Every store felt like a whimsical bedroom: big pink doors with crystal handles, chandeliers, and each range tucked into its own wardrobe. A signature candle burned in every shop until people could smell the brand before they saw it. And Penny, Peter’s much-loved dachshund, became a mascot people would buy for all on her own.

That’s when it clicked. A brand isn’t a logo. It’s everything people feel when they walk through your door.

In 2018, stuck in Australia waiting on a UK visa and very pregnant, I did what any sensible person would do. I learnt to code. Websites, funnels, all the bits under the bonnet most marketers never look at.

Then lockdown hit, I fell head first into an Instagram creator community, and got slightly obsessed with why people buy.

Retail taught me people. Code taught me systems. Psychology taught me neither works without the other.

That’s why I don’t just polish the paintwork.