Alumni Spotlight: Georgie Twamley on her career aspirations and start-up business journey

Since graduating, Georgie Twamley, former student of MA Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been going from strength to strength in her professional development journey. She shared with us insights and advice on her career journey since graduating and her plans for her start-up business, digital wellness platform Helping Yourself.

Hi Georgie,  it's great to see you doing so well since leaving LCF. Can you tell us about your journey so far?

Sure! Originally my interest was in fashion design, I did my undergraduate degree in Ireland, (where I am from). I worked in the fashion industry in production and design for years but was ready for a change for several reasons including lifestyle, interest, and geographical location. My hope with my masters was to leverage my previous experience and build upon my skill set as opposed to making an entire career change.

I wanted to re-purpose my existing skills in a role which felt more business orientated

This has given me confidence returning to industry, as I knew I could lean upon both my new skillset and my previous industry knowledge. This is something I have been able to do in my current role as a producer at creative innovation studio Holition.

You actually received a scholarship to join UAL too, how did that feel when you got the news?

I was delighted to receive a scholarship for my masters, making it more feasible to do. For anyone debating the financial obligations required for going back to college I would encourage them to apply for many of the various scholarships and competitions available. During the course, I also applied for a variety of competitions. I was pleased to be shortlisted for some and to overjoyed to win the UAL Creative Enterprise Award for my start-up, Helping Yourself, which provided £5000 bursary and coaching from Adobe.

How did LCF and particularly LCF Graduate Futures, support you with your career aspirations?

The support from LCF and graduate futures extended far and above anything I expected. This was the case from my first walk through where a member of the team sat with me at a computer talking me through not just the courses but importantly the finances and process of moving to London. This type of personal encouragement continued throughout my course and afterwards; including during the interview process – it always felt like staff, like Tuhina Mitra, genuinely cared. Additionally, my start-up, Helping Yourself, has received a lot of support. As a mental wellness platform, I wasn’t sure how the platform would be received on a fashion course, but the warm welcome included various professional advisory, coaching and financial support.

How did you get your current role at Holition?

I interviewed the CEO for my thesis (who I had been put in touch with by Graduate Futures) and asked if they were hiring, because I would love to work there. This resulted in being able to apply for a role that was not advertised online. I would recommend to all students to ask companies they are interested in working for about upcoming opportunities. Never be afraid to send your portfolio and follow up a few times, lots of people we admire will have searched high and low for roles they want. I have several good friends who took creative approaches to getting noticed by companies they wanted to work at and then got jobs – it is worth a shot!

Never be afraid to send your portfolio and follow up a few times, lots of people we admire will have searched high and low for roles they want

What kind of projects have you been working on? 

One of the reasons I was excited to move to an agency was the ability to work on varied projects. For anyone creative moving into a more commercial role, working in a company that take on new projects regularly, provides an exciting change. This felt particularly poignant for me coming from design where we were constantly thinking about next season. I am working on a variety of projects which is enjoyable, and busy!

At the moment, I am involved in an art exhibition project which advocates for climate change, a huge fashion show project, a jewellery marketing project - the list goes on. I have also found it rewarding working on virtual make-up start up, Beauty by Holition, which is an inspiring section of the company which specialises in developing face tracking technology.

We always have new projects in the pipeline, and I enjoy learning about future project strategy

What are your plans for your start-up?

Watch this space! In conjunction with my career, I will be aiming to grow my start-up, via accelerators and investment. One of the pivotal conversations I had in deciding to do the masters was with a career coach speaking about how career moves can be made, each one building upon the next, depending on one’s preferences. Another beneficial conversation I had was with another graduate who like me, had a career in industry as a designer and then did a LCF masters to build upon her skills in a separate area of the industry and eventually moving into management consulting. It was inspiring to speak to mature students who have found a path that continuously builds their skills.

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