If you follow me on Twitter (if you don’t please do) or are a close friend of mine you’ll already know the news I’m leading up to, but I thought I’d write about the lead up to this news as well.

On the 9th September I took a week out of working at the publishing firm I used to work in at the time and went to do a week of work placement in an advertising company called Different in Newcastle. I was sceptical about working in an environment where I knew next to nothing about the world of advertising and what was expected of me and coming from a work place where I constantly felt like I was playing catch up I was scared that I wouldn’t be good enough.

However, as soon as I walked through the doors of Different, I felt as if I’d stumbled upon the very thing I’d been wanting to do with my life. The people were friendly, helpful and they actually spoke to each other in the office! When people were getting stressed with their work or if someone wanted to, there was a little Alexa in the room that had set playlists on depending on the office mood.

I wasn’t expected to know everything instantaneously. The people I was working with sat and explained what everything was and how to create something strong that fitted with the brief I had been given. And the feedback was always constructive. It genuinely felt like being back in Uni and doing group work. Even through the stressful briefs and the hump days (of which there was only maybe half of one) there was always the attitude that if everyone worked together and played to their strengths, the task would be done (it helped that there was usually cake/biscuits to keep people going).

With each passing day I found myself not only physically healthier thanks to their office being a 20 minute walk from where I live but mentally healthier and happier. I was speaking to my friends more and I was spending more time with my family. But every day there was more and more dread for going back to work at the publishing firm. In such a short amount of time I had bonded with the people at Different and gotten to know them much more than I had gotten to know my colleagues at the publishing firm. I was going to miss them and (I hoped) they were going to miss me too.

Cut to over a month later and having left my job at the publishing firm, I got a notification saying that the poem that I had written for their re-brand had been uploaded to their website. I’m so proud of the work I did there and I’m so happy that they liked my poem enough to share it with their clientele. Different is a company that pushes boundaries and ‘Saves the world from Sameness’ and they definitely proved that in the way they treated me during my week with them and through the work they produce for companies such as Barker and Stonehouse and Nuby. If you would like to check out my poem click here. If you would like to look at Different and the work they do click here.